Flashback to the 1984 Winter Olympics

I pulled out my videotapes of the 1984 Winter Olympics, held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, the other evening. It brought back some wonderful memories!

The opening ceremony was so colorful and joyful. A Yugoslavian figure skater lit the Olympic flame, with hundreds of brightly-costumes "locals" dancing an excellent routine around the cauldron. Christopher Dean carried the Union Jack to lead the Olympic team from Great Britain. Scott Hamilton, who carried the US flag at the 1980 opening ceremony, walked with his teammates. The camer panned to Kitty and Peter Carruthers, Roz Sumners, and Elaine Zayak, among other American athletes.

The Men's Competition:
Scott Hamilton won the compulsory school figures, the first time he had won this discipline in a major international competition. He had strong figures but usually finished second or third behind skaters who excelled in this area.
At Sarajevo, it was a good thing that he won the figures, as he did not skate his best in the short and long programs. Scott looked tired and nervous as he skated his SP. As it happened, Scott had come down with a cold and sore throat, and he wasn't up to par physically. His LP wasn't his best, either, as he singled his planned triple flip, and he two-footed another triple. When he came off the ice, he said, "I'm sorry" to his coach, Don Laws. Scott wore jumpsuits for both SP and LP - a statement of his, it seems, against the decorative costumes that some of the men wore. Scott finished second in both the SP and LP. At the medal ceremony, he looked proud, relieved, and, frankly, glad that the whole thing was over. I guess I can't imagine the pressure of entering an Olympic competition as the three-time World champion and heavy favorite.

The "New York Times" labeled Scott's long program "subdued, flawed, and tentative", and I recall reading another newspaper account of his LP that had the banner headling "Winning Ugly." That's a bit harsh, I think. I was very proud of Scott. He became the first American man to win the Olympic figure skating title since David Jenkins' victory at the 1960 Olympics.

Brian Orser of Canada would have won the gold medal, had it not been for the school figures. Brian finished seventh in the figures, and he could not make up the distance in the short and long programs. Nevertheless, Brian skated two fantastic programs. He was awesome, IMHO! His long program included two triple axels and other clean triples. Clearly, he had the technical edge over Scott Hamilion, who did not perform triple axels. Brian seemed pleased with his Olympic silver medal, as he had won both the short and long programs.

"Jumpin Joe" Sabovcik of Czechoslovakia won the bronze medal. I really enjoyed his long program. While Joseph wasn't as polished or artistic as some of the other men, could he ever jump! His delayed single axel was incredibly high and powerful.

I thought the men's podium was a showcase of talent and good sportsmanship.
Scott, Brian, and Joseph - a terrific trio!

The Women's Competition:
I well remember the media hype going into the 1984 Olympics. In the US, at least, the talk was all about the rivalry between Rosalyn Sumners, the 3-time US champion and current World champion, and Elaine Zayak, a former US and World champion who was known for skating long programs with six triple jumps. It was a match between the artist (Roz) and the athlete (Elaine). The American press, at least, didn't give much notice to 18-year-old Katarina Witt, who had recently won the European title.

Roz won the school figures handily and set herself up to win the gold medal.
In third place, however, was Katarina, who skated some of the best school figures of her career up to that point. Witt said she was very pleased with her placement as it placed her "right where I want to be". Zayak skated poor figures and was in 13th place, effectively leaving out her of the hunt for the medals.

Witt won the short program with a lively, athletic performance. She wore a white costume with peasant trims and a white tiara. Everyone started to talk about how beautiful she was. I remember reading a press report that she was
"Eighteen-car pileup gorgeous."

Sumners skated a great short program with one small flow - a two-footed landing on her double axel. The judges, apparently, nailed her for that mistake.
I remember seeing her technical scores - 5.3 and 5.4 - very low for Roz. She looked stunned as she looked at the scores. Although she could still win the gold medal if she won the long program, she knew she had to skate the LP of her life to beat Witt.

