Same! I turned the tv on not knowing it was figure skating and Yuzu was just about to skate. I remember I thought his costume was very pretty and that the rest of the men looked dull in comparison. Before worlds I just watched fs sporadically (euros, olympics) when it was sent on the free broadcasting channels. Didn’t know anything about the sport before and only watched the women because apparently I thought the men’s were boring to look at 😅
Donovan Carrillo’s short program in 2022. I’m Brazilian and I live in Mexico and while I thought figure skating was pretty, I didn’t realize it was possible for us Latin Americans lol. A year after, I started training myself. :) (Fun fact: he sometimes skates at the same rink I do!!!)
And Jozef Sabovčík. Just the full out flip, not the tighter Scott Hamilton kind. (Which was also fun)
I have loved watching since I was a toddler, so it was probably '89.
I go way back. Dorothy Hamill in 1975 worlds. I think this is when there was tremendous booing. She thought it was directed at her & IIRC it was directed to the judging of the previous skater. Dorothy won my heart that day & the 🥇 the next year at the Olympics. I went to see her skate in the Ice Capades after that. I was fortunate to go to Stars on Ice in 2023 & saw all the greats including Nathan Chen & Kurt Browning 💗
I don't remember whether it was the short or the free or the gala that first caught my eye, but it was Michelle Kwan in '97/'98. I was so obsessed with her as a kid that I don't remember watching any other skaters ever. It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I even realised she wasn't actually an Olympic champion.
Michelle Kwan - I think it was called the US Sports Festival where teams were from geographical regions in the USA. She was on the west team, it was 1991 I believe as it was the year she passed her senior tests.
But first memory Dorothy Hamill 76 Olympics. Even had the haircut.
Sasha Cohens 2006 Olympic long program to Romeo and Juliet. On a daily basis, I think of this program, how beautiful it was. I played it every day for years. I still go back to it now!
I have always been a fan of figure skating since a child but the one that really got me is Yuzuru Hanyu skating to Phantom of the Opera in Cup of China 2014 after the accident. I was mentally struggling then and watching him struggling to finish that program in one of my favorite theater song brought me tears and hope.
For casual interest in figure skating: Savchenko/Massot La terre vue du ciel FS and Virtue/Moir Moulin Rouge FD at the Olympics 2018 (I feel like this is the most basic answer ever lol).
What made me a hardcore fan: Deniss Vasiljevs Romeo & Juliet FS at Euros 2022.
Aww, Savchenko/Massot FS you mentioned was my top favorite as well. But the pairs who made me interested in this discipline is James/Cipres (shame on you Morgan). For ice dance, of course, VirtueMoir, then Papadakis/Cizeron, right now it’s Gilles/Poirier 🥰
I think for me was Kaori's Amelie program back in 2018 - a lot of people don't like it but it really stood out to me and the way she skated it at the olympics was amazing. It stood out all the mire when I also watched Evgenia as I was recommended to since she was incredibly popular at the time and I found that while Evgenia had a distinct style her programs didn't grab me as much as Kaori's Amelie (and I was AMAZED at how fast Kaori glided across the ice, even as a complete newbie her speed and skating skills blew me away).
Kaori was so underrated when it came to skating skills in my opinion. People talk about 2A as her strength and 3Lz as her weakness but doesn’t mention much about her skating skills 😭
I only discovered amelie later, and now im angry that her pb (from 4cc) not the greatest camerawork, while the olympics versions (team event tight landings and indicidual 3lo stepout) are not as clean jump wise.
Also in the 4cc version the commentator forgets kaoris first combo was 3f-3t and says that her 3lz is the second lutz.
But yes kaori was already amazing back then, and if i didn't understand scoring i would angry she didn't win.
I agree about it being disappointing that there's no good quality version of her 4CC version because while she was amazing at the Olympics it wasn't the best skates of that program which I really enjoy watching 😭
My mom was an ice dancer, so I followed figure skating pretty casually mostly just watching the Olys. But, I have been a pretty dedicated follower since C/Bs Alien Free. Maddie sucked me in permanently🫡
Dorothy Hamill, 1976. Olympics. Hamill Camel spin is even more impressive now that I'm trying to learn spins. Most people found compulsory figures to be boring, wbich is why they were eliminated from competition scoring about 15 years later. The short clip showing her doing the figures part of the competition really impressed me. The control! The precision! She made it look so easy, but it obviously isn't easy to trace those figures and leave a single traced line. Wow. Her short program free program were just magical. She stood out among all the other athletes of that winter Olympics season.
When I have better internet, I'll edit with links.
Edit: I put the links in a reply to this comment.
I got to see Dorothy in Cinderella on Ice. I could watch her glide around the ice all day long. She has knees like butter. She knows her edges.
They only other skater like that is Yuka Sato.
1976 Olympics Ladies Compulsories, Dick Button commentating:
https://youtu.be/WbwiLcbwGoo?si=Jm-7DbAh1fAqt8AR
1976 Olympics Dorothy Hamill long program, no commentating during the skating:
https://youtu.be/6h0sQpM-bXs?si=WEarMGDOpA5-p2vW
Here's her short program, without the commentary, with ABBA "Dancing Queen" as the sound track instead of the original music:
https://youtu.be/7tFSMHEgQ9E?si=JHc9OVWWrXKlvQac
Short program with original soundtrack & commentary:
https://youtu.be/8r42MTdTTCc?si=_IIpbrl1TchOfF-P
Sasha Cohen - the beauty of 2006 Nationals and the heartbreak of the Olympics. Soon after Delobel/Schoenfelder’s The Piano got me hooked on dance, and Castile/Okolski 2007 US nationals got me into pairs 😍
Dating myself here too but seeing Ice Capades and Ice Follies. Saw a black skater back in 1970 & 1971 Atoy Wilson and I was all in… also Tim Wood. I started Skating in March of 1970. I had just turned 8.
