- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
There is always a teeny element of luck in any sporting event. Sarah "made her own luck" by skating her best at the Olympics. But even so, there were a number of things outside of Sarah's control that had to fall just right.
Sarah was somewhat held up in the short program. She received scores as low as 5.1 and 5.2 in technical merit, and could easily have been placed behind both Funie Suguri and Maria Butryskaya. If she had come out of the SP in 5th or 6th it would not have mattered how brilliant her free skate was.
Plus, in the SP many observers thought Slutskaya should have placed first with Michelle second. If that had happened, Slutskaya would have won the overall gold no matter what Sarah did in the LP.
Then in the LP, Michelle did not have to beat Sarah to win the gold. All she had to do was beat Slutskaya for second. Michelle fell and Slutskaya teetered and tottered but stayed on her feet, inserting herself between Sarah and Michelle in the LP and giving Sarah the victory, five judges to four. Slutskaya and Hughes were tied in factored placements overall, and Sarah won on the tie-breaker.
Well, that's sports. Good for her.
Sarah was somewhat held up in the short program. She received scores as low as 5.1 and 5.2 in technical merit, and could easily have been placed behind both Funie Suguri and Maria Butryskaya. If she had come out of the SP in 5th or 6th it would not have mattered how brilliant her free skate was.
Plus, in the SP many observers thought Slutskaya should have placed first with Michelle second. If that had happened, Slutskaya would have won the overall gold no matter what Sarah did in the LP.
Then in the LP, Michelle did not have to beat Sarah to win the gold. All she had to do was beat Slutskaya for second. Michelle fell and Slutskaya teetered and tottered but stayed on her feet, inserting herself between Sarah and Michelle in the LP and giving Sarah the victory, five judges to four. Slutskaya and Hughes were tied in factored placements overall, and Sarah won on the tie-breaker.
Well, that's sports. Good for her.