Looking Back - 1989 World Championships - Paris, France

Here we go again - I viewed my videotapes from the CBS-TV coverage of the 1989 World Figure Skating Championships, which were held in Paris. It was a grand, glorious, and memorable competition.

The Women:
Without a doubt, one of the highlights was the gold-medal performance of Japan's Midori Ito, who became the first woman to land the triple axel at the Worlds and also became the first Japanese woman to win the World title. Midori had always been a dynamic, if somewhat less than artistic, free skater, but she was always held back by her relatively weak execution of the school figures, which were then factored into the overall score. Midori skated the best figures of her life and finished sixth in that phase of the competition. She then went on to win, convincingly, both the short and long programs, and she won the World title over Claudia Leistner of West Germany and Jill Trenary of the United States. Midori's technical marks were five 6.0s and four 5.9s. Scott Hamilton, commentating, practically screamed (as did the audience) when those marks were displayed. They were richly deserved. Midori had landed seven triples - the lutz, axel, flip, loop, triple toe/triple toe, and salchow - each one perfectly executed, and her artistic presentation was greatly improved. Ito was so overjoyed with her performance that she left the ice in tears. The "Jumping Flea" reigned in Paris.

In contrast, Leistner and Trenary skated cautious programs with several errors.
Certainly, they deserved their medals, but they were not in Ito's class. Jill said later that she had been very nervous throughout the competition. She and Ito shared the ice during practices, and Jill had been psyched out by watching Ito land triple after triple.

The Men:
The 1989 Worlds was also the competition in which Canada's Kurt Browning won the first of his four World titles. He finished fifth in the school figures and won both the short and long programs - very convincingly. In those days, a skater could repeat the triple axel in the short program, and Kurt landed two of them, one solo, the other in combination. His long program featured a slightly two-footed quad toe, a fallout on one triple axel, but a series of beautifully landed triples, including a second triple axel in combination. Browning had grown as an artistic skater, and his presentation marks were high - not as high as his excellent technical marks - but very high.

When Kurt was asked what he was feeling, after he knew that he had won, he said, "I don't feel anything yet. I've been sitting here thinking of all the things that happen to World champions, and now they're going to happen to me." Kurt said that almost ruefully, as though he anticipated that winning the World title would carry a great deal of responsibility as well as adulation.

Christopher Bowman, the newly-crowned US men's champion, won the silver medal with a strong long program that included a fallout in the triple axel and no triple axel in his short program. The bronze was won by Gregorz Filipowski of Poland, a wonderful journeyman competitor who had previously always made just enough mistakes to miss the podium. Not this time. He actually finished ahead of Bowman in the freeskate, and that fine performance won him the bronze medal.

The Pairs
As always, I was mesmerized at the performances of Katia Gordeeva and Sergi Grinkov of the USSR, who regained their World title. Unbenownst to many, Katia and Sergi's romance had begun shortly before that Worlds, and their closeness was evident in their wonderful short and long programs.

The silver medal was won by Canadians Lyndon Johnston, a 27-year-old veteran of pairs skating with other partners, and new partner Cindy Landry, a very talented 17-year-old. Johnston, who was named by his parents in honor of US President Lyndon Johnson, jokingly told the press that "figure skating is the only pursuit in which a 27-year-old man can honorably pick up a 17-year-old girl."

The bronze medal was won by Soviets Elena Bechke and her then-husband Denis Petrov.

Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudi Galindo, the newly-crowned US pairs champions, skated beautiful programs in their World debut, and they finished fifth overall. Their "Romeo and Juliet" long program featured two side-by-side triple jumps - toes and flips.

Ice Dance:
Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko of the Soviet Union won their first World title in Paris. They were elegant and musical, as always.

The silver medal was won by Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin, in their World debut. This couple, then in their mid-20s had been virtually unknown on the world scene before this competition. The television commentators and print media had one question to ask - "Where had they been???"

The bronze medal was won by Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay, the brother and sister team who stunned the Calgary audience with their "African hunt" free dance. Clearly, this couple was innovative, and their programs were unique.

The performances, overall, showed a great deal of imagination and artistry, and especially in the singles skaters, who at that time had to spend a considerable amount of their training time tracing the school figures. While there were many jumps - primarily triples - the programs were musical and showed a lot of thought and creativity.