The press by that time was including articles that "Katarina Witt is sure to win the gold medal". There were whispers that the judges (which at that time had a solid Communist bloc) did not want to see the singles titles won by two Americans.

Katarina skated a very entertaining and lovely long program to Gershwin tunes such as "Embraceful You", "I've Got Rhythm", etc. She landed three triple jumps, which at that time, was a very respective number of triples. Witt wore a stunning raspberry-colored dress, and she, again, looked beautiful.

Rosalyn started off strongly in her long program, and she was graceful throughout her routine, which included a lovely mid-section to "Amazing Grace".
However, at the end of her program, she doubled a planned triple toe and singled a planned double axel. Those were the last impressions given to the judges. Dick Button, commentating, gasped when she finished. He said, "Well, she hasn't made any mistakes, but she won't receive credit for all of the jumps she failed to land."

The judges awarded the gold medal to Witt in a 5/4 decision. IMHO, had Roz landed those last two jumps, she would have won the gold medal, as at least one judge would have raised her technical mark to be higher than Witt's.

The bronze medal was won by Soviet skater Kira Ivanova, a wonderful compulsory figures skater but a somewhat bland free skater. She became the first Soviet woman to win an Olympic medal. (Sadly, Kira was found dead several years ago.)

Sixteen-year-old Tiffany Chin, the US silver medalist, finished a strong fourth overall at the Olympics. She finished 12th in the school figures but was second in the short and third in the long program.

Elaine Zayak finished 6th overall.

The Pairs Competition:
I remember the powerful program skated by Soviets Elena Valova and Oleg Vasilev, the defending World champions. While they weren't particularly graceful or elegant, could they ever jump and spin! Their throw jumps were amazing for their time. There did not seem to be much doubt that they would win the gold medal.

The silver medal was won by American brother and sister Kitty and Peter Carruthers. This was a small upset, as the highest they had ever finished at Worlds was 3rd (1982). They received some help (unfortunate, of course) when Canadians Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini fell on their side-by-side SP sitspins and fell in the standings. Kitty and Peter skated a strong, confident long program and remained in second place. I remember their long, lingering embrace after they finished. The medal ceremony was moving as well, as tears of joy fell down her face.

The bronze medal was won by Soviets Larissa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov. With all due respect to them, I thought their skating was totally uninspired. Yes, it was strong and athletic, but they came across like a pair of robots, IMHO.
My apologies to all for that opinion.

Ice Dancing Competition:
Ah, perhaps this is saving the best for last!! Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won this competition in a walk. Their short program featured Chris as a bull fighter, and Jayne as his "cape". It was inventive, as always, and they received 6.0s, as always! Their long program, to "Bolero", is probably one of the greatest ice dance routines of all time. IMHO, at least. They stretched the rules by not actually skating until 20 seconds or so of the music had played. The routine was passionate, perfectly skated, and the audience gave them a long, standing ovation. Their final move was one in which they both fell on their knees and landed on their sides on the ice. As the solid row of 6.0s for presentation was read off, Peggy Fleming, commenting, said, "We are so lucky to be here to see this." Indeed. The medal ceremony was moving as well.

The silver medal was won by Soviets Natalia Bestemianova and Andre Bukin, a pair that skated a bit stiffly (IMHO) but with a lot of determination.

The bronze was won by Soviets Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomorenko. This was a controversial decision, in that K & P defeated Americans Judy Blumberg and Michael Siebert, who were the defending World bronze medalists. The Italian judge gave B & S very low technical marks for their long program, as she stated that the music was "not suited for ice dancing". This was Schezharade (sp), which has been skated to by many skaters! Judy and Michael looked absolutely stunned as they stood on the sidelines, sans medal.

The exhibitions were very entertaining. All of the skaters looked relaxed and happy that the competition was over.

And yet.....Sarajevo was the site of years of fighting during the years that followed the Olympics. The Zetra Ice Rink, the site of the Olympic figure skating competitions, is a bombed-out shell.

