What have been the sketchiest wins in major international competitions recently?

[karne]

Yeah, Sotnikova's "win" in the 2014 Olympics was veeery sketchy (http://i.imgur.com/IwK5sDa.gif )

With a name like that, of course I didn't expect rational thought.

 

[uncchristine99]

My opinion, no flames please...

Questionable gold...
Yuna Kim defeated by Adelina Sotnikova 2014 Sochi
Liz Manley defeated by Katarina Witt 1988 Calgary
Mishkutienok/Dmitriev defeated by Gordeeva/Grinkov 1994 Lillehammer
Nancy Kerrigan defeated by Oksana Baiul 1994 Lillehammer
Davis/White defeated by Virtue/Moir 2012 Worlds
Michelle Kwan defeated by Irina Slutskaya 2002 Worlds

Gold not in question but silver could have just as easily been gold...
Michelle Kwan defeated by Tara Lipinski 1998 Nagano
Mao Asada defeated by Yuna Kim 2010 Vancouver
Davis/White defeated by Virtue/Moir 2010 Vancouver
Virtue/Moir defeated by Davis/White 2014 Sochi

 

[Symmetry]

My opinion, no flames please...

Gold not in question but silver could have just as easily been gold...

Mao Asada defeated by Yuna Kim 2010 Vancouver

I know it is your opinion but Mao and Yuna weren't even close. Mao had two major mistakes in her free skate. How could that performance easily win gold over perfect Yuna?

 

[Memelah711]

Skaters who I think did NOT deserve their gold medal:

Jamie/David 2002 Olympics. What a disgrace they were! Sore losers. They could not stand losing to an artistically superior Russian team on North American ice. They just cried, moaned, whined and threw a massive tantrum until the IOC forced the ISU to give them Olympic gold. I only acknowledge Elena and Anton as the rightful gold medalists from 2002.

Jamie/David 2001 Worlds. They won only because it was in Canada.

Tara Lipinski 1998 Olympics. At the time, I believed Tara rightfully won, but this could be that I just hold Michelle in a much higher regard.

Sarah Hughes 2002 Olympics. Talk about being in the right place at the right time and getting lucky. She made zero contribution to the sport.

Patrick Chan 2012 and 2013 Worlds. It seems like most of his wins have been questionable.



I'm not saying Tessa and Scott did not deserve their 2010 Olympic gold, but I do wonder if the results would've been the same if the Olympics were held anywhere outside of Canada.

 

[ManyCairns]

Taking the original question of recently to be the last competitive quad or thereabouts, I would agree with the OP on Chan over Takahashi esp. by such a large margin in 2012 Worlds, V/M over D/W same competition, and Sotnikova over Kim by any margin 2014 Olympics.

 

[ManyCairns]

With a name like that, of course I didn't expect rational thought.

Oh, come on, I think loving Yuna's skating is so obvious as to almost be rational. Plus notice the poster admitted s/he was beating the dead horse with a really cute gif.

 

[ahy]

The most sketchiest win is awarded to Adelina Sotnikova's win in 2014 (it's sooo obvious...)
And then Patrick Chan's win in 2013 wc @@
Mao asada's win in NHK 2012
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I hope yuna would have won in 2011 wc with her two fabulous programs although with flaws but i'm fine with it...

 

[donezo]

Grishuk/Platov had a number of questionable results throughout their career, but I think the worst was their victory at 1997 Worlds over Krylova/Ovsiannikov. The scoring of the free dance was absolutely outrageous to me. How can a team that finished well after the music get 6.0s in presentation? That is a clear failure of interpretation. Not to mention the inflated technical marks when Grishuk almost fell at one point and the last lift was a near-disaster.

I also take exception to almost any time Bestemianova/Bukin beat Klimova/Ponomarenko between 1985 and 1988, especially at the Calgary Olympics.

 

[KJGL]

I'm old and yes there have definitely been decisions that seemed incomprehensible and even maddening, but over the decades I found there's a shelf life. I get over it. And the older I've gotten, the sooner I get over it.

I can still stay miffed about weird stuff, though. Like 1988, I don't think the Boitano/Orser decision should have been that close. Everybody still talks about the broken tie, but there was also the matter of the 2nd triple axel leave-out. For whatever reason, that he had to win that on a tiebreaker still stands out.

I know, to still even think about that doesn't make a lot of sense. My favorite skater won, so what difference does it make by how much? And how many people even remember that there was a tiebreaker involved?

I'm a ginormous Kwan-worshipper but I've never thought she won in Nagano. To me, the one that got away was the Turin Olympics she couldn't skate due to the injury. The gold medal program had five triples. Michelle could have done six triples half-asleep walking from her bedroom to her refrigerator in the middle of the night.

And there's other stuff, but mostly over time it becomes pretty obvious that the sketchy moments rarely define the skater's life. Most of them go on to have wonderful lives either in or out of skating. And the ones who haven't seem to have encountered problems that have little if anything to do with skating.

 

[skatedreamer]

My opinion, no flames please...

Questionable gold...
Yuna Kim defeated by Adelina Sotnikova 2014 Sochi
Liz Manley defeated by Katarina Witt 1988 Calgary
Mishkutienok/Dmitriev defeated by Gordeeva/Grinkov 1994 Lillehammer
Nancy Kerrigan defeated by Oksana Baiul 1994 Lillehammer
Davis/White defeated by Virtue/Moir 2012 Worlds
Michelle Kwan defeated by Irina Slutskaya 2002 Worlds

Gold not in question but silver could have just as easily been gold...
Michelle Kwan defeated by Tara Lipinski 1998 Nagano
Mao Asada defeated by Yuna Kim 2010 Vancouver
Davis/White defeated by Virtue/Moir 2010 Vancouver
Virtue/Moir defeated by Davis/White 2014 Sochi

Re: Liz Manley, my understanding was that although Manley actually won the free skate, Witt had already built up enough of a lead in compulsories and the SP so that the win was legitimately hers. Having said that, Manley & Ito saved that evening! Not as bad as the men's FS in Sochi but still a disappointing competition. Also, if it weren't for the compulsories, my guess is that Ito would have been on the podium.

