Was it a split panel on ... | Golden Skate

Was it a split panel on ...

mzheng

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
1992 Olympics men event?

Just watched clips from the top skaters. Petrenko's program gave me the impression just jumps and crossovers. Sure he had excelent jump contents from all the men, especially his openning jump 3A/3T. But besides that I hardly notice he had section of footwork or spin or MIFs. While Paul's program was jam packed with a lot of MIFs, not mention his footwork, etc. Actually I felt even Browning and Elvis had better programs than Petrenko. But Petreko's music was well chosed.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
mxheng - You brought back memories. I agree. I just never was a believer in Viktor. He was lucky. Just proves my point, Oly winners are not the best in the world.

Joe
 

hrmsk8ngnutt

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
IIRC, 7 judges put Petrenko in first and 2 judges put Wylie in first - so it was not close. Viktor had a nice program - I liked the music. However, since he had been injured in the off season and did not have time to choreograph a new program, he was using a program for the third year in a row. Part of what I think hurt Paul is that he had never won a National Championship or a World medal. Because of that, he wasn't as highly regarded as Christopher Bowman or Todd Eldredge (both US Champions and World Medalists). Viktor was the Bronze medalist in Calgary, a 2-time European Champion, and 2-time World Silver Medalist. However, Paul had the skates of his life in Albertville. It was as if he had to prove he deserved to be there instead of Mark Mitchell who skated better than Paul at Nationals but finished behind Paul. And yes, Paul's program had better choreography than Viktor's. Even Kurt's program was better than Viktor's.

Herm (sk8ngnutt)
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
Personally I liked much more of Paul´s skating in 1992 Olympics and also hoped that he would win after his (for him a really) successful freeskate. It was Viktor´s triple axel combination which brought the win for him as one factor.

In my opinion once again it was proved that a skater needs merits to be able to win in figure skating at the Olympics. Besides other merits (= Viktor was World silver medallist in 1990 & 1991, Paul only 10th and 11th) he was also the bronze medallist from previous Olympics.

In 1992 after the Olympics Viktor also won the Worlds. So, his Olympic win (as well as that of other Olympic winners) definetely should not be called or refered to as "a lucky skate in one event". Only a skater without any earlier medals to win at the Olympics, can be called having done a lucky skate in one event. And I don´t think that happens in figure skating often, LOL, as a matter of fact no such singles skaters come into my mind... IF Paul had won in 1992 Olympics, THAT could have been called a lucky skate in one event or the winner not being the best in the world...
 
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BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Although I thought Paul should have won, I can understand the situation (which doesn't mean I agree with it...lol). Viktor had the resume and the judges' respect. Petrenko entered the Games as co-favorite with Browning, so for anyone to beat those two they would have to have been beyond spectacular. I thought Wylie was beyond spectacular, but his performance wasn't clean technically and so it wasn't a "knock-out" punch. If, perhaps, he had not fallen out of the 3s or if he had not doubled the 2nd 3lz he would have become Olympic Champion. But, I still can't understand how in the world Wylie received a 5th place ordinal for his freeskate! I believe it was from the Czechoslovakian judge.
 

VIETgrlTerifa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I haven't seen the other men, but do you think think that Wylie only having four clean triples was the reason why he wasn't first in the LP?
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
BronzeisGolden said:
Although I thought Paul should have won, I can understand the situation (which doesn't mean I agree with it...lol). Viktor had the resume and the judges' respect. Petrenko entered the Games as co-favorite with Browning, so for anyone to beat those two they would have to have been beyond spectacular. I thought Wylie was beyond spectacular, but his performance wasn't clean technically and so it wasn't a "knock-out" punch. If, perhaps, he had not fallen out of the 3s or if he had not doubled the 2nd 3lz he would have become Olympic Champion. But, I still can't understand how in the world Wylie received a 5th place ordinal for his freeskate! I believe it was from the Czechoslovakian judge.