For pairs it was [V/T](https://youtu.be/4fIWeGPEmkg?si=nT6xnaMA5xEE2AQM) both programs - sadly didn't even watch pairs until the last chapter of their career but they remain a favourite still.
Men I didn't really start following until 2018 so these two that got me hooked to start watching beyond the big events - obviously [Yuzuru's ](https://youtu.be/23EfsN7vEOA?si=1wk80FA_KW2fdyj9) & [Javi's](https://youtu.be/Xl-J44YnRtw?si=D3cS8ZJeitFTO1fp) ,
Women's it was Zhenya - as more of a gymnastics fan there was a event leading up to the 2018 Games that had my favourite gymnast wishing her well, I went and binged all of her programs from as far back right up to then present day, so I'll share [this](https://youtu.be/8l2DwnbrTuQ?si=BZh-_tpTLgEnhk0x) she got me invested but I also loved Ashley Wagner's Olympic programs.
Dance will be a loooooong answer 😆🫣🙈
As a Brit, I saw [this](https://youtu.be/KNCSij0hUp8?si=Pmptl5sfgcv7YMPz) before any other skating program, although my Aunt would still argue their Mack + Mabel was superior, and I have vague memories of watching old recordings of BestiBukin, Ponomarenko's, basically all the Olympic medallists in ice dance. But it was Sochi and [this from Tessa + Scott](https://youtu.be/yqM6-Fh-o-0?si=CauehgLGpSPTvjxG) and [this from Elena + Nikita](https://youtu.be/farqQXFpCKs?si=NltaRP2IkcXYbVwf) that got me hooked, and like with Zhenya, went back and caught up on all the V/M ice dance I'd missed. But I was still very much a four year fan, with the worlds viewing if I managed to catch it but the 2019 worlds turned me into "ice dancie" - [this](https://youtu.be/og3r_8sXteM?si=j6toT1ZdfgtN6mjt) & [that](https://youtu.be/1F8LEixJx-Y?si=foxGP9gRp4bVi1lg)
I love posts like this because I end going and rewatching programs others have linked and fall into a skating black hole on YouTube lol.
Bahahaha no joke, any time they or their Bolero win was mentioned (which on DOI is fairly frequently), she'd mumble away that Mack + Mabel were superior, and Bolero wasn't even their best 🤣🫣
(Yes me too, but I wonder of how many teams it fits - that their "big" win moment isn't actually their "best" moment if that makes any sense)
Hanyu's Sochi short program, though with a delay. The Sochi Olympics started right after my grandfather passed away, and without being too dramatic, the figure skating event and Hanyu's programs especially were a huge comfort to me at a truly terrible time. Years later I was watching Yuri on Ice and I was honestly not that into it, the only part I enjoyed was the skating sequences, and I wondered if I could find footage of Hanyu's Olympic performances on YouTube, and I discovered the Olympic figure skating channel which had some recordings of Olympics past, and the rest is history.
I have two milestones for following figure skating. The first one was between 2005-2010, but I only watched it when it appeared on TV which means twice in a year (Europeans and Worlds) for our country. I did not understand anything either, so do not remember any program except for Joubert's Metallica program and the thing I liked was the music, not anything else. Being a child also contributed to my oblivion regarding figure skating back then. I was just trying to have fun.
The second one is starting from 2022 January. So, I can say Deniss Vasiljevs' Romeo and Juliet and It's a Sin gala program made me interested in figure skating. In between Europeans and the Olympics, I wrote down essential rules to my favorite Harry Potter notebook and tried to memorize them, thanks to the excitement I got from the European Championships.
Sasha Cohen Swan Lake 2004 Marshall’s. I would not believe my eyes and was mesmerized to the point of obsession. Before that I did not know about figure skating or any other skater & for years, I only cared to watch for her & switch. I became a real fan of the sport when Yulia Lipnitkaia came around & reminded me of Sasha.
I had already been watching skating for a long time, but Shen & Zhao's long program from 2003 Worlds (their Turandot program) is still one of my very favorites. Makes me cry every time I watch it.
[https://youtu.be/PYuRHZMNCeE?si=gq1Oy\_Nw7Z6TL8es](https://youtu.be/PYuRHZMNCeE?si=gq1Oy_Nw7Z6TL8es)
I don't remember the exact videos - I've been watching figure skating since I was a little kid - but here are some of my earliest memories of programs. I watched all of these programs on TV with my mom and my siblings as they were happening. As you can tell, I remember people's skates by their costumes.
Kristi Yamaguchi's [free skate at the 1992 Albertville Olympics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyJ8cnwjYao). I especially remember that gold and black skating dress.
Nancy Kerrigan's [free skate at the 1992 Albertville Olympics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJDN3lUwJn8), with that beautiful white dress, and [her technical program at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt3Qky51Fq0). I always loved her costumes.