I recall an interview Katarina Witt gave several years after winning the gold medal at Sarajevo. She said (to paraphrase), "I knew that Rosalyn was not going to skate a triple flip, so I pulled out my triple flip from my long program. I only did as much as I needed to do to win."

Hmmm....I wonder what would have happened had Roz landed that triple flip?

Ladies and Gentlemen -- I'm sure there must be at least a few of you who were around 20 years ago and remember the figure skating competition from the 1984 Winter Olympics. I can't be the only one with a long memory.....

Do any of you remember Gary Beacom?

Sarajevo flashbacks

I was in high school. I remember getting up in the wee hours of the morning to watch the figure skating coverage on TV, since we didn't have a VCR to tape it with. My mom and I were very focused on Scott Hamilton, as big fans of his. I remember his jumpsuits, and how relieved he was after his long program. Somehow I'd gotten the impression that he ALWAYS won the school figures...I guess not! But I do remember the huge lead he took after that portion of the competition and how it was big enough that he couldn't be beat.

I remember the media-stoked rivalry between Elaine and Roz. I also remember a profile of one of them (Elaine?) in an issue of Seventeen magazine from around then.

I remember Kitty & Peter Carruthers' victory and Torvill & Dean's Bolero.

Thanks so much for reminding us all!
Cheers,
Polly

Sarajevo flashbacks

I was in high school. I remember getting up in the wee hours of the morning to watch the figure skating coverage on TV, since we didn't have a VCR to tape it with. My mom and I were very focused on Scott Hamilton, as big fans of his. I remember his jumpsuits, and how relieved he was after his long program. Somehow I'd gotten the impression that he ALWAYS won the school figures...I guess not! But I do remember the huge lead he took after that portion of the competition and how it was big enough that he couldn't be beat.

I remember the media-stoked rivalry between Elaine and Roz. I also remember a profile of one of them (Elaine?) in an issue of Seventeen magazine from around then.

I remember Kitty & Peter Carruthers' silver medal and Torvill & Dean's mesmerizing OD and free dance.

Thanks so much for reminding us all!
Cheers,
Polly

Brian Boitano, then a 20-year-old and the US silver medalist, finished a strong fifth at Sarajevo. He also landed a triple axel in the long program.

I watched and taped the 1984 Olympics although I haven't watched the tapes in many years. One of the things I loved about the coverage (I miss ABC's Olympics) is that they showed tons of compulsory dances. There was the Paso Doble, the Westminster Waltz, and the Rhumba, I believe. They showed the top teams and a handful of others for the CDs. They also showed several OSPs including many from the lower tier such as the Chinese team. This made it all the more interesting to see the higher ranked teams. I absolutely loved T&D's OSP. I thought it was the most brilliant dance I had ever seen. Not only was it technically difficult, but Chris Dean was terrific as a matador and Jayne played the cape so well. She looked like an inanimate object which must be so hard to do. Blumberg & Seibert approached a similar motif, but it was not in the same league. The other OSP I really enjoyed was Fox & Dalley's. The FDs were enjoyable too. In addition to the top teams, I thought Wilson & McCall's dance was great. The music was like a soundtrack from a 40's detective movie and they created a wonderful mood with it.

Many fond merries. Thanks for bringing up the subject.

Torvill and Dean's OSP to the matador theme was brilliant, probably one of the finest OSPs ever choreographed and danced, IMHO. In the final move, Chris flung his "cape" (Jayne) on the rink, and she spin around on her stomach several times. How she managed that maneuver is beyond me. They were truly legends of the sport.

Aside from Kitty and Peter Carruthers, who won the silver medal in pairs, two other US teams competed at Sarajevo - Jill Watson and Burt Lancon, who finished sixth, and Lea Ann Miller and William Fauver, who finished tenth.

And, aside from Judy Blumberg and Michael Siebert, who finished fourth in ice dance, the US was represented by Carol Fox and Richard Dalley, who finished fifth, and Elisa Spitz and Scott Gregory, who finished tenth.

