Brasseur & Eisler (CAN) - 1994 Lillehammer, Figure Skating, Pairs' Free Skate

[@janyshendrickson3833]

Truly a lovely, lovely program and a great technical performance. The best lifts in the world. Bravo.

[@scook5599]

Maybe a little slower, but absolutely beautiful execution and line.

[@lidu6363]

Oh my god! I remember seeing this as two years old kid! I am still equally amazed!

[@sonyaballo4282]

you cant remember from two years old

[@GetBenched2010]

I've said this in other videos but Brasseur and Eisler were to pairs skating what Toller Cranston was to singles skating. Innovators, crowd pleasers, and risk takers. And like Toller before them, the skating establishment HATED them for it. Their only crime was being 20 years ahead of their time.

[@ilianatersy9839]

i remember their costumes. lol. for some reason i remember them as brother & sister.

[@chrisgatchalian3725]

Their skating slowed down in 1992-1993 and 1993-1994. Pre-1992 I think they skated with much more speed and flow. I know that mentally they tried to take a calmer, more laid-back approach after the '92 Olympics, but unfortunately it had the effect of cutting down on the speed and explosiveness of their skating.

[@GetBenched2010]

I think that was a result of Lloyd's many injuries that really started piling up in around 1991. That and the fact that judges hated how risky their performances were, (like Toller Cranston and Kurt Browning before them,) so they skated to not lose. (Brian Orser made this mistake in 1988.) While it won them a worlds, it didn't do them any favors in the Olympics.

[@rickram1961]

Scott Hamilton is an annoying commentator and he also favored Gordeeva & Grinkov with such a huge passion!

[@lilbatz]

Rick Mileske Scott is the weakest link in commentating.

[@adrianadiaz1012]

Siempre creyeron que iban a ganar pero fueron más poderoso los Rusos Ekaterina Goiedaa y Sergey Grikgokv siempre fueron los mejores ❤️

[@dwayneparkerUSA]

It's sad ... but I think Brasseur held Eisler back. (On the throw triple Salcahow, Scott Hamilton's commentary is misleading, calling it nicely done... please, she barely landed it.) And in pairs, one thing you CAN NOT MISS are the throws, for crying out loud. Their lifts, on the other hand, glorious, revolutionary!

[@chocolatesupport]

Also, the bottom line is that the two wonderful Russian teams, already had their time and should have stepped aside. They were lucky that the eligibility rules were changed, and people have said that this was a part of the corruption going on besides the judging - the Russian skating groups got the ISU (etc.) to change the rule. Brasseur and Eisler should have been the gold medallists, especially as they were World Champions coming into these games.

[@sonyaballo4282]

I would bet that even if the pros were not reinstated, the other Russian team would have magically won lol. Judging blocks. Vote swapping

[@lesleywallace8773]

To the Soviets, the gold medal was proof that the Communist system was a better political system. Steroids and all. The very sudden appearance of Oksana Baiul , The Women's gold medal winner at Lillehammer was very evident of that. Her edges were terrible. Her content was terrible and her rest periods were extremely long.

[@foodculture6355]

@@lesleywallace8773 Oksana was Ukrainian. She did not win on her technical merit score. She won on her artistry score. She was in a league of her own when it came to artistry. Oksana was so much better than Kerrigan. As for the pairs skater....Gordeeva and Grinkov were the standards of pair skating. They skated the best and that is why they won. The Canadian team had horrible artistry and they were clunky. I suggest you quit whining about politics and observe figure skating. You clearly have no idea what you're observing.

[@GetBenched2010]

It took 8 years of this BS for Scott Hamilton to call them out after Sele and Pelletier got jobbed in Salt Lake City. (He directly calling them out to a point where he stopped calling the country Russia and started calling them Soviets, was why the investigation happened because the Canadian media was too scared to do so.) That said, the judges always had it in for Isabelle and Lloyd because they were innovators and risk takers ala Toller Cranston. Had the professionals not come in, they'd have found an excuse to job them anyway.

[@GetBenched2010]

@@lesleywallace8773 Honestly I think this was ALL of the judges block voting as a middle finger to the Kerrigan/Harding drama. It embarrassed the sport on such a level that nobody needed to be bribed to look for ANYONE else to give the gold to.

[@Oreadno1]

Ir seemed to me that Lloyd Eisler was a little more interested in the fancy tricks than in improving their artistry. And Isabelle had a tendency towards what I called 'lazy leg'---her leg was straight and her toe was pointed but she never raised it as high as the Russian skaters did.

[@chrisgatchalian3725]

PS watch their short program from 1992 Worlds. That was ANYTHING but slow.

[@cathm8523]

I’m sorry, but you gotta give Lloyd credit for being honest. Saying I don’t give a rat’s ass about your marks is epic!! They skated very well at the biggest competition of their lives!! That’s what mattered!!

[@chocolatesupport]

All these years, the "not skating as fast" argument is very very weak. It's not the speed skating sport. It also depends on the music used. In this case Paganini. You will be out of place and like a bull in a china shop if you skate at top speed with this program music (the middle especially). Brasseur and Eisler can skate powerfully, and we saw it in their earlier programs. However, they wanted to portray this music, especially the slow section. Variations in pace. If you really watch this program, you'll see that there was no "artistic section/moment" in the program, because it was tailor-made to be the whole program through. Brasseur and Eisler, and their team, really did their homework and really did serious work! Overall, they were the best for their era because they could do ANY style, yet were always natural and convincing, and very versatile. On top of that, of course their huge technical abilities. Control is what they had and this is key.