He also had a step out of the second triple axel. He had the skate of his life and Viktor had a subpar performance but there was enough content in Viktor's performance to edge out Wylie. Viktor did have nice spins (one of the few men that could do the layback spin) and he always has great speed, power, and presence- things that are not that obvious when you watch it on TV. Kurt's program had great choreography but since he skated poorly, it did not help him.
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
The 92 Olympic event was pretty much a splatfest. I actually thought Paul's was the best of a bad bunch. And, I don't mean that Paul's performance was bad (because I think it was spectacular)...but I don't think anyone would have ever expected that a program with anything less than 6-7 clean triples could almost win Olympic Gold at that time.

Here are what Petrenko and Wylie attempted jumpwise:

Wylie:
3f
3a
3lz/2t (step in between the combination)
3s (fall out)
3a/2t (step in between the combination)
3lz (doubled)
3t
2a

Petrenko:
3a/3t (wild landing on 3t, but clean)
3s
3lz/2t
3f (fall out)
3l (doubled)
2a
3t
3a (fall)
2a (singled)

So, technically I think it was closer than some like to imagine. Petrenko's 3/3 combination wasn't that secure and he failed to land the second 3a or the 3f. He also looked very tired at the end of the program, but Wylie seemed to have even more energy than he had had in the beginning. I also tend to think that Wylie had the edge in spins. He had great positions, speed, etc. Petrenko's were solid, but again he was very fatigued in the latter half of his program. He also had very little content as Mzheng mentioned. There were a ton of crossovers. So, I'd say they both basicly landed 5 triple jumps. Am I wrong in saying this? Do steps in between a combination make the first jump not clean? I've never been absolutely certain of this.
 

Verbalgirl77

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Do steps in between a combination make the first jump not clean? I've never been absolutely certain of this.

No, I think it just makes it a sequence instead of a combination (as long as the first jump is fully rotated). I think a combo would have helped him with a few judges, as would a 3 loop, but I think regardless of how he would have skated, there were some judges who would not have given him the win. He didn't really need a 2nd 3 lutz (I don't think anyone else landed a 2nd lutz, maybe Elvis?).

It's hard to say, but if you look at Viktor's LP performance in '92 and '94, in `94 I he was eons better. I would have given Barna 2nd over Petrenko.

I do think Paul should have won, but that fact that he placed higher than he ever would have imagined and was so thrilled with silver made it easier to take. Paul was the #3 US guy (some would say #4) going into that Olympics.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
BronzeisGolden said:
. But, I still can't understand how in the world Wylie received a 5th place ordinal for his freeskate! I believe it was from the Czechoslovakian judge.

Bronze - Do you have a list of the nationalities of the other 8 judges.?

Joe
 

BrokenAnkle

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
for complete results

http://www.aya.or.jp/~polaris/winter_olympic/index.htm

go to this invaluable site

click on "Results", at the top

scroll down to "1992, Albertville"

choose "Mens singles" from the pull-down menu under figure skating on the left

scroll down to the bottom and click on "Expanded results"

et voila!

I personally don't remember this one all that well, (I had had a baby a few weeks prior) but the marks are really a mixed bag. I prefer Victor to Paul in general, but I honestly don't remember who I prefered in this comp.

BA
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
As I recall, this was one of those competitions where whomever laid down the best freeskate was the winner. It was an open field. Any of these skaters could have stepped up to the plate as the champion. Viktor, did not skate brilliantly and used a previous program - as was mentioned - but he delivered. Of course, I wanted Kurt or Elvis to win, but it was not to be. At the time, I wondered if it was favourtism, but who really knows? None of the men seemed in their best form.

It's difficult to make a call when the skaters do not all perform equally well. The judges pretty much have to go with the technical marks.

Viktor won and deserves our respect.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
BronzeisGolden said:
The 92 Olympic event was pretty much a splatfest. I actually thought Paul's was the best of a bad bunch. And, I don't mean that Paul's performance was bad (because I think it was spectacular)...but I don't think anyone would have ever expected that a program with anything less than 6-7 clean triples could almost win Olympic Gold at that time.