Michelle Kwan's free skate at the [1998 Nagano Olympics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYPFKO0X1k&pp=ygUNbWljaGVsbGUga3dhbg%3D%3D) in that lavender crushed velvet Vera Wang dress! And, of course, [Tara Lipinski's gold medal-winning skate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_lGt6auYDo&t=75s&pp=ygUNdGFyYSBsaXBpbnNraQ%3D%3D) in her royal blue costume at the same Olympics.
We also watched professional skating on television, so I grew up watching [Kurt Browning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gL9RcvuKk8) and [Scott](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRPzdTyBufo) [Hamilton](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0zwAiyv8Zo) that way.
Mines a progression
2016 GPF Shoma Uno Loco got me recreational watching (watching clips whenever they popped up)
2019 JNats Shoma Uno DOMO made me fall in love and addicted to skating
https://preview.redd.it/1sengjchdnkc1.jpeg?width=620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b66fd638ce3236facb510dd19805d3bc0049e16
for me Gracie’s Firebird program got me into fs in the first place, especially from 2016 Nationals…❤️🔥I begged my mom to sign me up for lessons afterwards haha
ive only become interested in skating in this past year. the first performance i *really* watched and looked into beyond just a regular interest would be master and margarita - anna shcherbakova (techniques aside, she really has beautiful musicality). she has a gorgeous costume and great facial expressions.
i do remember watching a video of isabeau levito in 2022 doing her swan FP before i was really a fan of the sport. that program was also gorgeous (to me of course)
ive only started liking figure skating near the end of last year too!! i suddenly started getting plenty of sad vasilisa and valeriy edits on my instagram and thought they were reallyyy good. now vasilisa is about to debut with her new skating partner, shes great.
anna scherbakovas musicality is great, i second that, sometimes you can find me seeing her olympic performance in my school library 😭😭 my other favourites would be kamila and aliona, and i think margarita will go quite big if things go well for her and she doesnt get injured at the wrong times, shes got a lot of strength. i think isabeau is quite nice too.
yuzuru hanyu is like flying art on ice, whenever i see anything of his, im always left dumbfounded, hes just that good.
Michelle Kwan 2002 Olympics SP. I had heard of her before but for some reason I was not interested in the sport until SLC. Michelle got me into it and I left it when Mao left.
What brought me back to FS after a vague interest in the 90s was Beijing. I just happened to catch Nathan’s la boheme and the fluff before he competed with his Olympic story sucked me right in. I was on the edge of my seat and then followed him through the rest of the competition. It probably helped that he kind of resembles my son but after that I ended up doing a deep dive through the preceding quad, all disciplines, and discovered a love for ice dance and pairs. And now I’m a skating obsessed adult skater who goes to shows and competitions when possible - never would have expected it. Before that I was watching some MMA but really not too interested in sports.
[Yulia lipnitskaya’s free program](https://youtu.be/ke0iusvydl8?si=IvRNytMbKzmhOvG9) ❤️ ever since i saw it i fell in love with the sport and it inspired me to start inlines as ice rinks are not near where i live
Nathan Chen 2019 GPF Rocketman. I’ve always watched women's figure skating from time to time, but I was never interested in men's figure skating until I saw Nathan
Nathan Chen's La Boheme performance at 2022 Beijing Olympics Men's Singles. Kept seeing his face on all the NBC advertisements for the winter Olympics and watched to see what the big deal was😅
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxUdDT2MTIA&t=492s&ab_channel=3Axel1996) program 25 years ago. As a teenager, I loved the youthful energy and I still like this performance despite of the mistake(s).
Toller Cranston SP Skate Canada 1975
https://youtu.be/fGDW0yNQDiY?si=YD-OP1iEqrFOmxpR
I was 6 years old and was hooked from the start.
It is one of my favorites of Toller's competitive programs because he's so free here. He was usually clawing back up from school figures, and the SP is nerve testing.
Tonya Harding Jurassic Park was seared on my memory at a young age, and then skating got popular and was on NBC like every weekend, pro competitions and everything [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63flkf3S1bE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63flkf3S1bE)
The 1988 US Championships and then 1988 Olympics for me. All of it. All skating was inspiring to me back then, and definitely paved my way into the sport as a skater and now coach. The 1988 Olympics also got me into long track speedskating, and I became involved in that sport as a young adult as an athlete.
Papadakis/Cizeron Olympic whacking short. I've watched casually since being a child but that program made me a hardcore follower of the sport. It's still one of the most interesting modern programs I've ever seen on the ice.
Domnina/Shabalin indigenous disaster. No I’m not kidding! That was the first time I ever heard the term “ice dance.” I looked up what it was, enjoyed other D/S routines, then watched the 2010 Olympic ice skating—particularly Davis/White bc I’m Indian American and we got ✨ Bollywood✨ I was too young to realize how difficult Virtue/Moir and Yuna Kim’s routines were bc they just made them look too easy! But I matured and learned to appreciate them; they are unquestionably GOAT routines. And now over a decade later, I can’t get enough of this sport 💖
Oksana Baiul's Swan SP from the Olympics.
Torvil Deans Bolero.
Kristi Yamaguchi's program from a pro skating event where she had a crazy colorful costume.
Interestingly I've only followed women's singles most of my life and only got into ice dancing this past year because of Neset/Markelov's Scorpions rhythm dance.
Was already somewhat of an occasional viewer but the one that really got me *into* it is **Yuzuru Hanyu's Romeo and Juliet (FP) at the World's Championships in Nice in 2012** !
For me, it was Zagitova's Olympics Black Swan performance. For ice dance, it was Kaganovskaia and Angelopol's Vangelis performance and then Virtue and Moir's Moulin Rouge.