Part of me wishes that there could have been 2 Ice Dance golds in 2014. In 2010, V/M were the clear winners IMO.

Like other commenters, I agree w/ Yuna's 2010 OGM. However, have always questioned Joannie Rochette's bronze. Nothing against Joannie -- I just thought Mirai was better that night.

 

[znhurston]

Ranking

1. Adelina Sotnikova's "Win" in Sochi

2. Patrick Chan's "Win" at the 2012 World Championships


What are your thoughts on skaters who most likely didn't deserve their gold medals?

1. Sale and Pelletier, 2002 Salt Lake City games
2. Oksana Baiul, 1994 Lillehamer games

 

[RiceSkate]

Re: Liz Manley, my understanding was that although Manley actually won the free skate, Witt had already built up enough of a lead in compulsories and the SP so that the win was legitimately hers. Having said that, Manley & Ito saved that evening! Not as bad as the men's FS in Sochi but still a disappointing competition. Also, if it weren't for the compulsories, my guess is that Ito would have been on the podium.

Part of me wishes that there could have been 2 Ice Dance golds in 2014. In 2010, V/M were the clear winners IMO.

Like other commenters, I agree w/ Yuna's 2010 OGM. However, have always questioned Joannie Rochette's bronze. Nothing against Joannie -- I just thought Mirai was better that night.

It's because her mom died. Pity bronze to be honest.

 

[Olympia]

I don't know if it could be called "sketchy," but the least satisfying win that I can think of is the top two places in the men's competition at Sochi this year. It was a splatfest, and still Hanyu and Chan ended up on the podium. I don't know what else the judges could do, but it was a singularly un-Olympic competition. Of course the short programs were a different story, and the numbers can all be explained, but eek!

As for the ice dancing, if ever there could have been a tie for gold, I wish this had been the one. Both D/W and V/M gave it their considerable all. Actually, I felt that we spectators got the gold that night.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

The most sketchiest win is awarded to Adelina Sotnikova's win in 2014 (it's sooo obvious...)
And then Patrick Chan's win in 2013
Mao asada's win in NHK 2012

I totally agree with this. I'd also add Julia Lipnitskaia beating Kostner at Cup of Russia to the list... in fact, a lot of the skates from Cup of Russia, including B/S.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I totally agree with this. I'd also add Julia Lipnitskaia beating Kostner at Cup of Russia to the list... in fact, a lot of the skates from Cup of Russia, including B/S.

Yeah she didn't seem impressed to beat her idol with her "worst skate ever" (unfortunately to date). Still would have been a nice silver! Especially considering she nailed her SP the best I've seen it.

If Carolina had won she instead of Radinova would have gone to GPF and likely kept Wagner off the Podium. A lot of outcomes could be different from this one!

 

[donezo]

Yeah she didn't seem impressed to beat her idol with her "worst skate ever" (unfortunately to date). Still would have been a nice silver! Especially considering she nailed her SP the best I've seen it.

If Carolina had won she instead of Radinova would have gone to GPF and likely kept Wagner off the Podium. A lot of outcomes could be different from this one!

BUT she might not have scrapped Humoresque and Scheherazade in favor of the superior programs that won her Olympic bronze! I think missing the Grand Prix Final was a blessing in disguise for Carolina. Let Yulia have that Rostelecom gold! Carolina got what she wanted in the end.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Yeah she didn't seem impressed to beat her idol with her "worst skate ever" (unfortunately to date). Still would have been a nice silver! Especially considering she nailed her SP the best I've seen it.

If Carolina had won she instead of Radinova would have gone to GPF and likely kept Wagner off the Podium. A lot of outcomes could be different from this one!

Julia getting a PCS personal best for a performance with 3 triples and Julia's flutz non-calls were the most egregious things, that ultimately both contributed to Kostner coming second.

I am surprised Julia was actually edge-called out for her second FS lutz in Sochi.

For sure after CoR I thought Julia would never be called out for a flutz on Russian ice ever again, and certainly not in Sochi.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Julia getting a PCS personal best for a performance with 3 triples and Julia's flutz non-calls were the most egregious things, that ultimately both contributed to Kostner coming second.

I am surprised Julia was actually edge-called out for her second FS lutz in Sochi.

For sure after CoR I thought Julia would never be called out for a flutz on Russian ice ever again, and certainly not in Sochi.

Lol but I thought the one at CoR SP was actually good. Am I just that biased? I try not to be but I thought that one was good. This is my real question to you. Can she fix it or is it too late? I mean she is pretty close at times but can she remedy this in your opinion?

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Oh I totally thought her SP was good, there's no denying that! But was it better than Kostner's? In my opinion, no. I would have reversed their placement and had Kostner slightly ahead. With appropriate PCS and Julia being called for the obvious flutz in her SP, that's how the standings would have been.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Oh I totally thought her SP was good, there's no denying that! But was it better than Kostner's? In my opinion, no. I would have reversed their placement and had Kostner slightly ahead. With appropriate PCS and Julia being called for the obvious flutz in her SP, that's how the standings would have been.

But can she fix her flutz or is she too set in her technique and now just a flutzer for life. Her flow out and transitions after especially in the SP are there but is she capable of fixing the flutz in your opinion?