Looking Back - The 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Competition - The Ladies

Looking Back - The 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Competition - The Ladies

I viewed my videotapes of the 1992 Winter Olympics the other evening and greatly enjoyed the spectacular figure skating competition. It was fantastic! My impressions of the women's competition:

1989 World Champion Midori Ito came into Albertville as the gold medal favorite, thanks to her victory at Trophee Lalique the previous fall (in the Olympic arena), and especially thanks to the fact that this was the first Olympics without the school figures in the singles competition – her weakness.

Midori was awesome in her early Alberville practice sessions, landing triple/triple combinations and her triple axel/double toe with ease. Evy Scotvold, Paul Wylie's coach, told members of the press, "Midori is outjumping the men". The Japanese press and many others from around the world besieged her, however, and the stress and pressure took its toll on Ito as the women’s competition drew closer. She began to miss her triple axel and was clearly losing some of her confidence.

In the short program warm-up, Midori started to warm up her entrance to the triple lutz, and Scott Hamilton, Verne Lundquist, and Tracey Wilson commented that it appeared that Midori was making a last-minute chance – substituting the triple lutz/double toe. Scott said, “I would never change my competitive program at the last minute, but it looks as though that’s exactly what Midori is planning to do.” She approached her triple lutz, rotated, and fell flat on the ice. She sprang up and landed the double toe. Midori’s marks were generous, however, and she was still in the hunt for a medal.

Kristi Yamaguchi, the defending World Champion, who had finished second to Ito at the Trophee Lalique competition, skated a beautiful short program to “Blue Danube”. Her triple lutz/double toe was landed a bit “forward”, but it was a clean combination. Hamilton said, “In my opinion, this is one of the finest competitive short programs, if not the finest.” When Kristi skated to the boards, her coach, Christy Ness, embraced her and said, “Beautiful, honey”. It surely was. She was in first place after the short program.

Nancy Kerrigan, the US silver medalist and defending World bronze medalist, skated a strong short program to music that was composed for her by Mark Militano, a former US pairs champion. She skated a very strong program and finished second to Yamaguchi. Nancy looked very confident in her short program performance.

Tonya Harding, the US bronze medalist and defending World silver medalist, took herself out of the medal hunt by falling on her triple axel in her short program. Harding had elected to arrive late at Albertville, and perhaps she was suffering from jet lag. In any case, she crashed on the triple axel, and the rest of her short program looked very flat.

None of the top women skated a clean long program. Yamaguchi nearly fell on her triple loop, and she watered her triple salchow to a double salchow. Ito fell on her first triple axel attempt but landed the second triple axel (the first triple axel by a woman skater in Olympic competition). Kerrigan made numerous mistakes and clearly looked as though she had blown her opportunity to win a medal. IMHO, her bronze medal was a gift. Harding skated a strong long program, but without the triple axel. IMHO, Harding outskated Kerrigan, and she would have won the bronze, had she not been in sixth place after the short program.

Final result – Yamaguchi, Ito, and Kerrigan. Harding finished fourth.
The medal ceremony was so uplifting, in my opinion. Kristi became the first American woman to win Olympic gold since Dorothy Hamill in 1976. Her parents and sister were in the stands, clearly thrilled with her victory. Kristi looked as though she could hardly believe it when the gold medal was presented to her. Midori Ito appeared happy with her silver medal, and the large contingent of Japanese fans waved “rising sun lanterns”. Nancy Kerrigan looked very happy to win the bronze, and her parents were very emotional during the playing of the National Anthem.

CBS played a recording of "This is the Moment" and showed snippets from a number of the women's long programs, finishing with the three medalists waving to the cheering crowd. I have to admit that I got a little choked up watching that. Those women were all so talented and so wondeful!

I thought Kristi's marks were huge considering her mistakes. 4 5.8s for technical merit, and 8 5.9s for presentation? It was if nobody had a chance to beat her even with a clean performance, even with her mistakes.

slutskayafan21 said:

I thought Kristi's marks were huge considering her mistakes. 4 5.8s for technical merit, and 8 5.9s for presentation? It was if nobody had a chance to beat her even with a clean performance, even with her mistakes.

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Many of the other women made mistakes, too. Nancy Kerrigan fluffed several of her jumps, Tonya Harding fell on her triple axel, and Midori Ito fell on her first triple axel attempt. Ito's technical marks were higher than Yamaguchi's, and rightly so, but Kristi's artistic marks were higher, and that was the tiebreaker.

And, since Ito was in fourth place after the short program, she had to win the long program and Kristi had to finish no higher than third for her (Ito) to win.