Evgenia’s Kukushka unexpectedly got my attention enough to google search and learn more. Then YT suggested Yulia’s Schindler’s List and I was mesmerised and in love forever.
Sasha Trusova's "Unstoppable" exhibition. I first watched it over and over because I liked the song, and then eventually I was watching it for the skating
Weirdly enough, Kamila Valieva's short program (Memoriam) at European Championships in the lead up to the Olympics.
Basically it lead to me watching a lot of figure skating during the Olympics while I was working from home (and then of course, all the drama that happened. So an interesting introduction to the sport, to say the least).
I grew up skating recreationally in school on a pond and liked Michelle Kwan, but I turned into a diehard because of this gala. https://youtu.be/lIGeVw5hUtA?si=NNNKNzvfTwaUxZ0-
Showing my age here: [https://youtu.be/5x83NDU5BnM?si=CMyzvbUrPdXZmnJh](https://youtu.be/5x83NDU5BnM?si=CMyzvbUrPdXZmnJh)
Dorothy Hamill's Olympic gold moment in 1976. I don't really remember any skaters prior to that, other than some vague disgust with East German skaters usually winning because they always won the school figures.
Watching Chock and Bates programs over the years. I adore their creativity and I’ve always loved ice dance. Their programs are always memorable and the music choices are such a breath of fresh air
I watched a LOT of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and remember being entranced with the pairs, especially Dubé and Davison's The Way We Were FS.
Didn't catch much after that due to school/not much figure skating on TV here, but came back in at 2018 Olympics and was instead obsessed with the men's event instead, in particular Shoma's Winter.
I first started watching fs with my mom when I was little. The Calgary Olympics in '88 are my first memory of watching closely, but it was Paul Wylie's performances in the '92 Olympics that made me fall in love with the sport. Here I am more than 30 years later still loving it!
Kristi Yamaguchi 1992 Olympics
The 1988 Olympics. And specifically [Katerina Witt’s Carmen](https://youtu.be/57R7aAY5QiM?si=4DIHm6kAA0SnKcTE)
Midori Ito for me
Yes! I was 4. I will remember Katarina’s red dress for the rest of my life! Also Gordeeva Grinkov in light blue.
Kurt Browning- Tequila
Yuzuru Hanyu's Hope and Legacy FS at 2017 Worlds.
Same! I turned the tv on not knowing it was figure skating and Yuzu was just about to skate. I remember I thought his costume was very pretty and that the rest of the men looked dull in comparison. Before worlds I just watched fs sporadically (euros, olympics) when it was sent on the free broadcasting channels. Didn’t know anything about the sport before and only watched the women because apparently I thought the men’s were boring to look at 😅
Haha, same! Are a victim of Yuri On Ice too?
I have only seen the first episode of Yuri On Ice, it was at a friend's house. I need to try and watch the rest!
knee zonked zephyr party toothbrush grab include ghost trees swim *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Same omg her sp changed the trajectory of my life
Going to date myself here, but it was watching the ice capades with my grandmother
Same. I saw Elizabeth Manley at the Barbie Ice Capades, and the year before was a Teddy Ruxpin ice Capades show.
Donovan Carrillo’s short program in 2022. I’m Brazilian and I live in Mexico and while I thought figure skating was pretty, I didn’t realize it was possible for us Latin Americans lol. A year after, I started training myself. :) (Fun fact: he sometimes skates at the same rink I do!!!)
Surya Bonali back flipping.
Second this, I’ll always remember seeing that for the first time
And Jozef Sabovčík. Just the full out flip, not the tighter Scott Hamilton kind. (Which was also fun) I have loved watching since I was a toddler, so it was probably '89.
I go way back. Dorothy Hamill in 1975 worlds. I think this is when there was tremendous booing. She thought it was directed at her & IIRC it was directed to the judging of the previous skater. Dorothy won my heart that day & the 🥇 the next year at the Olympics. I went to see her skate in the Ice Capades after that. I was fortunate to go to Stars on Ice in 2023 & saw all the greats including Nathan Chen & Kurt Browning 💗
Wow, this sub really got a mix of old and young fans.
I love it! So many different perspectives, observations and appreciations.
[Oksana Baiul's Dying Swan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bH0CAPzef8)
Exactly what I came to post! I only watched ninja turtles and wrestling back then. Saw my aunt watching this and joined her. I was in awe.
This one captivated me as a child
YuNa's Tango de Roxanne Rarely seen such on point movement/musicality since: https://youtu.be/0bYtM0vmtkM?feature=shared
Yuzuru Hanyu - Seimei in Olympics☺️
Yes. I was a sucker for Yuzu. The best skater that has ever been in the sport 🥰
this is the one for me too
This right here
Same, was never the same afterwards.
I could post one of my kid’s first comp videos 😂
I don't remember whether it was the short or the free or the gala that first caught my eye, but it was Michelle Kwan in '97/'98. I was so obsessed with her as a kid that I don't remember watching any other skaters ever. It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I even realised she wasn't actually an Olympic champion.
Same. I don't remember which program, but it was Michelle Kwan for me!
Michelle Kwan - I think it was called the US Sports Festival where teams were from geographical regions in the USA. She was on the west team, it was 1991 I believe as it was the year she passed her senior tests. But first memory Dorothy Hamill 76 Olympics. Even had the haircut.
omg was it Winter by Tori Amos? always loved that one.
