John Curry - Maestro Documentary Part 4

[ruthbuss]

Thanks so much for posting this, I have really enjoyed watching the whole Documentary. I remember that Gold winning performance so well... it was so wonderful!

[Fatima502]

I still have that newspaper clipping somewhere. I'm sorry that it made John feel so sad, but actually that story was something of an inspiration. Someone who was daring to be different. Far worse in my judgement was the way he was treated at award ceremonies later in 1976.

[GenevieveGarbutt]

@Fatima502 could you please explain to me what you mean by the way he was treated at award ceremonies ?

[Mark5058]

@GenevieveGarbutt. At the 1976 British Sportswriter's awards the comedian Roger de Courcy referred to John as a “fairy” which was bad enough, but then the audience of other top sportsmen all laughed. Then at the 1976 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards where he won the top prize (a huge honour in the UK), he was kept waiting by Lord Mountbatten who rambled on about virtually every other athlete in contention before acknowledging that John was the winner.

[GenevieveGarbutt]

@Mark5058 thank you so much...you know I watched figure skating when John was skating but I didn't know all that it was..I only started watching it becaue I thougt it was amazingly beautiful..it was just by utubing that I learned of all John had to endure...my heart goes out to him and to all skaters who are belittled in any way....I thoght at the time his skating was brilliant. I like Toller 2 :-) I am so happy to have this video to watch just makes me apprciate skaters more.

[Mark5058]

@GenevieveGarbutt Thanks. With time, I feel that John has got the recognition he deserves. There is a statue of him at Nottingham Ice Rink. More people have come to realise what a special time it was in 1976-1980-1984 when we had figure skating golds at three successive Olympics. A long way from the level of success achieved by British skaters nowadays.

[like1976]

When I look at John,there is a sense of a person that was in alot of emotional pain. I don't think he ever found true love, nor did he learn to love himself. He seemed to be such a sad person. I hope that he is finally at peace since he didn't seem to find it in life. Such a beautiful man... such a tragic loss.

[nolaughingmatter]

I agree. There is so much loneliness in his skating. The perfection of his line shows that he must have spent thousands of hours alone to develop. If he were the life of a party, I don't think he would have perfected his craft. Success was a two-edge sword - he is remembered for his superb artistry, but who knows if he died happy? The more I think of his hours training and imagining his programs alone, the more painful and tragic I feel when I see the melancholy beauty of his performances.

[Yummy1976]

i love him.

[GenevieveGarbutt]

@Yummy1976  me 2