SkateFan4Life said:

Many of the other women made mistakes, too. Nancy Kerrigan fluffed several of her jumps, Tonya Harding fell on her triple axel, and Midori Ito fell on her first triple axel attempt. Ito's technical marks were higher than Yamaguchi's, and rightly so, but Kristi's artistic marks were higher, and that was the tiebreaker.

And, since Ito was in fourth place after the short program, she had to win the long program and Kristi had to finish no higher than third for her (Ito) to win.

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Oh I agree Kristi deservedly won the long program, although I could have seen it going to Ito as well, it was a moot point in the end as you said. However keep in mind Kristi skated first in that final flight. I did not think her marks should have been so high with two major mistakes. They did not know that none of Nancy, Tonya, or Midori would skate clean. It was like they were giving her the gold medal already.

slutskayafan21 said:

Oh I agree Kristi deservedly won the long program, although I could have seen it going to Ito as well, it was a moot point in the end as you said. However keep in mind Kristi skated first in that final flight. I did not think her marks should have been so high with two major mistakes. They did not know that none of Nancy, Tonya, or Midori would skate clean. It was like they were giving her the gold medal already.

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Actually, Kristi's marks did not guarantee her the gold medal. The judges left enough room so that another skater(s) could have scored higher in the long program. If Kristi had received, say, all 5.9s for technical merit, then I would agree with you that her marks were too high, but that did not happen.

SkateFan4Life said:

Actually, Kristi's marks did not guarantee her the gold medal. The judges left enough room so that another skater(s) could have scored higher in the long program. If Kristi had received, say, all 5.9s for technical merit, then I would agree with you that her marks were too high, but that did not happen.

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I dont think anybody but Midori was going to beat those marks even with a clean skate. Nancy with a clean skate might have gotten 5.7s and 5.8s technicaly, and all 5.8s artisicaly, at best she would have taken 1 or 2 judges off Kristi's scores, that is it. Tonya with a clean skate would have gotten all 5.9s technicaly and 5.7s and 5.8s artisticaly IMO, she would have been behind Kristi as well due to the second mark tiebreaker. Of course Midori needed somebody else to beat Kristi in the long to have a chance to win. So IMHO Kristi's scores did ensure her the gold medal even with her mistakes.

slutskayafan21 said:

I dont think anybody but Midori was going to beat those marks even with a clean skate. Nancy with a clean skate might have gotten 5.7s and 5.8s technicaly, and all 5.8s artisicaly, at best she would have taken 1 or 2 judges off Kristi's scores, that is it. Tonya with a clean skate would have gotten all 5.9s technicaly and 5.7s and 5.8s artisticaly IMO, she would have been behind Kristi as well due to the second mark tiebreaker. Of course Midori needed somebody else to beat Kristi in the long to have a chance to win. So IMHO Kristi's scores did ensure her the gold medal even with her mistakes.

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Don't forget - Kristi was the World Champion going into the 1992 Olympics. She was known as a complete, all-around skater, with great artistry as well as consistent jumps. Still, she really was not the odds-on favorite for the gold medal. Midori Ito was the favorite among many in the media and the general public. Many assumed that Ito would land her triple axels and just blow away the rest of the field. When Midori arrived in Albertville, she was landing awesome triple axel/triple toe combinations in practice, but she wilted as the competition drew nearer, and she started to lose her triple axel. The fell on her triple lutz/ double toe combination in the short program, and it was downhill from there for Midori.

SkateFan4Life said:

Don't forget - Kristi was the World Champion going into the 1992 Olympics. She was known as a complete, all-around skater, with great artistry as well as consistent jumps. Still, she really was not the odds-on favorite for the gold medal. Midori Ito was the favorite among many in the media and the general public. Many assumed that Ito would land her triple axels and just blow away the rest of the field. When Midori arrived in Albertville, she was landing awesome triple axel/triple toe combinations in practice, but she wilted as the competition drew nearer, and she started to lose her triple axel. The fell on her triple lutz/ double toe combination in the short program, and it was downhill from there for Midori.

