Biggest Judging errors in the past

[goldberry99]

Before I get to my pics, I just want to comment on Chen Lu's 1994 Olympic LP. Don't forget that she had a mistake in the short program on her combination, while Nancy, Oksana, and Surya all had clean skates. And in Chen's long program, she turned her opening triple lutz-double too loop jump combination into a jump sequence with a turn in between. She also put her hand down on her triple flip. Nancy's only mistake was doubling a triple flip, and it wasn't an error that looked sloppy or interrupted the flow like Chen Lu's mistakes.

1998 Olympics - G&P made mistakes during the compulsory and the judges didn't mark them.

1998 Olympics - Ina & Dungjen had perfect skates and finished fourth, behind two couples who made mistakes.

2002 Olympics - Ina & Zimmerman should have been fourth over Totmianina & Marinin.

2001 Worlds and 2002 Olympics - Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze are so far above Sale and Pelletier in choreography, speed, and presentation - they would have to make huge mistakes and S&P would have to make NO mistakes for the Canadians to ever beat them and that did not happen here in my opinion.

#1 WUZROBBING OF ALL TIME - Alexei Yagudin over Alexander Abt at 2002 Euros.

[kittyjake5]

-1998 Olympics-Tara Lipinski -MK was robbed.
-2002 Olympics MK's LP even with her mistakes
beat Irina's sloppy performance.
-2006-Olympics Fumie should have placed third, Irina 4th
-2002-Olympics B/S long program was better than
S/P and should have won gold if there was no cheating,
but of course we all know that story.

[hockeyfan228]

The three judges who placed Cohen's LP at Dortmund over Arakawa's, and the one who joined them to place Kwan's LP over Arakawa's.

Yagudin over Abt at 2002 Euros was a bad decision, IMO.

[R.D.]

It's easy to tear apart an injured skater.

It's also easy to tear apart certain posters...or I should say, a certain poster.

[slutskayafan21]

The three judges who placed Cohen's LP at Dortmund over Arakawa's, and the one who joined them to place Kwan's LP over Arakawa's.

Yagudin over Abt at 2002 Euros was a bad decision, IMO.

I agree. How on earth anybody could have placed Cohen's tenative flawed performance with one big error and several shaky jumps over Arakawa's stunning masterpiece of a skate is beyond me. Kwan I would also not have put above Arakawa, but atleast her performance was closer to Arakawa's then Cohen's was.

The 2002 Europeans was also a bad decision I agree. Abt was never given any gifts by the judges. The 2002 Worlds was not a big controversy that he did not medal, since Honda and he were fairly close, and Goebel outjumped both in the long program by a long ways, but alot feel he should have gotten atleast the bronze still. At the 2000 GP final he skated better then both Stojko and Goebel in the first long and short, and should have been in the A-final as it was called to get crucified by Plushenko but he still would have been 2nd instead of 4th where he ended up.

[sk8addict]

Are you referring to Bolero in the Cheesefest? I rather liked that performance! her only mistake was a double 3toe. I found she gave an uplifting, pleasant performance that was so much better than her Worlds showings. Sasha, who was 2nd (and IMO, robbed Jenny Kirk-she skated very well), with several wonky and two-ft landings, did not skate well enough to overtake Michelle.

Other competitions, that to me were wrong:

Worlds 2003-I truly feel Tim should've won.

Sarah/Sasha 2003 Nationals-I felt AP was robbed of Silver and should have been on the Worlds Team that year.

Sasha SA 2003-Jenny should've won the LP.

VV CofRussia 2002-Sasha skated pretty clean back to back performances, still couldn't win.

I must remind you that AP was held up in the short after falling on her 3loop. I remember because it was the first time I was actually glad someone was held up. Sure do miss her.

[Zuranthium]

Before I get to my pics, I just want to comment on Chen Lu's 1994 Olympic LP. Don't forget that she had a mistake in the short program on her combination, while Nancy, Oksana, and Surya all had clean skates. And in Chen's long program, she turned her opening triple lutz-double too loop jump combination into a jump sequence with a turn in between. She also put her hand down on her triple flip. Nancy's only mistake was doubling a triple flip, and it wasn't an error that looked sloppy or interrupted the flow like Chen Lu's mistakes.

Not true. Nancy also made the mistake of leaving out an entire jumping pass, therefore only completing 5 Triples. Lu Chen did 6. She had better spins too. Put their performances into COP -- Lu Chen wins. Although, yes, Nancy deserved Gold overall when taking the short program into account.

[Lanie]

Jenny should have won the LP in SA 2003? Wow. Um. Jenny, while she landed all her jumps, didn't have near the difficulty in her program that Sasha did. Jenny never really progressed, which is a shame, because she was a nice skater to watch.

How the heck did Viktoria win 2002 CoR? Wasn't it the random dumping of scores that helped her win over Sasha who skated very nicely?

I agree with most of the comments above. I find that lots of the mid-tier skaters are overmarked or undermarked, but that's JMO. Like G/P beating the Kerrs at Worlds? What planet were the judges on? And I like G/P, but that made me scratch my head.

Another ne - Angela Nikodinov bronze in 2001 Nats. WHAT?! She should have had silver. I think she was undermarked at 2001 Worlds also and do think she should have been on the 2002 Olympic team over Sarah. USFSA seemed to hate her.

[chuckm]

Another ne - Angela Nikodinov bronze in 2001 Nats. WHAT?! She should have had silver. I think she was undermarked at 2001 Worlds also and do think she should have been on the 2002 Olympic team over Sarah. USFSA seemed to hate her.

I have to disagree about Angela on the 2002 Olympic team and 2001 Worlds. Angela skated a terrific SP in both competitions, but she went on to double jumps in the last minute of her FS, just as she's done in just about every important competition. I love Angela's skating, but she just couldn't keep herself from backing off in the clutch.

[R.D.]

Didn't Nikodinov either medal or win one year at SA or something?

[SeaniBu]

It's also easy to tear apart certain posters...or I should say, a certain poster.

Are you making fun of me again I am starting to develop a complex

Just Kidding, I hope

[Theatregirl1122]

That Runway episode. The guy who made a skating outfit that looked like a turkey in mating season was not voted off the show!

How in heaven's name could a tragedy like that be allowed to happen?

I agree, talk about bloc judging and manufacturing controversy.

But seriously, Zhang and Zhang at the Olympics. I don't think it was the biggest judging error ever, but it was a little odd. I think that 1) they shouldn't have been allowed to continue after 2 mins had elapsed. I understand that the ref did not start the clock because he didn't know when to do so, but this situation should be adressed and fixed. 2) They were overmarked in PCs. I don't know how you get high 7s and 8s for a program with a disruption that large. That medal was awarded because they were determined and continued to skate. (which is admirable)

[Zanzibar]

Yagudin gold in 2002 Europeans - Abt should have won

Might have to have that engraved on my tombstone I've said it so many times.

[R.D.]

Are you making fun of me again I am starting to develop a complex

Just Kidding, I hope

The comment was not directed at you. Just to clarify...

[MKFSfan]

I look at Worlds 1996 (Lulu VS MK) and Olympics 1998 (MK VS TL) the same way. Either skater could've justifiably won that night, and either skate would have been a satisfying Gold Medal program. I do think skate order played a factor in both Michelle's 1996 and Tara's 1998 win, as well as emotions-Michelle in 1996 was so emotional and new-the whole"breath of fresh air", while I did love Lu Chen and thought she was amazing that night. Tara in 1998 was more energetic and exhuberant, with Michelle being a little more reserved (well, compared to 1998 Nats. and Tara that night) but both competitions were close, and could have easily gone the other way.