Last night’s ice skating action in Vancouver featured more falls than I can remember in any competition. From light stumbles (like the German dude) to full on wipe outs (like the Japanese-turned-Russian chick), if you competed in the pairs free skate in the 2010 Winter Olympics, you probably had a few broadcasters gasp during your routine.
There’s no getting around it — ice skating’s tough. You train for years and years just for the chance to not ef it all up during a program that lasts only a few minutes. I can’t imagine even standing up in skates, let alone triple Salchow-ing my way to Olympic gold. You just gotta respect how these sparkly heroes can bounce their faces off the ice and get back up again with such grace and composure.
So with nothing but respect for figure skaters everywhere, here’s a quick rundown of the 6 worst Olympic pairs ice skating falls of all time.
6. Denis Petukhov and Melissa Gregory – 2007 Skate Canada
When you watch Denis Petukhov skip Melissa Gregory like a rock on a pond, keep in mind that the Russian-born Petukhov and the US-made Gregory met on an online message board for figure skaters before they got married and started ice dancing together.
5. Olga Prokuronova and Karel Stefl – 2009 European Championships
This one isn’t as bad as Totmianina/Marinin, but it’s close. Olga takes an awkward, head-first plunge, but somehow jumps back up like nothing happened. That’s Czech pride right there.
4. Zheng Dan and Zhang Hao – 2006 Winter Olympics
Zhang Dan takes a nasty fall about 50 seconds into the clip. Despite the fact that she messed up her knee, Zheng Dan shrugged off the pain and finished the routine with her partner Zhang Hao. The two went on to win the silver medal that year.
3. Dmitri Palamarchuk and Yulia Obertas – 2000 World Championships
About four minutes into this clip, Ukrainian Dmitri Palamarchuk gets crushed by his partner Yulia Obertas. The fall happened during the pair’s long program at the 2000 World Championships, and Dmitri went looking for a new partner about a month later.
2. Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison – 2007 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
This video is pretty harsh. About 2:30 in, Canadian skater Jessica Dube gets sliced in the face by her partner Bryce Davison. Dube took a skate blade under her eye and needed 83 stitches to close up the gash on her cheek and nose. The accident left a permanent scar on Dube’s girl-next-door face, but the scar makes her look more gangster.
1. Maxim Marinin and Tatiana Totmianina – 2004 Skate America
If you’re squeamish, turn away at 2:10. That’s when Maxim Marinin drops Tatiana Totmianina on her face real hard. Like real hard. Totmianina got a severe concussion and Marinin had to see a sports psychologist to help him get over his fear of dropping people on their face.
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