Going into 2002 Olympics, Irina was hardly a clear favorite. Irina's Grand Prix season hadn't been anywhere near as successful as her 2000-2001 GP: she lost Skate Canada to Sarah Hughes. Yes, Irina won the 2001-2002 GPF, but that was a very controversial win, as she skated extremely poorly, landing just 4 triples in the final FS to Kwan's 6 and Hughes's 7. Then Irina lost the European championship to Maria Butyrskaya.