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Flashback - 1988 World Championships
The 1988 World Championships, held in Budapest, Hungary, were very memorable and in a way bittersweet, as they provided us with a final presentation of the "Battle of the Brians" and the "Battle of the Carmens" at the eligible level.
WOMEN:
Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt of the German Democratic Republic won her fourth World title, but she did not deliver a particularly impressive performance. Katarina's school figures were always the weakest part of her skating, and she traced some noticeably wobbly figures at the Worlds in 1988. One of her competitors, Elizabeth Manley of Canada, saw her last figure, and she and her coach both stated publicly that it was
"way off axis". Still, the judges gave Witt first place in the school figures - perhaps giving a clear signal that you can't defeat an Olympic champion unless you really deliver a knock-
out punch. Katarina only skated two triples in her "Carmen" long program, but it was good enough to win the gold medal.
Liz Manley had won the Olympic silver medal in Calgary, much to the great delight of her countrymen, and she came into Worlds with a great deal of confidence. Unfortunately, her tape broke just as she took to the ice to begin her short program. A replacement tape was quickly found and started, but Elizabeth's concentration was shattered, and she missed her combination jump. Her long program was strong, but she had to improvise towards the end of it and insert a triple jump that she missed at the beginning. She finished second.
Debi Thomas had been disappointed at winning "only" the bronze at the Olympics. She skated solid compulsory figures and an excellent short program, and she was in a strong position to win the title, IF she skated a clean long program.
Debi skated a long program that was on par with Calgary - several missed triples - and she won the bronze medal.
This was the first time that Katarina's parents had been able to attend a World championship. Heretofore, the East German government refused to allow them to leave the country to attend the Worlds held in the "West" - no doubt fearful that Mr. and Mrs. Witt might be tempted to defect.
But since Hungary was a socialist country, they were allowed to travel to the competition to see their daughter win her final World title.
MEN:
Brian Boitano had skated the long program of his life at Calgary to win the Olympic gold medal, and while his performance at Budapest was very strong, it wasn't quite as excellent. Brian singled his second triple axel, but otherwise, he skated like a champion. Brian Orser, on the other hand, pulled out the long program at the Worlds that he would have loved to have skated at the Olympics - two triple axels and lots of speed. Orser won the long program at Worlds, but he had to settle for the silver medal, as he had made a major mistake in his short program, leaving him in the position of needing "help" to win the gold medal. Orser could have won only if Boitano had finished third or lower in the long program.
Viktor Petrenko of the Soviet Union won the World bronze medal with a strong "Don Quixote" program. Clearly, he was a skater on the rise, and a champion of the future.
Alexander Fadeev of the Soviet Union had won the school figures, but he withdrew just prior to his short program. That forced Brian Orser to skate his short program a few minutes ahead of schedule -- perhaps that contributed to his combination jump mistake.
At the 1988 Worlds, Kurt Browning of Canada, one of the "young guns", became the first skater in history to land a quadruple jump - the quad toe. He did turn around on the landing leg, but the ISU ratified the jump. Kurt finished third in the long program and sixth overall.
PAIRS:
Katia Gordeeva/Sergi Grinkov had charmed the world with their gold medal win in Calgary. At the Worlds, however, they had to settle for the silver medal. Katia was suffering from the flu, and she fell on their throw triple salchow and made a few other minor errors. Elena Valova/Oleg Vasiliev of the Soviet Union, the Olympic silver medalists, won the World title with a strong, clean long program. The Soviet skater swept the podium that year, as Larisa Selezneva/Oeg Makarov won the bronze medal.
Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard of the US had won the bronze medal at the Olympic games. Unfortunately, they suffered a collision with another pair during the long program warm-up, and that, apparently, threw off their timing. They made several errors and finished sixth.
DANCE:
Olympic champions Natalia Bestemianova/Andrei Bukin of the Soviet Union won their fourth and final World title, with their rather garrish long program. Natalia's costume featured a kind of "bubble" skirt, and some of their moves were, well, not very attractive out there. Marina Klimova/Serei Ponomarenko won the silver medal, and Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall of Canada won the bronze medal. The Olympic podium was repeated in ice dance.
"Sports Illustrated" published a wonderful article on this World Championship, and the final paragraph (to paraphrase) stated,
"This World Championships was like a senior prom. Everybody was all dressed up in their finest outfits, and for many of them, it was the final time for them to socialize at the same place. For many of these skaters, this was the final time they would see each other in a competitive arena, for many of them are moving on to professional careers. It is with a twinge of sadness that we say farewell to this rich, bouyant chapter in the history of figure skating."
US Finishers at the 1988 World Championships:
MEN:
Brian Boitano, 1st
Christopher Bownan, 5th
Paul Wylie, 9th
WOMEN:
Debi Thomas, 3rd
Jill Trenary, 5th
Caryn Kadavy, 7th
PAIRS:
Gillian Wachsman/Todd Waggoner, 4th
Jill Watson/Peter Oppegard, 6th
Natalie Seybold/Wayne Seybold, 10th
DANCE:
Susan Wunne/Joseph Druar, 9th
The 1988 World Championships, held in Budapest, Hungary, were very memorable and in a way bittersweet, as they provided us with a final presentation of the "Battle of the Brians" and the "Battle of the Carmens" at the eligible level.