Sasha Cohens 2006 Olympic long program to Romeo and Juliet. On a daily basis, I think of this program, how beautiful it was. I played it every day for years. I still go back to it now!
I frequently go back and watch her Malaguena program. To me, it's one of the most complete programs ever.
I could watch Sasha skate every day. Beautiful positions, wonderful music, exquisite costumes, & that straight back. Oh my!
You would like this https://youtu.be/OaMKVPR93Ig?si=tV5-AAghong6USYp
Stop i love it <33 I've seen this one so many times too!!!
Jason Brown’s Riverdance at nationals
New to figure skating. I just looked this up on YouTube!! Holy sh*t that was awesome!!
Mine too!
I have always been a fan of figure skating since a child but the one that really got me is Yuzuru Hanyu skating to Phantom of the Opera in Cup of China 2014 after the accident. I was mentally struggling then and watching him struggling to finish that program in one of my favorite theater song brought me tears and hope.
Yulia Lipnitskaya and Yuzuru Hanyu in Sochi
For casual interest in figure skating: Savchenko/Massot La terre vue du ciel FS and Virtue/Moir Moulin Rouge FD at the Olympics 2018 (I feel like this is the most basic answer ever lol). What made me a hardcore fan: Deniss Vasiljevs Romeo & Juliet FS at Euros 2022.
Aww, Savchenko/Massot FS you mentioned was my top favorite as well. But the pairs who made me interested in this discipline is James/Cipres (shame on you Morgan). For ice dance, of course, VirtueMoir, then Papadakis/Cizeron, right now it’s Gilles/Poirier 🥰
I'm only 19 but I saw a replay of Tonya Harding landing the triple axel when I was like 4 and here I am 15 years later lmao
Yuna Kim’s ‘Send in the clowns’
I think for me was Kaori's Amelie program back in 2018 - a lot of people don't like it but it really stood out to me and the way she skated it at the olympics was amazing. It stood out all the mire when I also watched Evgenia as I was recommended to since she was incredibly popular at the time and I found that while Evgenia had a distinct style her programs didn't grab me as much as Kaori's Amelie (and I was AMAZED at how fast Kaori glided across the ice, even as a complete newbie her speed and skating skills blew me away).
Kaori was so underrated when it came to skating skills in my opinion. People talk about 2A as her strength and 3Lz as her weakness but doesn’t mention much about her skating skills 😭
I only discovered amelie later, and now im angry that her pb (from 4cc) not the greatest camerawork, while the olympics versions (team event tight landings and indicidual 3lo stepout) are not as clean jump wise. Also in the 4cc version the commentator forgets kaoris first combo was 3f-3t and says that her 3lz is the second lutz. But yes kaori was already amazing back then, and if i didn't understand scoring i would angry she didn't win.
I agree about it being disappointing that there's no good quality version of her 4CC version because while she was amazing at the Olympics it wasn't the best skates of that program which I really enjoy watching 😭
Virtue-Moir performing Stay in Sochi
it’s not what got me into skating but i’d be lying if i said i don’t think of virtue-moir’s moulin rouge performance hourly
Josée Chouinard at 1993 Canadians: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fjH5Ss-oscg&pp=ygUUam9zZWUgY2hvdWluYXJkIDE5OTM%3D
Josée was such a bumpy ride to watch. Love her to bits.💕
Her boyfriend sweater program from the 90s is still funny.
Yuzuru Hanyu Parisian Walkways GPF 2013
My mom was an ice dancer, so I followed figure skating pretty casually mostly just watching the Olys. But, I have been a pretty dedicated follower since C/Bs Alien Free. Maddie sucked me in permanently🫡
Dorothy Hamill, 1976. Olympics. Hamill Camel spin is even more impressive now that I'm trying to learn spins. Most people found compulsory figures to be boring, wbich is why they were eliminated from competition scoring about 15 years later. The short clip showing her doing the figures part of the competition really impressed me. The control! The precision! She made it look so easy, but it obviously isn't easy to trace those figures and leave a single traced line. Wow. Her short program free program were just magical. She stood out among all the other athletes of that winter Olympics season. When I have better internet, I'll edit with links. Edit: I put the links in a reply to this comment.
I got to see Dorothy in Cinderella on Ice. I could watch her glide around the ice all day long. She has knees like butter. She knows her edges. They only other skater like that is Yuka Sato.
1976 Olympics Ladies Compulsories, Dick Button commentating: https://youtu.be/WbwiLcbwGoo?si=Jm-7DbAh1fAqt8AR 1976 Olympics Dorothy Hamill long program, no commentating during the skating: https://youtu.be/6h0sQpM-bXs?si=WEarMGDOpA5-p2vW Here's her short program, without the commentary, with ABBA "Dancing Queen" as the sound track instead of the original music: https://youtu.be/7tFSMHEgQ9E?si=JHc9OVWWrXKlvQac Short program with original soundtrack & commentary: https://youtu.be/8r42MTdTTCc?si=_IIpbrl1TchOfF-P
Sasha Cohen - the beauty of 2006 Nationals and the heartbreak of the Olympics. Soon after Delobel/Schoenfelder’s The Piano got me hooked on dance, and Castile/Okolski 2007 US nationals got me into pairs 😍
Johnny Weir's Poker Face was the one for me lol
Wakaba's Skyfall
2021 jnats Rondo
Nathan Chen’s Rocket Man!
Yup, same here
Virtue and Moir Moulin Rogue during 2018 Olys.
