Some Disastrous Competitive Performances

Tara Lipinski had a near-disastrous SP in 1996, and barely made the cut to the LP. Her 10th place finish in the LP wowed the judges and gained her 8 places overall. It may have been that performance that put her on the map for 1997.

hockeyfan228 said:

Tara Lipinski had a near-disastrous SP in 1996, and barely made the cut to the LP. Her 10th place finish in the LP wowed the judges and gained her 8 places overall. It may have been that performance that put her on the map for 1997.

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What really put Tara on the map for the 1998 Olympics was her bronze medal finish at the 1996 Nationals which enabled her to compete at Worlds the following month. Indeed, she had a disastrous short program, but she came right back in the long program and finished 11th overall.

Tara can thank Nicole Bobek from withdrawing from the 1996 Nationals long program. Had Bobek skated the long program, she probably would have finished third, and that would have knocked Tara off the World Team. Oh well, that's another story for another thread!