WOMEN:
Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt of the German Democratic Republic won her fourth World title, but she did not deliver a particularly impressive performance. Katarina's school figures were always the weakest part of her skating, and she traced some noticeably wobbly figures at the Worlds in 1988. One of her competitors, Elizabeth Manley of Canada, saw her last figure, and she and her coach both stated publicly that it was
"way off axis". Still, the judges gave Witt first place in the school figures - perhaps giving a clear signal that you can't defeat an Olympic champion unless you really deliver a knock-
out punch. Katarina only skated two triples in her "Carmen" long program, but it was good enough to win the gold medal.
Liz Manley had won the Olympic silver medal in Calgary, much to the great delight of her countrymen, and she came into Worlds with a great deal of confidence. Unfortunately, her tape broke just as she took to the ice to begin her short program. A replacement tape was quickly found and started, but Elizabeth's concentration was shattered, and she missed her combination jump. Her long program was strong, but she had to improvise towards the end of it and insert a triple jump that she missed at the beginning. She finished second.
Debi Thomas had been disappointed at winning "only" the bronze at the Olympics. She skated solid compulsory figures and an excellent short program, and she was in a strong position to win the title, IF she skated a clean long program.
Debi skated a long program that was on par with Calgary - several missed triples - and she won the bronze medal.
This was the first time that Katarina's parents had been able to attend a World championship. Heretofore, the East German government refused to allow them to leave the country to attend the Worlds held in the "West" - no doubt fearful that Mr. and Mrs. Witt might be tempted to defect.
But since Hungary was a socialist country, they were allowed to travel to the competition to see their daughter win her final World title.
MEN:
Brian Boitano had skated the long program of his life at Calgary to win the Olympic gold medal, and while his performance at Budapest was very strong, it wasn't quite as excellent. Brian singled his second triple axel, but otherwise, he skated like a champion. Brian Orser, on the other hand, pulled out the long program at the Worlds that he would have loved to have skated at the Olympics - two triple axels and lots of speed. Orser won the long program at Worlds, but he had to settle for the silver medal, as he had made a major mistake in his short program, leaving him in the position of needing "help" to win the gold medal. Orser could have won only if Boitano had finished third or lower in the long program.
Viktor Petrenko of the Soviet Union won the World bronze medal with a strong "Don Quixote" program. Clearly, he was a skater on the rise, and a champion of the future.
Alexander Fadeev of the Soviet Union had won the school figures, but he withdrew just prior to his short program. That forced Brian Orser to skate his short program a few minutes ahead of schedule -- perhaps that contributed to his combination jump mistake.
At the 1988 Worlds, Kurt Browning of Canada, one of the "young guns", became the first skater in history to land a quadruple jump - the quad toe. He did turn around on the landing leg, but the ISU ratified the jump. Kurt finished third in the long program and sixth overall.
PAIRS:
Katia Gordeeva/Sergi Grinkov had charmed the world with their gold medal win in Calgary. At the Worlds, however, they had to settle for the silver medal. Katia was suffering from the flu, and she fell on their throw triple salchow and made a few other minor errors. Elena Valova/Oleg Vasiliev of the Soviet Union, the Olympic silver medalists, won the World title with a strong, clean long program. The Soviet skater swept the podium that year, as Larisa Selezneva/Oeg Makarov won the bronze medal.
Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard of the US had won the bronze medal at the Olympic games. Unfortunately, they suffered a collision with another pair during the long program warm-up, and that, apparently, threw off their timing. They made several errors and finished sixth.
DANCE:
Olympic champions Natalia Bestemianova/Andrei Bukin of the Soviet Union won their fourth and final World title, with their rather garrish long program. Natalia's costume featured a kind of "bubble" skirt, and some of their moves were, well, not very attractive out there. Marina Klimova/Serei Ponomarenko won the silver medal, and Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall of Canada won the bronze medal. The Olympic podium was repeated in ice dance.
"Sports Illustrated" published a wonderful article on this World Championship, and the final paragraph (to paraphrase) stated,
"This World Championships was like a senior prom. Everybody was all dressed up in their finest outfits, and for many of them, it was the final time for them to socialize at the same place. For many of these skaters, this was the final time they would see each other in a competitive arena, for many of them are moving on to professional careers. It is with a twinge of sadness that we say farewell to this rich, bouyant chapter in the history of figure skating."
US Finishers at the 1988 World Championships:
MEN:
Brian Boitano, 1st
Christopher Bownan, 5th
Paul Wylie, 9th
WOMEN:
Debi Thomas, 3rd
Jill Trenary, 5th
Caryn Kadavy, 7th
PAIRS:
Gillian Wachsman/Todd Waggoner, 4th
Jill Watson/Peter Oppegard, 6th
Natalie Seybold/Wayne Seybold, 10th
DANCE:
Susan Wunne/Joseph Druar, 9th