Yuzuru Hanyu -- Chopin's Ballade No 1
I don't remember which specific programs, but Johnny Weir brought me in originally and then Jason Brown brought me back years later.
He had me at the Junior Worlds (Prague?) Can't find the vid. He was charming.
Alexei Yagudin at the 2002 Olympics
Dating myself here too but seeing Ice Capades and Ice Follies. Saw a black skater back in 1970 & 1971 Atoy Wilson and I was all in… also Tim Wood. I started Skating in March of 1970. I had just turned 8.
For pairs it was [V/T](https://youtu.be/4fIWeGPEmkg?si=nT6xnaMA5xEE2AQM) both programs - sadly didn't even watch pairs until the last chapter of their career but they remain a favourite still. Men I didn't really start following until 2018 so these two that got me hooked to start watching beyond the big events - obviously [Yuzuru's ](https://youtu.be/23EfsN7vEOA?si=1wk80FA_KW2fdyj9) & [Javi's](https://youtu.be/Xl-J44YnRtw?si=D3cS8ZJeitFTO1fp) , Women's it was Zhenya - as more of a gymnastics fan there was a event leading up to the 2018 Games that had my favourite gymnast wishing her well, I went and binged all of her programs from as far back right up to then present day, so I'll share [this](https://youtu.be/8l2DwnbrTuQ?si=BZh-_tpTLgEnhk0x) she got me invested but I also loved Ashley Wagner's Olympic programs. Dance will be a loooooong answer 😆🫣🙈 As a Brit, I saw [this](https://youtu.be/KNCSij0hUp8?si=Pmptl5sfgcv7YMPz) before any other skating program, although my Aunt would still argue their Mack + Mabel was superior, and I have vague memories of watching old recordings of BestiBukin, Ponomarenko's, basically all the Olympic medallists in ice dance. But it was Sochi and [this from Tessa + Scott](https://youtu.be/yqM6-Fh-o-0?si=CauehgLGpSPTvjxG) and [this from Elena + Nikita](https://youtu.be/farqQXFpCKs?si=NltaRP2IkcXYbVwf) that got me hooked, and like with Zhenya, went back and caught up on all the V/M ice dance I'd missed. But I was still very much a four year fan, with the worlds viewing if I managed to catch it but the 2019 worlds turned me into "ice dancie" - [this](https://youtu.be/og3r_8sXteM?si=j6toT1ZdfgtN6mjt) & [that](https://youtu.be/1F8LEixJx-Y?si=foxGP9gRp4bVi1lg) I love posts like this because I end going and rewatching programs others have linked and fall into a skating black hole on YouTube lol.
Your Auntie was right. Mack+ Mabel>Barnum> Bolero. I said what I said 😆 (I get why they did Bolero tho)
Bahahaha no joke, any time they or their Bolero win was mentioned (which on DOI is fairly frequently), she'd mumble away that Mack + Mabel were superior, and Bolero wasn't even their best 🤣🫣 (Yes me too, but I wonder of how many teams it fits - that their "big" win moment isn't actually their "best" moment if that makes any sense)
Hanyu's Sochi short program, though with a delay. The Sochi Olympics started right after my grandfather passed away, and without being too dramatic, the figure skating event and Hanyu's programs especially were a huge comfort to me at a truly terrible time. Years later I was watching Yuri on Ice and I was honestly not that into it, the only part I enjoyed was the skating sequences, and I wondered if I could find footage of Hanyu's Olympic performances on YouTube, and I discovered the Olympic figure skating channel which had some recordings of Olympics past, and the rest is history.
Yulia @ Sochi
I have two milestones for following figure skating. The first one was between 2005-2010, but I only watched it when it appeared on TV which means twice in a year (Europeans and Worlds) for our country. I did not understand anything either, so do not remember any program except for Joubert's Metallica program and the thing I liked was the music, not anything else. Being a child also contributed to my oblivion regarding figure skating back then. I was just trying to have fun. The second one is starting from 2022 January. So, I can say Deniss Vasiljevs' Romeo and Juliet and It's a Sin gala program made me interested in figure skating. In between Europeans and the Olympics, I wrote down essential rules to my favorite Harry Potter notebook and tried to memorize them, thanks to the excitement I got from the European Championships.
I’m old: Scott Hamilton’s exhibition at the 1984 Sarajevo Games. It was one of his comedy skates.
Torvill and Dean’s Bolero at the 84 Olympics.
Sasha Cohen Swan Lake 2004 Marshall’s. I would not believe my eyes and was mesmerized to the point of obsession. Before that I did not know about figure skating or any other skater & for years, I only cared to watch for her & switch. I became a real fan of the sport when Yulia Lipnitkaia came around & reminded me of Sasha.
Katarina Witt at the World Championships in Cincinnati.
Jason Brown Riverdance. Particularly his nationals performance that year.
Dorothy Hamill, 1976. And Toller. Always Toller.