[@intldawn]

I feel that there is a distinction between adjusting your skating to the choreography and music and just generally skating slowly. All top three teams had fast and slow sections to their program but the skating the Canadians throughout their program, regardless of the pace of the music, was slower. The exception would be in their lifts where they do have terrific flow and much harder positions than anybody. It does matter if you're carrying a lot of speed in and out of all your elements (increases the risk) and if you maintain speed from the beginning to the end of the program. The way the Canadians skate is not necessarily a "flaw" but it makes a difference when the teams you're fighting against have more speed and flow in most of their elements, particularly the throws. It hurts them in comparison, even if it doesn't prevent them from doing all the big, spectacular moves. Berezhnaya and Sikhauralidze come to mind in this regard. They always flew across the ice so most of their elements had more speed, distance, height and power. It makes a difference. I, too, would have loved to see them win. But say what you will about the propriety of the pros being reinstated, the pros outdid the "amateurs" that night. Probably the best pairs competition I've even seen.

[@beausunshine1]

I agree with you about the "not skating as fast" - that the Russians skated with more speed. Lloyd and Isabelle were skating to the tempo of the music! It was their choreographer's idea for them to skate to a more lyrical piece of music as the Russians do and I think that they did an outstanding job; this was their program from the 1993 World Championships where they won the gold medal. Nobody has more beautiful lifts than Brasseur and Eisler. I think that the judges were prejudiced towards the Russians and never gave Isabelle and Lloyd the credit that they deserved

[@annevibsmads7366]

the music is variations of theme of Paganini have found the music to the slower selection of the skate but not all of it anyone all of the music played her is it all varirations of a theme of Paganini ?? love this pair

[@ADEAL918]

annevibs mads first 30 seconds or so is Intermezzo from "Notre Dame" by Franz Schmidt. Second segment is from the overture to the operetta "If I Were King" by Adolphe Adam (best known for the Christmas carol "O Holy Night"). Then variations on a theme of Paganini, as you say (Rachmaninov), and then the last 45 seconds or so is from the "Poet and Peasant" overture by Franz von Suppe. (Also used by Aleksei Urmanov in his gold medal winning program in these Olympics)

[@RED-cy7ig]

@@ADEAL918 Thanks so much. The music selection was gorgeous.

[@proxy22]

B&E have the best lifts and always did... now looking back M&D were the best out of all 3.... but it looked laboured at times... expecially in the lifts! and their side by side spin was on one foot, no change lol.... G&G, while its a great program and had great speed, made two mistakes!

[@sonyaballo4282]

3, two jumps for sergei and side by side spins. M&D lifts were so bad, too simple and short and also their not skating that much faster than the Canadians

[@proxy22]

My podium: B&E, M&D, G&G

[@AFMKI_]

😂😂😂😂

[@rubym357]

Not fast my ass! Do you know they're nothing but a blur on those lifts. Lloyd was cracked on because he's the proverbial bull in the china shop. Do you know how big this dude was? He was a bodybuilder and played hockey. NOBODY could lift like this guy, not even Sergei or Artur!

[@stefaniedoloreux1044]

So true they always had the best lifts and Isabelle was fearless. Gordeeva-Grinkov also had amazing lifts but always found Dmitriev weaker on that aspect. I miss those days where amazing one handed lifts were made nowadays it looks like a Cirque du Soleil lift but mostly 2 handed and rarely elegant.

[@intldawn]

@proxy22 Really? No way B & E earn gold over the Russians in my book, absolutely no way. Startling as this is, nothing B & E did that night was better than both Russian teams, except perhaps their lifts. M & D had the performance/skate of the night (which should have won gold hands down, IMHO) and G & G had the flawless technique and speed. And B & E were the world champions! Sadly, they were fortunate to get bronze over S & H, who were flawless but had zero crowd appeal.

[@espinaca79]

The dress is way "fru-fru" for my taste!!!

[@foodculture6355]

They had some great technical skills but overall they were no where near the two Russian teams. They were kind of clunky and lacked artistry.

[@ВалентинаЛуханина-ф5х]

Партнер деревянный,выполнял силовые упражнения,четко по инструкции...Красоты и души в катании не было. Были просто трюки... С нашими КАТЮШЕЙ и СЕРЁЖЕЙ им не сравняться!

[@lucillebonds4332]

She knows how to skate but?????

[@hhluvzmagik]

B&E looked like junior skaters, and I don't feel they had the level of polish & sophistication of the Russians. I agreed with Scott, they skated very slow. I really think they missed a big opportunity. Too bad too.

[@skaterboy-cz9wj]

Wonderful team but they just don' t have the speed,power or artistry of the two Russian teams (actually the third Russian team were almostas good. The Russians even with problems were just cripser and more stylish but the speed is lacking.

[@AFMKI_]

Awful edges super slow and mid choreography third place well deserved