Performance of a Lifetime

If you know me, then you know that I am a huge fan of figure skating. This past weekend was the 2010 U.S. Men's National Championships. And this being an Olympic year, the results will also decide who represents the United States in Vancouver. Here is the free skate performance by Jeremy Abbott. It is possibly the most perfect technical performance I've ever seen (since the advent of the quadruple jump). A performance like this is what every skater dreams of.

And while I'm at it, here are more of my favorite figure skating performances.

In the 1984 Los Angeles Winter Olympics, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean clinched the top spot in pairs dancing by skating their legendary Bolero. It is rumored that English Parliament took a recess when the pair was set to skate in order for government officials to watch the British darlings win Olympic gold.

Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov were paired by their coach when she was only 10, and he was 14. Not only did they dominate the world of pairs skating--winning two Olympic gold medals, but theirs was a soaring love story. The beautiful, iconic Russian couple married in 1991 and gave birth to a daughter in 1992. Sadly, Sergei died unexpectedly in 1995, at the age of 25, from a massive heart attack. Here is their 1994 gold medal performance in the Lillehammer Winter Games, one year before Sergei's death.

Michelle Kwan is perhaps the name that is most synonymous with figure skating. Though she never won an Olympic gold medal, Michelle inarguably changed the face of the sport forever, and is the most decorated figure skater, man or woman, in its history. After a monumentally disappointing silver medal finish in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Kwan left her soul on the ice with this heartwrenching performance during the exhibition gala that followed.

The much touted Battle of the Brians in the 1984 Winter Olympics brought out two superb performances by Canada's Brian Orser and America's Brian Boitano. After much media hype, Boitano won, simply by defying gravity. See for yourself. Boitano's reaction at the end of his routine is that of pure joy, and it is priceless.

In the world of figure skating, Switzerland's Lucinda Ruh may not have risen to the top of international competition, but she is widely regarded as the best spinner to have ever stepped onto the rink. Ruh's spins were faster, more centered, and more intricate than that of any other. Here, she dazzles the crowd at the 1999 World Championship in Helsinki, Finland. (Her spin at 3:58 is nothing short of super human, centrifugal splendor.)