That performance by U&Z to Mars and Chopin was one of the finest ice dances of all time. It was a shame that this pair didn't win worlds in 1991 (when they came in the freedance in first place) and that the judges actually put them behind the Duschenays throughout most of their career (French politicking at its finest).

I could never stand the Duchenays, and all their whining about judging annoyed me to death. I loved both Klimova/Ponamarenko and Usova/Zhulin.
Maya and Alexander were totally robbed in 91, Klimova/Ponamarenko were no at their best, and the Duchenays did yet another "Missing" program, imagine a team supposably so groundbreaking and original kept continuing the same field until they bled it to death. Maya and Alexander came into the free dance in 1st place, and gained 4 of the 9 judges 1st place votes in the free dance itself didnt they? Yet they still finished 3rd, yet were so close to winning those 91 Worlds, oh how different the 92 Olympics might have been coming in as World Champs. They were relegated by 92, to only getting 2 seond place votes, both which were simply dismissed as politiking since the Russians put them 2nd over Duchenays, and French put them 2nd over Klimova/Ponamarenko.

Being unfamiliar with fs before 1992, was it expected that Midori was going to do the 3 axel going into the 89 Worlds?

Midori had landed a triple axel in a competition prior to worlds, so I think it was expected that she would go for it. Until she landed that one, I don't think anyone ever believed that a woman could land a triple axel in a world championship.

soogar said:

That performance by U&Z to Mars and Chopin was one of the finest ice dances of all time. It was a shame that this pair didn't win worlds in 1991 (when they came in the freedance in first place) and that the judges actually put them behind the Duschenays throughout most of their career (French politicking at its finest).

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The Mars+Chopin program by Usova-Zhulin is one of my favorite FD's of all times. U&Z were relegated to 3rd place by the time 1992 Olys came around, to make room for the Dushenays. Otherwise U&Z could have been challenging Klimova-Ponomarenko for the OGM. I liked the Dushenays' creativity but U&Z were far superior skaters and ice dancers with balletic lines that were extraordinary. Sasha Zhulin was one of the most elegant male skaters.

Actually, after viewing Gordeeva and Grinkov's 1989 Worlds long program, I believe I saw some special chemistry between them. Perhaps it was not "obvious" that they were in love, but they clearly had a close relationship.

My videotape also has a number of "up close and personal" segments on
Viktor Petrenko, Alexandr Fadeev, and Christopher Bowman, as it clearly believed the competition would be a three-man show between the two Soviet and one American skater.

The Petrenko piece focused on his city of Odessa, and his excellent training facility. Since he was then the #1 ranked skater in the world, he received some nice privileges, including a car.

The Fadeev piece showcased his training center in Moscow - a dingy rink run by the Soviet Army - and his wife and infant daughter. He said that his daughter gave him the inspiration to get back to serious training, and he showed his return to the top with his victory in the 1989 European Championships.

The Bowman piece emphasized the "Bowman the Showman" persona that Chris supposedly tried to emulate on and off the ice. There was a brief amount of footage of Chris eating a spaghetti dinner with his parents and sister at home - in a very dingly, sparsely furnished kitchen that was lit by a single, dangling light bulb. :scratch:

Midori Ito and Jill Trenary were also featured in segments. Ito was shown at her high school graduation, receiving a bouquet of flowers from an admirer as she and the rest of her classmates processed out of the auditorium. Trenary was shown in her first apartment in Colorado Springs, where she was also taking a few college courses.

Trenary flew to Paris on the Concorde, and the segment showed her arrival, where she was presented with a large bouqet of roses.

SkateFan4Life said:

Trenary flew to Paris on the Concorde, and the segment showed her arrival, where she was presented with a large bouqet of roses.

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I knew skaters were wealthy, but I didn't know Jill's father could afford to spring for her to fly on the Concorde. This was 1989 and skaters had to be completely amateur (though some skaters might have gotten money on the sly).

I think the 89 Worlds are most memorable as being the one Worlds where BOTH singles titles were won by just absolutely incredible technical displays; both Kurt and Midori spent most of their free programs halfway up into the rafters and it was just very exciting to watch. I was glad to see Filipowski on the podium; he'd been a "supporting player" for so many years and it was good to see him break through, especially as he came from a country that had never won a Worlds medal before. I was glad as well to see Claudia Leistner return to the podium after 7 years (that's a long time between Worlds medals!!) I never found her all that exciting, but I do admire longevity.

