I've always had heaps of admiration for good pairs skating, and very much enjoyed my brief forays into the discipline. Pairs skating is perhaps the most taxing and even most dangerous of the figure skating disciplines. The chances of getting kicked in the head with a skate blade, dropped on your head, slamming into the boards and any other horrific mishap you can imagine are exponentially higher. At the same time, it's a beautiful thing to behold a pair that is so in sync that their hearts are probably beating as one.
One such pair was Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov (RIP). I have embedded two of their most striking performances, imho. The first, is their flawless Olympic-winning long program at Calgary in 1988.
This program is phenomenal. From start to finish they don't stop nailing things. It's an epic program that deserved every ounce of that gold. I've said before that I think stark physical differences between two pairs partners doesn't always work to the advantage of the pair, but here it works gloriously. They are literally, perfect together.
And now, flash forward about 6 years to 1994, when they again won Olympic gold in Norway.
It wasn't flawless. There was a bobble or two. But you can literally feel how mature and connected they are as a pair. And that, more than anything else, makes them great. Also what impresses me, is that Ekaterina was just two years out from having a baby. She's a mom, and won an Olympic gold medal AFTER having a baby. No other skater has done that, and it's very inspiring to me, particularly!
I had the honor of meeting them after a skating show when I was a wee one. I have a picture stashed somewhere in my old room at my parents' house of myself posing with them, looking like a total four-eyed geek. I promise, when I find it, I'll post it.
A few years later, I witnessed their last public performance together at an event at our local arena, just one week before he died.
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