After winning the compulsory figures portion, Jan Hoffmann of East Germany placed 2nd in the short program at the 1980 Winter Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York
One judge (from Great Britain) gave him only a 5.5 for presentation. Seriously, even that was too high. Jan was uniquely void of style and musicality here. Most men in 1960 had more style, and by 1980 the Curry/Cranston effect was in full force, which meant men were using their arms and upper bodies in their skating, not keeping their hands flat and palms toward the ice. In contrast, Robin Cousins moved really well on the ice and had superb form in everything he did. Did no one tell Jan that bobbing his arms up and down while doing back crossovers looks stupid? Even Cousins did a little of this. I have seen Jan Hoffmann in interviews and he's a nice fellow. He just didn't have an artistic bone in his body. However, his long program was energetic and dynamic, and parts of it looked pretty good.
Мне очень понравилась все видео фигурного катания. Огромное спасибо всем!
I like his clean, Masculine (a dirty word in today's Men's figure skating) style.
One judge (from Great Britain) gave him only a 5.5 for presentation. Seriously, even that was too high. Jan was uniquely void of style and musicality here. Most men in 1960 had more style, and by 1980 the Curry/Cranston effect was in full force, which meant men were using their arms and upper bodies in their skating, not keeping their hands flat and palms toward the ice. In contrast, Robin Cousins moved really well on the ice and had superb form in everything he did.
Did no one tell Jan that bobbing his arms up and down while doing back crossovers looks stupid? Even Cousins did a little of this. I have seen Jan Hoffmann in interviews and he's a nice fellow. He just didn't have an artistic bone in his body.
However, his long program was energetic and dynamic, and parts of it looked pretty good.
he was a fairly good jumper but overall a terrible skater stiff no feeling for artistry in the music he wasnt even close to cousins
Plus he had the worst hand positions.