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I agree with you there. As highly respected as Kristi was, Midori was even favored over her by some, and Tonya was also considered a gold threat due to her own jumping prowess. However after the short program showings, with Midori in 4th with a fall, and Tonya in 6th with a fall, I believe the judges had already decided Kristi had won the gold medal, and her long program scores, with two major mistakes, skating first in that final flight, demonstrated that. They were not competing vs one another so a direct comparision would be flawed, but it is interesting that Kwan got virtualy the same scores with a flawless 7-triple performance, skating first in the final flight, at the 98 Olympics.

slutskayafan21 said:

I agree with you there. As highly respected as Kristi was, Midori was even favored over her by some, and Tonya was also considered a gold threat due to her own jumping prowess. However after the short program showings, with Midori in 4th with a fall, and Tonya in 6th with a fall, I believe the judges had already decided Kristi had won the gold medal, and her long program scores, with two major mistakes, skating first in that final flight, demonstrated that. They were not competing vs one another so a direct comparision would be flawed, but it is interesting that Kwan got virtualy the same scores with a flawless 7-triple performance, skating first in the final flight, at the 98 Olympics.

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Well, Kristi was the defending World champion heading into the Olympics, so the judges certainly had to give her some benefit of the doubt. Besides, Kristi was a beautiful, all-around skater, an artist as well as an athlete, and the judges seemed to be searching to award the gold medal to the skater who was the most complete "package". Kristi's short program to "Blue Danube" was a gem, plain and simple. Elegant, athletic, graceful.

The judges had to hold back the marks a bit, as she skated first in her flight for the long program. I thought her marks were absolutely correct, in that they did deduct .1 or .2 for technical merit on the basis of her two technical errors, and they were all 5.8 and 5.9 for presentation.

Had Midori Ito landed her triple axel in the short program, the results might well have been different. I had picked the medalist as:

Midori Ito, gold
Kristi Yamaguchi, silver
Nancy Kerrigan, bronze

Oh well, at least I got the names right, if not the positions!

SkateFan4Life said:

Well, Kristi was the defending World champion heading into the Olympics, so the judges certainly had to give her some benefit of the doubt. Besides, Kristi was a beautiful, all-around skater, an artist as well as an athlete, and the judges seemed to be searching to award the gold medal to the skater who was the most complete "package". Kristi's short program to "Blue Danube" was a gem, plain and simple. Elegant, athletic, graceful.

The judges had to hold back the marks a bit, as she skated first in her flight for the long program. I thought her marks were absolutely correct, in that they did deduct .1 or .2 for technical merit on the basis of her two technical errors, and they were all 5.8 and 5.9 for presentation.

Had Midori Ito landed her triple axel in the short program, the results might well have been different. I had picked the medalist as:

Midori Ito, gold
Kristi Yamaguchi, silver
Nancy Kerrigan, bronze

Oh well, at least I got the names right, if not the positions!

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They deducted .1 to .2 for Kristi`s mistakes? Kristi`s marks were 5 5.7s and 4 5.8s for technical merit, and all 5.9s(except 1 5.8)for what was then called artistic impression. Are you saying the judges were planning to give her all 5.9s for technical merit had she skated cleanly, as the first skater, with two skaters to come planning triple axels? That is what her marks would have been with the .1 to .2 you say the judges deducted.

slutskayafan21 said:

Oh I agree Kristi deservedly won the long program, although I could have seen it going to Ito as well, it was a moot point in the end as you said. However keep in mind Kristi skated first in that final flight. I did not think her marks should have been so high with two major mistakes. They did not know that none of Nancy, Tonya, or Midori would skate clean. It was like they were giving her the gold medal already.

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She had very difficult elements in her program, a 3Z-3T combo and a second 3Z, a 3F, another 3T preceded by a split jump, a 2A preceded by an other artistic jump ... So even with that mistake on her 3L and only a double salchow, the standard was very high. Further more, giving her high marks in the 5.8s does not lock the first place for her. Remember the 96 Worlds when Lu Chen skated before Michelle Kwan in the free skate. Her routine was extraordinary, she received marks in the 5.8-5.9 range, but then Michelle came out with a perfect program that the judges in majority liked better (well I loved it too, but for me Lu Chen skated a program that should go down into history!) and they found the marks needed to put her in first place.

slutskayafan21 said:

They deducted .1 to .2 for Kristi`s mistakes? Kristi`s marks were 5 5.7s and 4 5.8s for technical merit, and all 5.9s(except 1 5.8)for what was then called artistic impression. Are you saying the judges were planning to give her all 5.9s for technical merit had she skated cleanly, as the first skater, with two skaters to come planning triple axels? That is what her marks would have been with the .1 to .2 you say the judges deducted.

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Kristi had plenty of high technical difficult in her long program - a strong triple lutz / triple toe combination, a second triple lutz. and three other triples, plus great artistry, spins, and choreography. She was the complete package. After her excellent short program, she was the woman to beat for the gold medal.

