40 year old woman wins world pairs figure skating title.

[SarahD]

I watched this on TV. She and her partner are the real deal. They are GOOD! They were skating on home ice, so it was an extra big deal. I have watched pairs before, but I am always surprised by how dangerous it is. The man does the lifting and throwing, of course, and the woman flies several feet in the air and twenty horizontal feet down the ice, at about 15 mph and spinning like a top. My God! I never got beyond single jumps, let alone triples and quads while being thrown. I guess it would be thrilling once you learned to.do it. Or you might kill yourself trying. Anyway, this is cool for older people.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/23/sport/figure-skating-championships-deanna-stellato-dudek/index.html

[GopherGal]

1. All the more interesting...

given that in the late 70's to early 80's the Soviets were innovating toward what were called "gorilla and flea" pairs, often paring a pre-pubescent tween girl with a strong older man who could easily lift and throw his tiny younger partner. This trend was most exemplified by the 1980 Olympic silver medalists.

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Cherkasova|

Cherkasova and Shakhrai were 12 and 18 respectively when they were paired together. Initially, there was a 35 cm height difference between the pair, with Cherkasova only 138 cm tall.[1]
Cherkasova was 12 when the pair captured the bronze at their first European Championship in 1977. Their height difference facilitated innovation in twist and lift elements; they became the first pair to perform triple jump (toeloop) at "Moscow news" trophy 9 december 1977[2] and the split quadruple twist in 1977.[3] Later, the judging standards were changed to value physical harmony between the partners, which handicapped Cherkasova and her partner.

35 cm ~ 14 inches
138 cm ~ 4 feet, 6.5 inches

Eventually, age limits were introduced which made the gorilla and flea strategy less viable, as well. Nice to see Deanna defy this old "wisdom".

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Great Info, But...

...the guy was no "gorilla". 4' 6.5" plus 14" is only 5' 8.5". I'm taller than that, & I'm not tall!
The rest of the post is fascinating.

[EarnestPutz]

2. Check out the second photo in the CNN link above. My reaction was "holy shit, look at her".

[Warpy]

3. Here they are

Looks like mostly a timing fault on that first jump combination.

Some women are just hitting their athletic stride in their 30s and 40s. In figure skating, they win the prizes when they're teenagers and/or in their early 20s, then turn professional.

It seems like she didn't turn professional. I think sh might have taught, something allowed her to keep her skills up.

[a kennedy]

4. Absolutely insane......bravo, bravo.....