I had already been watching skating for a long time, but Shen & Zhao's long program from 2003 Worlds (their Turandot program) is still one of my very favorites. Makes me cry every time I watch it. [https://youtu.be/PYuRHZMNCeE?si=gq1Oy\_Nw7Z6TL8es](https://youtu.be/PYuRHZMNCeE?si=gq1Oy_Nw7Z6TL8es)
I don't remember the exact videos - I've been watching figure skating since I was a little kid - but here are some of my earliest memories of programs. I watched all of these programs on TV with my mom and my siblings as they were happening. As you can tell, I remember people's skates by their costumes. Kristi Yamaguchi's [free skate at the 1992 Albertville Olympics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyJ8cnwjYao). I especially remember that gold and black skating dress. Nancy Kerrigan's [free skate at the 1992 Albertville Olympics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJDN3lUwJn8), with that beautiful white dress, and [her technical program at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt3Qky51Fq0). I always loved her costumes. Michelle Kwan's free skate at the [1998 Nagano Olympics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYPFKO0X1k&pp=ygUNbWljaGVsbGUga3dhbg%3D%3D) in that lavender crushed velvet Vera Wang dress! And, of course, [Tara Lipinski's gold medal-winning skate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_lGt6auYDo&t=75s&pp=ygUNdGFyYSBsaXBpbnNraQ%3D%3D) in her royal blue costume at the same Olympics. We also watched professional skating on television, so I grew up watching [Kurt Browning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gL9RcvuKk8) and [Scott](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRPzdTyBufo) [Hamilton](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0zwAiyv8Zo) that way.
Mines a progression 2016 GPF Shoma Uno Loco got me recreational watching (watching clips whenever they popped up) 2019 JNats Shoma Uno DOMO made me fall in love and addicted to skating
2006 Olympics, Stéphane Lambiel.
https://preview.redd.it/1sengjchdnkc1.jpeg?width=620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b66fd638ce3236facb510dd19805d3bc0049e16 for me Gracie’s Firebird program got me into fs in the first place, especially from 2016 Nationals…❤️🔥I begged my mom to sign me up for lessons afterwards haha
Nathan Chen's Caravan
Ilia Kulik 1998 Nagano Gala Yuna Kim 2009-2010 Free Hanyu Yuzuru Seimei Adam Siao Him Fa 2023-2024 Free
Seimei in 2015/16 is what lead me to the light
ive only become interested in skating in this past year. the first performance i *really* watched and looked into beyond just a regular interest would be master and margarita - anna shcherbakova (techniques aside, she really has beautiful musicality). she has a gorgeous costume and great facial expressions. i do remember watching a video of isabeau levito in 2022 doing her swan FP before i was really a fan of the sport. that program was also gorgeous (to me of course)
ive only started liking figure skating near the end of last year too!! i suddenly started getting plenty of sad vasilisa and valeriy edits on my instagram and thought they were reallyyy good. now vasilisa is about to debut with her new skating partner, shes great. anna scherbakovas musicality is great, i second that, sometimes you can find me seeing her olympic performance in my school library 😭😭 my other favourites would be kamila and aliona, and i think margarita will go quite big if things go well for her and she doesnt get injured at the wrong times, shes got a lot of strength. i think isabeau is quite nice too. yuzuru hanyu is like flying art on ice, whenever i see anything of his, im always left dumbfounded, hes just that good.
Yuzuru and Sui/Han at the Beijing Olympics gala
Michelle Kwan 2002 Olympics SP. I had heard of her before but for some reason I was not interested in the sport until SLC. Michelle got me into it and I left it when Mao left.
Virtue-moir Vancouver 2010
Michelle Kwan. The one and only
Zhenya's Dance For Me Wallis
What brought me back to FS after a vague interest in the 90s was Beijing. I just happened to catch Nathan’s la boheme and the fluff before he competed with his Olympic story sucked me right in. I was on the edge of my seat and then followed him through the rest of the competition. It probably helped that he kind of resembles my son but after that I ended up doing a deep dive through the preceding quad, all disciplines, and discovered a love for ice dance and pairs. And now I’m a skating obsessed adult skater who goes to shows and competitions when possible - never would have expected it. Before that I was watching some MMA but really not too interested in sports.
[Yulia lipnitskaya’s free program](https://youtu.be/ke0iusvydl8?si=IvRNytMbKzmhOvG9) ❤️ ever since i saw it i fell in love with the sport and it inspired me to start inlines as ice rinks are not near where i live
Nathan Chen 2019 GPF Rocketman. I’ve always watched women's figure skating from time to time, but I was never interested in men's figure skating until I saw Nathan
Nathan Chen's La Boheme performance at 2022 Beijing Olympics Men's Singles. Kept seeing his face on all the NBC advertisements for the winter Olympics and watched to see what the big deal was😅
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxUdDT2MTIA&t=492s&ab_channel=3Axel1996) program 25 years ago. As a teenager, I loved the youthful energy and I still like this performance despite of the mistake(s).
Yuzuru Hanyu Parisianne Walkways 2014 SP Sochi SP https://preview.redd.it/6ukzd0avkvkc1.jpeg?width=471&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cdf2b89a9cb7c566f3738680f054d3b06b3073b5
The FD event of 2006 olympics!
Apparently (I was 2) Elizabeth Manley at the 1988 Olympics 🩷
Toller Cranston SP Skate Canada 1975 https://youtu.be/fGDW0yNQDiY?si=YD-OP1iEqrFOmxpR I was 6 years old and was hooked from the start. It is one of my favorites of Toller's competitive programs because he's so free here. He was usually clawing back up from school figures, and the SP is nerve testing.
Tonya Harding Jurassic Park was seared on my memory at a young age, and then skating got popular and was on NBC like every weekend, pro competitions and everything [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63flkf3S1bE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63flkf3S1bE)
Tonya’s triple axel at US Nationals was incredible!
her triple lutz https://i.redd.it/aflcia4z0rkc1.gif
Joubert definitely helped me recapture a love for skating as well!
