Kristi Yamaguch LP at 1992 US Nationals "Malaguena"

[christinaskater]

This performance was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy8VcIHIEZk&mode=related&search=

The best by Kristi! 7 triples!!!!!

 

[GoldMedalist]

Her best ever technically but I liked her performance of the program more at Olympics and Worlds.

 

[Tinymavy15]

Very good, but whenever I hear that music I will think of Sasha's stunning SP to this music. anything looks dull compared to sasha's imterprtation of that music.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sI-cbt1u1uc

compare and contrast.

 

[Mathman]

What a fine performance by Kristi. I guess that answers the question of whether Kristi ever landed a triple Salchow in competition.

Dick Button: "She was first in the door (first to skate) and she shut the door behind her."

Nice Lutz edge, interesting entry to the loop, great split jump entry to another triple. A totally satisfying performance.

Nowadays, I think the referee would have stopped the performance when the bow fell off her costume (?), since it was a safety hazzard for the second half of the program.

For me, it's hard to compare Kristi's Maleguena with Sasha's. The interpretation is totally different. Sasha chose a much more dramatic cut of the music. Her dramatic facial expressions and sharp movements fit her conception of the program, but I can't say that it was "better" than Kristi's lighter approach.

Also, it's hard to compare a long program with a short, but to me it seems like both the long and the short programs have become more formulaic under the new judging system. I pretty much knew beforehand exactly what elements Sasha was going to do and when she was going to do them, whereas, to me, Kristi's had a lot of individuality in the choreography.

Anyway, the Eurosport commentators loved Sasha's effort: "(In U.S. ladies' figure skating), the Kween is dead; long live the queen!"

 

[sillylionlove]

Kristi ROCKS!!

 

[gkelly]

Also, it's hard to compare a long program with a short, but to me it seems like both the long and the short programs have become more formulaic under the new judging system. I pretty much knew beforehand exactly what elements Sasha was going to do and when she was going to do them, whereas, to me, Kristi's had a lot of individuality in the choreography.

I think that's more an effect of the well-balanced program rules that have essentially required step sequences and spiral sequences in long programs since the beginning of this decade, whereas in Yamaguchii's time and earlier those skills would just be interspersed between elements.

If you compare programs from Cohen or, say, Jeff Buttle (who tends to have the most intricate programs among today's elite skaters) from 2000-2003 vs. those designed specifically for the new judging system, I don't think you'll see the latter being more formulaic than the former.

You could also compare, say, Todd Eldredge from 1992 vs. 2002 or Michelle Kwan from 1993 vs. 2002 or 2003 for different program construction rules with the same judging system, but that's not really a fair comparison given how much the skater matured during that period. Even with 2002 vs. 2004 comparisons you'd have to take that into account.

 

[purplecat]

Yay for some Kristi love!

 

[Fossi]

That's the best program I've seen done to this music. and Kristi really owned this program. Nothing fake or forced.

 

[heyang]

Her 1992 short program to The Blue Danube is beautiful, too. It's still one of my favorite SP's after all these years.

 

[christinaskater]

That was a masterpiece from Kristi! I loved it


7 amazing triples!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[clairecloutier]

Incredible program by Kristi! A great triumph for her. I still remember watching that Nationals on TV. The tension in the arena was such that you could feel it and see it in the competitors' faces. It was the Olympic trials--and 3 of the 4 best skaters in the world were competing that night. Kristi had to skate first, knowing that Tonya was skating later and had had an amazing performance the year before. Plus there was Nancy too. Kristi knew she had to give it everything she had--and she did, even landing her nemesis jump, the triple Salchow! What a great performance.

 

[demarinis5]

WOW. Thank you for posting the link. I had forgotten how great Kristi had skated that program at Nationals.

 

[heyang]

Here's her Blue danube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM7ylRxIHDc

Also, I love this death spiral with Rudy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_ml-B0F3c0&mode=related&search=

 

[Mafke]

I was never a huge Yamaguchi fan, but it's hard to stress just how influential both her SP an LP were that year.

Part of the problem is we can't see the programs as they were seen at the time.
But, basically these two programs more or less defined ladies skating for the next fifteen years (until COP). Now we seem them through fifteen years of programs that have been influenced by them.

Without doing a bunch of research to back up my claims, she was about the first lady to really define the full arsenal of five different jumps for a female skater (3ax doesn't count) and really use professionally choreographed programs (that looked professionally choreographed).

Before Yamaguchi ladies were expected to have two triples (toe loop, salchow) and anything else they had was gravy. Ito upset that calculus but she was so far ahead of everyone else that it was hard to use her as a role model. Yamaguchi was I think more responsible for setting expectations to 5 different triples (even if her salchow was MIA more often than not and her loop far from sure).

Also, before Yamaguchi choreography was pretty optional, up to the skater and coach and tended toward the extremely basic (when detected at all).

 

[christinaskater]

Kristi is amazing! This is a mixture of technical and artistic perfection!

 

[Tinymavy15]

Yes, in those days (minus Katarina's Carmen) music just kind of played in the backround to the skaters. I see now that Kristi took it to the next step and Michelle kind of followed in her footsteps making way for the Naomi Nari Nams and the Sasha Cohens who look artistry to a whole new level.

 

[slutskayafan21]

I think if she skated last, or atleast after both Tonya and Nancy, you would have seen a few more 6.0s. Excellent and stunning, the best of Kristi for sure.

 

[Mafke]

I think if she skated last, or atleast after both Tonya and Nancy, you would have seen a few more 6.0s. Excellent and stunning, the best of Kristi for sure.

Had she skated the same performances after Harding she would have gotten a few more 6.0's for sure (Kerrigan wasn't considered a threat I don't believe), but on the other hand IIRC she usually did her best when she had an early draw.

 

[slutskayafan21]

Had she skated the same performances after Harding she would have gotten a few more 6.0's for sure (Kerrigan wasn't considered a threat I don't believe), but on the other hand IIRC she usually did her best when she had an early draw.

Kerrigan was never a big threat to Yamaguchi but she was still a top flight skater so there would be a certain respect to her probably. Harding was a bigger potential threat though since she could uncork a triple axel and every other triple with that, on those days she was "on" (91 U.S Nationals, 91-92 Skate America). She skated first in the flight flight at the Olympics and did not skate as well, with two significant errors (although some aspect of her Olympic performance I liked even more then U.S Nationals, and she connected the triple-triple toe directly in Albertville).

 

[isk82]

Someplace on an old tape I have, they did a fluff piece about Kristi and how Malaguena was selected after listening to album after album (yes, that was back in the old days!) and it showed her working with Sandra Bezic choreographing it and then with her coach putting in the technical elements. It was quite interesting. It might have been on during the Olympics. I was never a huge Kristi fan until that program - it was perfectly choreographed and executed! I can't hear the music without thinking of her. (Though I love Sasha, too)