Maria Butyrskaya - 2002 Olympics (LP)

[Blazhevino]

it is stunningly feminine and sexy in the best sense of the word without making any effort to this....

[mlc2005]

I just read on a very respected skating blog that, two weeks before these Olympics, her boyfriend was murdered by the Russian mob!!!! Now I have a whole new understanding of why she looked so shaken at these Olympics... what a shame.

[johnxmalice]

I do think she is a good skater, I just don't enjoy watching her. Her jumps seem forced and aren't soft at all; she doesn't bend her knees. I always wonder whether she's going to fall or not.

[kaetzchen555]

@johnxmalice it is all coz of her long legs..:))

[nondescriptnyc]

As a Maria fan, I must say she didn't look good that season... She looked almost scared to skate. I personally think she was probably discouraged completely form the year earlier, when the judges dissed her at the Worlds--despite her pretty strong performances there.

[BigA3372]

@nondescriptnyc Add to that that a few weeks before europeans she underwent surgery (laparoscopy) and her boyfriend was murdered, and you get the complete picture of that season for Butyrskaya...

[JasonPSU1978]

FYI: She is skating to "FairyTale of the Wanderings" by Alfred Schnittke took me FOREVER to find this music, great piece!

[JeremiVW]

I love Maria.. I think she's an artist on the ice.. Its not about pretty.. Its about Drama..

[russianskatingfan]

I am Russian and a big Maria fan but sadly I have to agree with you. She completely blew it here. She was already a bit past her prime too. It is too bad there wasnt an Olympics in 2000 as she would have been battling Kwan and Irina for the gold that year. Her scores and placement here were correct. I have no idea why your comment is marked down so much as it makes sense.

[twilliger123]

People who are just as rabid fans as Kwan, Sasha Cohen, and Tara Lipinski are the ones who gave me thumbs down, LOL!

[mlc2005]

I actally watched this program again, (after remembering it live a long time ago), and it really was quite good... Granted, some of the jumps were not incredibly smooth, but she really kept it up, and I think she ended up doing a great program... If you look at the speed and the spirals, I must say that it was pretty damn good. Ive always loved Maria, and I do wish she had gone out with a perfect routing that we all know she can do, but hey, she was 29! Let's give her some respect for that.

[AndyChen018]

IMO, mentioning her age does more disservice to her. The program (the sloppiness of it, ect...) had nothing to do with her age. This is what Maria has been all her career. Inconsistent. She can be beautiful and dreadful all in the same program.

[nondescriptnyc]

I agree in general, although her peak had come and passed a couple of years prior to this competition.

The judges/ISU had clearly dismissed her earlier in the 2002 season, which I suspect made her exceedingly nervous in Salt Lake. It shows--she looked like she was shaking like a leaf.

When she wasn't nervous (e.g., small competitions, exhibitions, etc.), she actually had strong edging and clean jumps. When she got nervous, though, she was a mess...even w/o major errors.

[Uglefanatikeren]

They had not dismissed her entirely cause she became European Champion that year..

[enir1]

After 3d minute of watching this video was about to beg her: PLEASE! no more jumps! I cant stand it anymore....

[fallonscenicbeauty]

Her look before her music began wasn't a very focused one. I was terribly diaaspointed in this performace from her. Although, she is a brillant skater.

[jprush]

I have always loved Maria's skating. I just feel that sometimes she chose music that was maybe a little too demanding to skate through. I love the Schnitke piece, but I feel that there might have been too much internal tension, which I think makes skating feel a bit tiring.

[waddleduckie1]

Landings looks slightly off balance but nice speed.

[fjn219]

I love the music, but this cutting sucks.

[nondescriptnyc]

I love her, the music, the costume, and everything about her--but I do feel that this program was too similar in the basic structure and "mood" to her previous programs (e.g., Seventeen Momentos..., Otonal, etc.). I would have liked to see something new.

[tsimshan]

This should have been above Kwan and Cohen.

[bublmidget]

hahaha

[huetboy27]

If this event was in Europe the short program standings would be: 1)Slutskaya, 2)Butyrskaya, 3 )Kwan, 4)Suguri, 5)Sebeysten, 6)Cohen, 7)Hughes

[Ardenis9]

khm just as i said somewhere before europeans usually are not fond of russians...i dont know what did you want to say but think about european history a bit.

[beckerbombs]

Cohen and Kwan each had one fall and skated the rest perfectly and smoothly. This skate was full of major errors: the aborted triple lutz attempt, the badly cheated triple-triple sequence, two footed triple flip, two footed triple lutz.

[barkingtree88]

Who are the British commentators?

[sayalamar]

The music is fantastic! skated perfectly this would have been a memorable performance.

[monstrzlodei]

She is great as usual!

[MelissaBelleK]

Overall, I think she was underrated and that's probably owing mostly to the fact that she isn't the most consistent of skaters when competing. She's much more elegant than Irina Slutskaya who isn't the least bit graceful.

[xlutskaya]

somebody has this music? i can't find it

[okhan001]

this music is sooooo annoying, hehe. I love Maria, though, and this was a valiant effort

[nissulya]

Oh, please, the music here is brilliant. And the scary and awesome film (the source of this music clip) is a legend!

[okhan001]

sorry, it's matter of opinion.

[MichiruSuiren]

@nissulya what is the name of the movie?

[mellowboy23]

I miss this kind of skater

[rockomoto]

the jumps just were not pretty. But my hat goes off to her for her determination.

[mlc2005]

I miss her.

[CoCoNuTsiopatHic]

@mlc2005 I miss her, too. :(

[mlc2005]

I will always Love Maria Butyrskaya... There was something about her. I just couldnt help pull for her in the competitions, and the girl knew how to pick music.

[BigA3372]

There is more than that. I saw Maria live twice, both at Euro's. When she skated, nobody dared to breath.. she was able to focus the attention of the audience on herself like nobody else I have seen live was ever able to (including Sasha, Irina, for example). It is charisma what set her apart...

[RedbeardNC]

interesting to note that Sarah Hughes BARELY got the ordinal over Maria in the short...Maria actually had more cumulative points than Sarah - had that been the rule, Maria would have been the one in the running for the medal in the long, not Sarah.

[suraaldy]

I'm glad it happened that way, because if Hughes had been 5th after the short, I don't think it would have been possible for her to win the gold -- but she definitely deserved it.

[sekretaznman81]

had that been the rule, then michelle would've won--which in my opinion would've created an outcry. much as i love michelle and really don't like sarah as much, i believe that sarah deserved gold that night. michelle was even lucky to hold on to bronze.

[hydrocarbure1]

Woah she fought so hard for that performance... even 2-footing the easier double axel at the end :(