Tara with just 1 triple-triple beat a clean Michelle and Nagano, and the judges like Irina only about 5 times more than they liked Tara in the matchup with Michelle.
No, Tara had TWO 3-3 combos, along with two 3Lutzes.
And Slutskaya getting 5.9's from Russian judges doesn't mean anything. She was not going to beat Kwan at the 2002 Olympics if the latter skated perfectly. Period. Irina beat Kwan so much because Kwan never skated near her best earlier in the 2000-2002 seasons. Irina gave one amazing performance at the 2000 season GPF and the judges kept thinking she would deliver to that level at every competition for the next 2 and a half years afterward...but she never did. However, she was technically strong and consistent, so she kept being over-rewarded because the judges felt safe with her.
But, after 2 years of never actually delivering on the same level as what Kwan showed at 2000 Worlds and 2001 Worlds, Slutskaya lost her anointment. At the 2002 Olympics, it was up to Kwan to make the mistake in order for Slutskaya to win. Kwan was the most artistic and a 4 time World Champion, in comparison to Slutskaya being a 0-time World Champion. Hence why Slutskaya lost the SP to Kwan at 2002 Olympics, even though the tech mark is the tiebreaker in that segment of the competition.