Closest Ladies Competition

Closest Ladies Competition

In your opinions, what amateur event in the ladies field was the closest call? There are a few I can remember, but I'm thinking Olympics and Worlds. For me, I'd have to say the closest of all was Michelle vs. Chen at the 96 Worlds. Nagano would be a close second, and Lillehammer a distant third.

Re: Closest Ladies Competition

1996 was one of my favorite years in skating, due in part to the fact that Michelle won the worlds for the first time. That is the reason why I pick that competition.

Re: Closest Ladies Competition

I think the the 2002 olympics were incredibly close. they're were about 4 women whole all could have one gold, and one lucky one did. Same with 1996 Worlds, Michelle had the skate of the night.
Laura

Re: Closest Ladies Competition

In terms of the judges, '94 Olympics was the closest of the events listed--I think, unless I'm mistaken. A 5/4 split with the deciding judge having Oksana and Nancy in a tie re the total of their tech and pres marks. But he had Oksana higher on the pres mark by 1/10th of a point and since in that system the pres mark was the tiebreaker, Oksana won. Personally, I also thought that one was closest so it got my vote.
Rgirl

Re: Closest Ladies Competition

Well here are my opinions of the compeition:

<strong>1994 Olympics</strong>: I think this competition was really closer than it should have been. Matter of fact I thought the results were completely opposite of what I thought would have been fair. Nancy Kerrigan skated a very elegant program landing 5 triples including 3toe/3toe, and a 3Lutz 3 minutes into her program. Yes her jumps were small but the program was very well choreographed and executed. Oksana Baiul on the other hand, got away with somethings. She did land some very nice big jumps and her program was very good overall, however she had some technical problems. She two-footed her 3Flip, doubled a 3Toe, and had a wocky landing on 2Axel/2Toe late in the program.
Nancy Kerrigan: 5.8/5.8
Oskana Baiul: 5.6/5.9

<strong>1994 World Championships</strong>: This was fair...Surya had a technical performance, landing 6 CLEAN triples and Yuka also landed 6 clean triples...Surya's 3Flip/3Toe was underrotated..but Yukas program was so much better.
Yuka Sato: 5.7/5.9
Surya Bonaly: 5.8/5.7

<strong>1996 World Championships</strong>: Now I would have hated to be a judge of this competition. This I will honestly say, I am a HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE MK fan, and she is my favorite skater...but I would have given this title to Lu Chen. Lu Chens performance was absolutely stunning, and technically her jumps were great. Lu Chen landed 6 Secure triples and a (2) 2Axels, while Michelle landed 7 Triples and 1 2Axel, technically very close. This I believe was the closest competition ever.
Lu Chen: 5.8/6.0
Michelle Kwan: 5.9/5.9

<strong>1998 Olympics</strong>: Being someone who appreciates the artistry in a program I didn't agree with this result either. *sigh* 3 Olympics in a row that I don't agree with the results (94,98,02). Maybe there is something wrong with my judging :lol: . Michelles program was beautiful, right up there with her nationals performance. Technically it was very good, Taras was very good as well, her speed was great as well, but I did not agree with her 5.9's she received for presentation. But hey...it was a 6-3 split.
Michelle Kwan: 5.8/5.9
Tara Lipinski: 5.9/5.8

<strong>2002 Olympics</strong>:Now lets start here since this was a overall battle...here are my comments after the SP.

<strong>Michelle Kwan:</strong> Really not too much to say about this performance, it was magical and it was great, she seemed a bit tentative at first, but she settled in. Her 3Flip was underrotated and it garners a .1-.3 deduction. (5.6/5.9)
<strong>Irina Slutskaya:</strong> Her performance was very good as well. The best technical performance IMO, however, Irina was much more tentative than I was used to seeing her, and it may have caused her the Gold. She was much slower than usual and didn't sell her SP. Presentation was ok, nothing to ride home about. (5.7/5.7)
<strong>Sasha Cohen:</strong> Now again this was another performance that was very good, but some minor mistakes kept it from being the best SP of the night. Her slight flutz, and failing to close her footwork, and also a deduction for not having footwork "immediately" before her single jump. (5.5/5.
<strong>Maria Butyrskaya:</strong> Program was good, nothing spectacular, did all the elements needed to be in that final group. Program was nice, a little boring, but choreography was solid. (5.5/5.7)
<strong>Sarah Hughes:</strong> I believe that this young lady still somewhat skates like a high level junior skater. She does have some glimpses of brilliance, but fails to bring that out more than 30 seconds in a program. Her program was good, The choreography is ok in her SP, is nothing compared to her LP IMO. Her jumps were flawed...yes she did 3Flutz/2Loop, but struggled on many of her landings. Seemed a bit tentative as well. Her footwork sequence is nice, but simple compared to some of the other skaters. (5.4/5.6)

<strong>NOW THE LP's</strong>

<strong>Sarah Hughes:</strong> All I can say, is the girl was on. Her jumps were good. She still flutzed that Lutz, but all of her jumps were solid. Triple/Triples were great...not underrotated. She sold the program, she had a lot of speed, there is no question that she was the best skater of that night. 7 Triples. (5.9/5.
<strong>Michelle Kwan:</strong> Here is where many will not agree with me. She landed 5 clean triples, which was a solid performance. Yes she fell but she still was able to complete many triples. Remember the LP is about what you do not what you don't do. Not deductions for falls. she fell once, and slightly two-footed her 3toe/2toe combination. Landed a beautiful 3Lutz/2Loop combination. She still sold the performance, had good speed, and great presentation as usual. (5.6/5.9)
<strong>Sasha Cohen:</strong> Attempted 3Lutz/3Toe, a very bold attempt. She doesn't skate with the speed as the other big guns, which may not help her in the technical department. But she still pulled away with 5 or 6 triples..?? Memory ??. She SOLLD her program, it was great overall. Great Presentation, bright future. (5.6/5.
<strong>Irina Slutskaya:</strong> I am going to refrain from negative comments. That was not Irina on the ice that night. She was slower than she was in the SP, she was very very slow. Tentative, and presentation and excitement that made "tosca" a success during the season was not there. Her presentation was no where near par as the other 3 american women. Not trying to be biast but that is my opinoin. No she didn't fall, but she did bobble, and she landed just as many triples as Sasha, and one more (in clean standpoint) than Michelle. (5.7/5.7)

OVERALL:

Michelle Kwan: 1/2= 2.5
Sarah Hughes: 5/1= 3.5
Sasha Cohen: 3/3= 4.5
Irina Slutskaya: 2/4= 5.0

Re: Closest Ladies Competition

I heard somewhere that 1996 Worlds was a 6.0 showdown...

6.0 Showdown

Moonlite Sonata,

Yes, the 1996 Worlds has become known as a 6.0 showdown. Chen Lu skated 2nd in the final group and was perfect, receiving nothing lower than a 5.8 for either mark and 2 6.0s for presentation. Michelle skated 5th and was flawless, receiving a bunch of 5.9s for technical merit and 2 6.0s for presentation as well. I believe it was a 6/3 split giving Michelle the win, but I thought it should have been much closer. Perhaps it was because Chen skated so early in the final group, but if there ever was a time for a 5/4 split this should have been it.

Re: 6.0 Showdown

That was an amazing night...

I honestly think that the best LP's artistically by a women that I have seen since I have been watching (1992) was Michelles "Lyra Angelica" @ Nationals and...Lu Chens' Rach @ 96 Worlds...that program was amazing, and I didn't think that Michelle would be able to top that.....that was amazing, and really not even Cohen "rach" can touch Lu Chen...it was magical..