Here are what Petrenko and Wylie attempted jumpwise:

Wylie:
3f
3a
3lz/2t (step in between the combination)
3s (fall out)
3a/2t (step in between the combination)
3lz (doubled)
3t
2a

Petrenko:
3a/3t (wild landing on 3t, but clean)
3s
3lz/2t
3f (fall out)
3l (doubled)
2a
3t
3a (fall)
2a (singled)

So, technically I think it was closer than some like to imagine. Petrenko's 3/3 combination wasn't that secure and he failed to land the second 3a or the 3f. He also looked very tired at the end of the program, but Wylie seemed to have even more energy than he had had in the beginning. I also tend to think that Wylie had the edge in spins. He had great positions, speed, etc. Petrenko's were solid, but again he was very fatigued in the latter half of his program. He also had very little content as Mzheng mentioned. There were a ton of crossovers. So, I'd say they both basicly landed 5 triple jumps. Am I wrong in saying this? Do steps in between a combination make the first jump not clean? I've never been absolutely certain of this.

Based on this list, Paul had 4 triples (actually his second 3A was not landed clean). Viktor had 5. The more important thing though is Paul did not have a jump combination (he had two jump sequences) and Viktor had two difficult ones (3A-3t, even with a wild landing was the most difficult jump combination in that competition). Jumps do count, and so does reputation. Paul - being someone who never finished in the top 10 at worlds- had to skate an error free program to beat Viktor (it was not hard to do, with Viktor's mistakes).

I thought the results would be closer than they were, and that Paul had a chance, but it did not seem like a clear win to me (for Paul) because of the flaws (though minor ones).

Vash
 

show 42

Arm Chair Skate Fan
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I am guessing that Paul's medal win meant everything to him, regardless of the color. A gold medal might have been controversial and we would be having a discussion as to why he "shouldn't" have won instead of "maybe he should have". As a result, winning the silver elevated him in status so that he was picked up by SOI and participated in many pro skating events.........42
 

berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
I'm not sure it would have changed anything. Paul went on to have a hugh pro career where he was treated with great respect. He's probably one of the most sucessful silver medalists of all time. It's as if everyone treated him as if he was a Oly champ anyway.

I also think that the SP gave Viktor a lot of momentum. Both were clean, but Vik's jumps were so much tougher that he clearly had an edge with all 1st place votes. Paul ranked as low as 5th with some judges. The tale was already told: If both skated to the best of their abilities, Vik would come out on top. Neither did, so ther's more room for back and forth discusiions, but I think the judges still had at the back of their minds that on paper, Vik would win.
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
berthes ghost said:
Paul went on to have a hugh pro career where he was treated with great respect. He's probably one of the most sucessful silver medalists of all time. It's as if everyone treated him as if he was a Oly champ anyway.

Very true. I think that Paul was so popular after that performance because he 1) finally lived up to his potential; and 2) by doing so, he truly embodied the Olympic spirit--doing his very best when it mattered the most. Finally, 3) he's American--and Americans love to see someone do 1 & 2 above. :D
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Ladskater said:
As I recall, this was one of those competitions where whomever laid down the best freeskate was the winner. It was an open field. Any of these skaters could have stepped up to the plate as the champion. Viktor, did not skate brilliantly and used a previous program - as was mentioned - but he delivered. Of course, I wanted Kurt or Elvis to win, but it was not to be. At the time, I wondered if it was favourtism, but who really knows? None of the men seemed in their best form.

It's difficult to make a call when the skaters do not all perform equally well. The judges pretty much have to go with the technical marks.

Viktor won and deserves our respect.

There are no deductions for reusing a program, so Viktor was within rules to use his for the 3rd time (although it was boring for the viewers).
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
RealtorGal said:
Very true. I think that Paul was so popular after that performance because he 1) finally lived up to his potential; and 2) by doing so, he truly embodied the Olympic spirit--doing his very best when it mattered the most. Finally, 3) he's American--and Americans love to see someone do 1 & 2 above. :D

Paul did not receive the HUGE respect just because he skated great in the Olympics. Rather, he maintained a high level of skating after he turned pro and continued to deliver one great program after another -e.g. Miss Saigon, JFK, Carmina Burana, Schindlers list, The untouchables, Apollo13, and so on. That's why he was treatd with such respect, and it did not matter what color medal he won. Had he sat on his laurels he might have been dismissed as a one time wonder.
 
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