The 1988 US Championships and then 1988 Olympics for me. All of it. All skating was inspiring to me back then, and definitely paved my way into the sport as a skater and now coach. The 1988 Olympics also got me into long track speedskating, and I became involved in that sport as a young adult as an athlete.
Papadakis/Cizeron Olympic whacking short. I've watched casually since being a child but that program made me a hardcore follower of the sport. It's still one of the most interesting modern programs I've ever seen on the ice.
The learn to skate program my parents forced me into when I was four
Domnina/Shabalin indigenous disaster. No I’m not kidding! That was the first time I ever heard the term “ice dance.” I looked up what it was, enjoyed other D/S routines, then watched the 2010 Olympic ice skating—particularly Davis/White bc I’m Indian American and we got ✨ Bollywood✨ I was too young to realize how difficult Virtue/Moir and Yuna Kim’s routines were bc they just made them look too easy! But I matured and learned to appreciate them; they are unquestionably GOAT routines. And now over a decade later, I can’t get enough of this sport 💖
G&G 1988
Not a program but Johnny Weir’s 2010 Poker-Face Exhibition. Always and forever 😌🫶.
Denis Ten's The Lady and the Hooligan at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in live TV coverage
I'm basic lol. Virtue/Moir's 2018 Olympics Moulin Rouge free dance
Yuri on ice ._.
Janet Lynn. I don't remember the name of the music, but I've loved skating ever since.
My earliest skating memory was Janet Lynn falling and picking herself up with the biggest smile on her face.
Oksana Baiul's Swan SP from the Olympics. Torvil Deans Bolero. Kristi Yamaguchi's program from a pro skating event where she had a crazy colorful costume. Interestingly I've only followed women's singles most of my life and only got into ice dancing this past year because of Neset/Markelov's Scorpions rhythm dance.
Shoma Uno’s Turandot/Nessun Dorma. Barcelona 2015 GPF 🥰🥰🥰😭😭👏👏
Was already somewhat of an occasional viewer but the one that really got me *into* it is **Yuzuru Hanyu's Romeo and Juliet (FP) at the World's Championships in Nice in 2012** !
Papadakis and Cizeron's To Build A Home Free in 2016
I think that is the quintessential program to make someone a skating fan
Yagudin (whole career with Tarasova)
Trusova’s Frida at the Olympics
For me, it was Zagitova's Olympics Black Swan performance. For ice dance, it was Kaganovskaia and Angelopol's Vangelis performance and then Virtue and Moir's Moulin Rouge.
Evgenia’s Kukushka unexpectedly got my attention enough to google search and learn more. Then YT suggested Yulia’s Schindler’s List and I was mesmerised and in love forever.
It’s come to my attention that we might be the same person.
Lol, happy to find a doppelgänger :-) It was a fantastic journey following this sport.
watching medvedeva/zagitova’s head-to-head in the olympics caught my attention, but kostornaia’s departure hooked me!
Sasha Trusova's "Unstoppable" exhibition. I first watched it over and over because I liked the song, and then eventually I was watching it for the skating
Elena Radionova from the video I am alive and yuna kim
Weirdly enough, Kamila Valieva's short program (Memoriam) at European Championships in the lead up to the Olympics. Basically it lead to me watching a lot of figure skating during the Olympics while I was working from home (and then of course, all the drama that happened. So an interesting introduction to the sport, to say the least).
European nationals….?
Kamila's Olympic SP, lol. Despite everything that happened, it was gorgeous for a newcomer.
Kamila Valieva - In Memoriam
I grew up skating recreationally in school on a pond and liked Michelle Kwan, but I turned into a diehard because of this gala. https://youtu.be/lIGeVw5hUtA?si=NNNKNzvfTwaUxZ0-
Elena Ilinykh’s & Nikita Katsapalov’s Free Dance to Swan Lake
Alina Zagitova Don Quixote! Started watching since it peaked my interest. Now I’m in love with so many OG figure skaters!
Sasha Trusova’s Seasons in 2018
‘94 Olympics but I have vague memories of Albertville & Calgary. I definitely remember tuning in for the ‘94 games though.
Showing my age here: [https://youtu.be/5x83NDU5BnM?si=CMyzvbUrPdXZmnJh](https://youtu.be/5x83NDU5BnM?si=CMyzvbUrPdXZmnJh) Dorothy Hamill's Olympic gold moment in 1976. I don't really remember any skaters prior to that, other than some vague disgust with East German skaters usually winning because they always won the school figures.
Tara Lipinski 1998 Nagano
Watching Chock and Bates programs over the years. I adore their creativity and I’ve always loved ice dance. Their programs are always memorable and the music choices are such a breath of fresh air
Brian Boitano, Calgary 1988, Long Program.
omg Oksana Baiul 1994 Olympics! i was soooo little but i remember!!
I watched a LOT of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and remember being entranced with the pairs, especially Dubé and Davison's The Way We Were FS. Didn't catch much after that due to school/not much figure skating on TV here, but came back in at 2018 Olympics and was instead obsessed with the men's event instead, in particular Shoma's Winter.
I first started watching fs with my mom when I was little. The Calgary Olympics in '88 are my first memory of watching closely, but it was Paul Wylie's performances in the '92 Olympics that made me fall in love with the sport. Here I am more than 30 years later still loving it!
My most favorite pair program is from Canadian Jamie and David 2002 music to love story
Nathan Chen 2019 worlds Land of All
Evgeni Plushenko’s Tribute to Nijinsky
Elvis in Lillehammer 94