I remember that ABC showed a small portion of the school figures. It was amazing to watch the likes of Scott Hamilton, Brian Orser, Katarina Witt, and Rosalynn Sumners trace the various figure eight patterns. The judges came out onto the ice, sometimes got on their hands and knees, and closely inspected the tracings.

TwizzlerS said:

I watched and taped the 1984 Olympics although I haven't watched the tapes in many years. One of the things I loved about the coverage (I miss ABC's Olympics) is that they showed tons of compulsory dances. There was the Paso Doble, the Westminster Waltz, and the Rhumba, I believe. They showed the top teams and a handful of others for the CDs. They also showed several OSPs including many from the lower tier such as the Chinese team. This made it all the more interesting to see the higher ranked teams. I absolutely loved T&D's OSP. I thought it was the most brilliant dance I had ever seen. Not only was it technically difficult, but Chris Dean was terrific as a matador and Jayne played the cape so well. She looked like an inanimate object which must be so hard to do. Blumberg & Seibert approached a similar motif, but it was not in the same league. The other OSP I really enjoyed was Fox & Dalley's. The FDs were enjoyable too. In addition to the top teams, I thought Wilson & McCall's dance was great. The music was like a soundtrack from a 40's detective movie and they created a wonderful mood with it.

Many fond merries. Thanks for bringing up the subject.

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CBS did the same with Nagano, from what i remember. The only thing that pissed me off, though, was CBS tended to leave some of the people in the top ten out during the FS. They didn't show Lobacheva and Averbukh, who were sitting in fifth place. I would rather have seen them than...Fusar-Poli and Margaglio's Amarcord FD

Were pairs doing side by side triples and throw triples by that point?

skatepixie said:

Were pairs doing side by side triples and throw triples by that point?

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As far as I know, only a few of the pairs attempted side-by-side triple toes, and with mixed results. Typically, they performed side-by-side double axels or double flips. All of the top pairs performed throw doubles, and some performed strong throw triples. Kitty and Peter Carruthers did an excellent throw triple salchow, for example, in their long program.

The pairs were excellent, for the most part. While they may not have performed some of the tricks that are performed today, they had solid skating skills and a lot of maturity.

IMHO, of course.

Unfortunately for Roz Sumners, the media really roaster her for finishing second at Sarajevo. She was the 3-time US Champion and defending World Champion and was expected (by the American press, at least) to win the gold medal. I recall seeing a newspaper headline from Seattle that blazed "Faulty Finish Ends Sumners Dream for Olympic Gold". The article went on to say that Sumners "blew" her opportunity to win the gold medal by watering down the content of her program - which she did. The article praised Katarina Witt's long program, saying that it was a showcase of athletic and artistic skills - which it was.

SkateFan4Life said:

Unfortunately for Roz Sumners, the media really roaster her for finishing second at Sarajevo. She was the 3-time US Champion and defending World Champion and was expected (by the American press, at least) to win the gold medal. I recall seeing a newspaper headline from Seattle that blazed "Faulty Finish Ends Sumners Dream for Olympic Gold". The article went on to say that Sumners "blew" her opportunity to win the gold medal by watering down the content of her program - which she did. The article praised Katarina Witt's long program, saying that it was a showcase of athletic and artistic skills - which it was.

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OK, OK, it should read "the media really roasted her.....".

You know you can go back and correct spelling mistakes by clicking on "edit," right?

MM

Mathman said:

You know you can go back and correct spelling mistakes by clicking on "edit," right?

MM

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Yes, I'm aware of that. However, I had already clicked to send the message, and it was on its way thru hyperspace before I noticed the typo.

SkateFan4Life said:

Unfortunately for Roz Sumners, the media really roasted her for finishing second at Sarajevo. She was the 3-time US Champion and defending World Champion and was expected (by the American press, at least) to win the gold medal. I recall seeing a newspaper headline from Seattle that blazed "Faulty Finish Ends Sumners Dream for Olympic Gold". The article went on to say that Sumners "blew" her opportunity to win the gold medal by watering down the content of her program - which she did. The article praised Katarina Witt's long program, saying that it was a showcase of athletic and artistic skills - which it was.