Had Tonya Harding used her head (fancy that) and traveled to Albertville with the rest of the team - or at least showed up for the opening ceremony - and then spent the next two weeks getting used to the arena, practices, etc., she might have skated far more securely. She definitely could have won a medal, had she landed her triple axels.

Albertville was the place that sparked the romance between Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, who then were skating with other partners - Scott Wendland and Natashi Kuchiki, respectively. There's nothing like an Olympics to meet your future husband or wife!

Harding probably could have medaled without her triple axels that year IMO. She knew she needed the triple axels to win though. Her problem is she did not keep herself in shape that year, not like she had all throughout 91 including the very start of the 91-92 season late in 91. She had some injuries, but when she could have been training she wasnt according to a book I read. Showing up late and jet lagged was silly as well. She also could have done a triple lutz in the short, since one of the other 3 leading contenders(Kristi, Nancy, and Midori)would probably fall in the short anyway, and then saved the triple axel for the long. I never understood that girl and how she sabatoged her career many times over.

Tonya was her own worst enemy, without a doubt. Her life has been filled with bad choices, horrible relationships, brushes with the law, etc. It's a case of completely wasting the gifts you have and failing to work within the rules to achieve the goals you want to attain.

I think this is a relevant competition to remember right now, with Torino just around the corner. In '92, the consensus seemed to be that since Harding and Ito had the triple axel and Yamaguchi didn't, Yamaguchi wasn't going to win that year. (Yamaguchi herself said she was prepared to have to wait till '94 if she had to). Well, Harding was 0-for-2 and Ito was 1-for-2 in triple axel attempts, so for all that talk of triple axel triple axel triple axel, only 25% of them turned out that well.
Now as we head into Torino, among the Ladies we are hearing triple/triple, triple/triple, triple/triple... Granted, more ladies have the triple/triple now than had the triple Axel in '92, but....... Let's see how many of them stay upright, shall we? It's slippery out there. This OGM could just as easily be decided by a different factor entirely.....

The early 90s was a revolutionary time in ladies skating. As recently as 1988, most ladies' LPs only contained 4 triples, usually only performing the 3sal and 3toe, perhaps a 3loop for the top contenders. By 1992 the ladies were banging out 7-triple LPs, including 3axels, 3/3 combinations and two 3lutzes. Unfortunately, in the white hot pressure of the Albertville Olympics many of these highly difficult programs turned into big splats on the ice.

Ito and Yamaguchi had wickedly difficult LPs which would be competitive today if they were tweaked for CoP. Both attempted 7-triple LPs with a 3/3 combination. Ito also attempted the 3axel, but Yamaguchi countered with difficult jump entrances. She had footwork into her 3flip, a back-bend into her 3loop and a split jump into her 3toe. I also agree that Kristi's Blue Danube SP was an absolute gem. It flowed like honey from a pitcher.

I think that after the SP, the competition was more or less over. In those days, you had to be in the Top 3 after the SP to control your own destiny. If you were 4th or lower, you had to both win the LP and have the SP leader finish 3rd or lower in the LP to win. After the SP the standings were:

1. Yamaguchi
2. Kerrigan
3. Bonaly
4. Ito
5. Hubert
6. Harding

With their powerful jumps and high technical difficulty, Ito and Harding had a strong chance to beat Yamaguchi in the free skate, but they were mired in 4th and 6th place due to falls. The skaters in 2nd (Kerrigan) and 3rd (Bonaly) simply didn't have the overall ability to challenge Kristi, the defending World Champion. Kristi would have had to really melt down in the LP to lose the OGM and that did not happen.

Not to nitpick but Ito was 1 for 3 on 3 axels. What was so great was that the one she hit was toward the end of her LP when you would have expected her to have the most probelms.

I thought Harding decided to switch to the 3 lutz in the SP in the last moment and washed out on that?

At any rate- Yamaguchi and Kerrigan both had strengths that played to the SP. Remember that Kerrigan used to be state of the art in spirals prior to Bobek, Kwan and Cohen (and Irina under COP). I think Harding really did have a lot of potential but just made one bad choice after another (in terms of programs, elements, training , coaches- not just her personal life.)

As time passes I appreciate these women more and more for their skill and esp jumping prowess.

rob43 said:

I thought Harding decided to switch to the 3 lutz in the SP in the last moment and washed out on that?

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Actually it was Midori who switched to the 3lutz/2toe in the SP and washed out. Tonya actually went for the 3axel/2toe in the SP -- a gutsy or foolish move, depending on how you look at it -- and took a hard fall.