I personally am less mystified about why Usova & Zhulin were placed behind the Duchesnays, than why they were usually placed behind Klimova & Ponomarenko. With the exception of their Albertville free dance (which was admittedly quite spectacular), I saw every free dance that K & P did at Olys and Worlds from 1984 on and have yet to remember one single thing that they did the minute they stepped off the ice. Usova & Zhulin, to me, were a much more interesting couple that did some great stuff that I can still remember. Same with the Duchesnays.

I thought K&P's Olympic free dance was disappointing. K&P were known for their intricate footwork and danceholds and to see them skate such a simple program just to compete with the Duschenays for theater was ridiculous. Sport over show.

U&Z never got what they deserved out of the sport. They were kept in the wait your turn and then bumped off by G&P. Many people expressed disbelief that U&Z were only third ranked in the World. Most notably Sandra Bezic commented during their exhibition in 91 or 92 that U&Z were so much better than third place.

I disliked the Duschenays. They were rough and ragged and had very poor technique. It just shows what kind of dealmaking the French Fed was capable of.
In that time period, there were many couples who were far superior to the Duschenays. In addition to the Russian teams, there were the Finns who arguably had the best technique in compulsories yet were always buried.

Rant over.

I was really delighted to see Kurt Browning break out of the pack and dominate the 1989 Worlds. The media wrote as though it was a three-man competition between Petrenko, Fadeev, and Bowman, and Browning skated in and simply outskated the pack. Kurt showed such a tremendous artistic improvement, and his jumps were the best of the field, without a doubt.

I also thought Midori Ito was a breath of fresh air. She, too, and made some impressive strides in her artistry, and although she was still primarily a great jumper, she also showed some grace and expression.

Both Midori and Kurt were great, great champions!!

soogar said:

I knew skaters were wealthy, but I didn't know Jill's father could afford to spring for her to fly on the Concorde. This was 1989 and skaters had to be completely amateur (though some skaters might have gotten money on the sly).

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I doubt if Jill's father paid for the Concorde to take his daughter to the Worlds. I think she had a sponsor at that time, but I could be wrong, of course.

Nancy Kerrigan and Paul Wylie did not come from weathy families, either, and in their "amateur" days, their Princeton-NJ sponsor paid for their training and other expenses.

Perhaps Jill had such a guardian angel.

I had only started following figure skating around 87. I remember always expecting Fadeev to do better in big events than he did. He seemed to skate really well at grand prix type events(I know there was no grand prix series then, but those type of events)or Europeans, but not skate as well at Worlds and Olympics. I remember him bombing at both the 88 Olympics and 89 Worlds, and his skating at some events leading into the 89 Worlds suggested he had a good chance of winning 4 years after his first World title. At the 88 Ollympics, he was overshadowed by the two Brians going in, and made so many errors in the short and long to be pushed off the podium by young teammate Petrenko. That dissapointment was probably the only reason he even tried staying in another year or two. The way his career gradualy deteriated after winning the 85 Worlds is a bit sad though, and reading stories about him were interesting.

I also think Browning and Ito were unbelievable at the 89 Worlds, and it took another 5-7 years for either gender, for anybody to even approach those performances in a global event IMO. It was like a clinic of athletic phenomen from both of them, and yet both showed their progress in style, body awareness,
musical utilization, and just overall performance and skating quality.

I agree with you about Midori Ito and Kurt Browning's athletic genius at the 1989 Worlds. They dominated the free skating, each winning both short and long programs. Great jumps, choreography, and routines.

Midori wasn't rich either. I think her parents got divorced and she lived with her coach since she was around 12yo, I think. I wonder her coach paid for her rink fees and such.

I also remember watching how Midori wasn't particularly athletic in shcool. She had very average jumping ability on the floor.

The television coverage of the 1989 Worlds contained an "up close and personal" piece on Midori Ito, and it included footage of her as a five-year-old, performing jumps and scratch spins at public skating sessions. This little girl really had talent, and she loved to skate. She was also shown as a 14-year-old at the 1984 Junior World Championships. She was so tiny that she was dubbed "The jumping flea". Ito also was the first woman to land a triple/triple combination, and she did this a 3/3 toe, at the age of 12.

Yes, her parents divorced when she was a child, and she lived with her coach for a number of years. She and her coach seemed to have a very close, warm relationship, and when Midori won the World title that year, they embraced in tears of joy.