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And "Sports Illustrated", in their coverage of the ladies' figure skating competition, labeled Witt "leggy, sexy, with a saucy smile that flirts with the camera" and also "beautiful and energetic". It went on to say that for years figure skating had become a competition between the artist (Sumners) and the athlete (Zayak) and that Witt was a "perfect synethesis of both." As for Sumners, SI said "her skating has become too coyingly cloy in recent years and looked weak in comparison with Witt's athletic exuberance." Ouch!

This is a bit after the fact (with this thread, i.e.). I recently viewed a television special on the Bosnia situation, and it showed graphic images of Sarajevo - both before and after the years of warfare.

The Zetra Arena, where the 1984 Winter Olympic figure skating competitions were held, was little more than a pile of rubble, with debris thrown all inside what was left of the arena. Wild grass was growing inside the building. Many of the seats were blown out, and those that remained were heavily damaged.
Very close to the rink was one of many cemeteries, filled with the bodies of innocent victims of the bloodshed.

What a tragic aftermath to the site of Torvill & Dean's masterful skating, to Katarina Witt's wonderful "Gershwin" long program, to Scott Hamilton's victory, and to Valova and Vasiliev's great pairs triumph.

I recall reading in the newspapers during the 1984 Winter Olympics that many sports writers expected Katarina Witt to win the gold medal in the ladies' figure skating competition. It seems that the media - not to mention the bloc judges - were not too keen on seeing two Americans win the singles titles. Perhaps that was partially fueled by the fact that Scott Hamilton won the men's title with sub-par performances in the short and long programs. His victory in the school figures, and Brian Orser's 7th-place finish in that discipline, enabled him to win with less than stellar free skating. Orser won both short and long programs, and Hamilton finished short in both programs, yet he still won the gold medal.

Rosalyn Sumners, the reigning World champion, was considered to be less than a shoo-in for the gold medal, despite the fact that she was a graceful, powerful free skater. Witt had really captured the attention of the media and the judges with her beauty and skating ability, and she appeared to be a fearless competitor as well.

The end result was that Sumners felt as though the competition was over before she skated her long program. She has said in interviews that she felt a cold foreboding the morning of the women's long program, as if she knew she was not going to win the gold medal.

Which is probably why she didn't win. Perfect example of needing to get a backbone and fight.

Let's see -- my miscellaneous stream-of-consciousness memories of Sarajevo:

First off, to this day, I still have my 21-year-old vow that if I EVER see Cia Bordogna, the Italian judge who gave Blumberg & Seibert that 5.5 that knocked them down into 4th, I will throw old fruit and possibly even furniture at her. There have been many controversies since, especially with dance judging, but that one to this day still sticks in my craw. That was a silver-medal performance, hands down.

Was thrilled to see Kitty & Peter win that silver with such a terrific performance in both the short and long. It helped take away the disappointment I felt when Underhill & Martini did so badly. Then again, had U & M not done so badly, I don't think their winning the Worlds the next month would have been nearly the incredible moment it was.

Was also glad to see Josef Sabovcik win the men's bronze, as he'd been one of my favorites at the time and I was glad to see him get that result at the Olys. Brian Orser was a revelation to me, as I had not been overly thrilled with his skating up to that point.

Am still to this day mystified as to the bronze medal showing in Ladies of Kira Ivanova. Absolutely dull, lackluster free skating, and as Dick Button pointed out at the time, "Her skates weren't even clean!!" ANY of the other ladies in the top 10 or even lower would have been a much better choice. What was so special about her? If there was some sort of "Soviet conspiracy" at work, and I'm not saying there was, but with skating like that you gotta wonder -- why in the world didn't they go with Anna Kondrashova? She in my view was a MUCH better free skater. Ideally, Tiffany Chin should have gotten it, but 12th place figures is a long hill to climb up.