Irina Khavronina and David Narizhny: “Chock/Bates are too perfect. The perfect American family. But they somehow lack soul…They are husband and wife, but there’s little chemistry between them.”
Irina Khavronina and David Narizhny about current ice dance.
original source: Sport24 dd. 28th December 2024 by Konstantin Lesik
In the interview with Sport24, bronze medalists of the Russian Nationals, Khavronina Narizhny, shared their opinions on modern ice dancing. Here’s a translation of their comments.
“Q: Do you follow figure skating?
David Narizhny: We closely follow all disciplines. Both our own and international competitions. Someone said that they haven’t watched foreign dances for several years. I don’t understand that. I watch competitions and see that we are competitive. Yes, there are strong leaders in today’s ice dances – no question about that. But now, no one skates perfectly.
Q: Who used to be perfect?
David Narizhny: Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir, Meryl Davis/Charlie White, Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron. Guillaume is incredible. The pairs I’ve named, we won’t see the likes of them again. Each had their individuality. Watching them was an absolute pleasure. We don’t see that now.
Irina Khavronina: Everyone is now very even, all very beautiful. But there are no leaders who inspire everyone and whom everyone would follow.
Q: Why has this happened?
David Narizhny: The current leaders in dance are mostly older. They were “waiting in line” for a long time. Now everyone wants to get titles. And because of this, they get very nervous, which leads to mistakes, falls.
Irina Khavronina: In the Grand Prix Final, we were very upset because of the Canadians [Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier], because we had placed them first. We like them. There is some kind of desire in their skating.
Madison Chock/Evan Bates are too perfect. David said about them: “The perfect American family.” But they somehow lack soul…They are husband and wife, but there’s little chemistry between them. Just like two units.”
Related topics: David Narizny, Irina Khavronina, Madison Chock Evan Bates, Piper Gilles Paul Poirier
I agree in the sense that there probably won’t be any rival pairs to these, especially Papadakis/Cizeron. I think what has become the problem in pairs skating is that they perform together as partners, not as lovers, with passion and soul. Yes, it is nice to watch, yet it seems so fake, put on, soulless.
I agree in the sense that there probably won’t be any rival pairs to these, especially Papadakis/Cizeron. I think what has become the problem in pairs skating is that they perform together as partners, not as lovers, with passion and soul. Yes, it is nice to watch, yet it seems so fake, put on, soulless.
I mean, everybody has a right to their opinion. If somebody asks me, and I’m your average intermediate skater who cannot ice dance at all I can still have an opinion about ice dance. Which happens to be SB are better than these two and CB look nice but nothing too deep and never have been (including their edges)…. You’re entitled to your opinion that people are supposed to keep their mouth shut, but they were asked their opinion and they voiced it. I think it’s fine to have eyes and minds. I doubt the world champions saw or would care anyway
These two–who haven’t even competed internationally at the senior level–have a lot of nerve criticizing the world champions. They spend more time practicing and less time talking. The only decent Russian team is Stephanova and Bukin who would never make such an outlandish statement.