Retrospective Look at the 1988 Worlds | Golden Skate

Retrospective Look at the 1988 Worlds

S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
I dusted off my old video highlights from the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships, held in Budapest, Hungary, and thoroughly enjoyed taking a little trip down memory lane. The 1988 Worlds were a little bittersweet in that they featured the final eligible competitive performances at Worlds from Brian Boitano, Brian Orser, Katarina Witt, Elizabeth Manley, and Debi Thomas - but they were filled with memorable moments and great programs.

The Women:
Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt of the German Democratic Republic won her fourth World title, but she did not deliver a particularly impressive performance. Katarina's school figures, always the weakest part of her repertoire, featured some noticeaby wobbly figures at this Worlds. One of her competitors, Elizabeth Manley of Canada, saw her last figure, and she and her coach both stated publicly that it was "way off axis". Still, the judges gave Witt first place in the school figures - perhaps giving a clear signal that you can't defeat an Olympic champion unless you really deliver a knock-out punch. Katarina only skated two triples in her "Carmen" long program, but it was good enough to win the gold medal. "Sports Illustrated" stated that it was a "very middling" long program. Can you imagine Michelle Kwan winning a World title with a long program that contained only two triples??

Liz Manley had won the Olympic silver medal in Calgary, much to the great delight of her countrymen, and she came into Worlds with a great deal of confidence and the determination to prove that her silver medal wasn't a fluke. Unfortunately, her tape broke just as she took to the ice to begin her short program. A replacement tape was quickly found and started, but Elizabeth's concentration was shattered, and she missed her combination jump. Her long program was strong, but she had to improvise towards the end of it and insert a triple jump that she missed at the beginning. She finished second. Her performance was strong, but it wasn't quite the stunning performance she had delivered at Calgary.

US Champion Debi Thomas had been disappointed at winning "only" the bronze at the Olympics. She skated solid compulsory figures and an excellent short program at the Worlds, and she was in a strong position to win the title. Had she landed all of her triples, she well might have pulled off a major upset.
Unfortunately, Debi skated a long program that was on par with Calgary - several missed triples - and she won the bronze medal.

This was the first time that Katarina's parents had been able to attend a World championship. Heretofore, the East German government refused to allow them to leave the country to attend the Worlds held in the western countries, including Denmark,
Finland, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States, perhaps fearing that Mr. and Mrs. Witt might be tempted to defect. But since Hungary was a socialist country, they were allowed to travel to the competition to see their daughter win her fourth and final World title.

The MEN:
US Champion Brian Boitano had skated the long program of his life at Calgary to win the Olympic gold medal, and while his performance at Budapest was very strong, it wasn't quite as excellent as his Olympic long program. Brian singled his second triple axel and stumbled on an attempted quad, but otherwise, he skated a strong long program, and it was good enough to win him his second World title.

Canadian Champion Brian Orser, on the other hand, pulled out the long program of his life at the Worlds - the program he would have loved to have skated at Calgary - which featured two triple axels and lots of speed. Orser won the long program at Worlds, but he had to settle for the silver medal, as he had made a major mistake in his short program that had left him in the position of needing help to win the gold medal. Orser could have won only if Boitano had finished third or lower in the long program.

Viktor Petrenko of the Soviet Union won the World bronze medal with a strong "Don Quixote" program. Clearly, he was a skater on the rise, and a champion of the future.

Alexander Fadeev of the Soviet Union had won the school figures, but he withdrew just prior to his short program. His withdrawal forced Brian Orser to skate his short program a few minutes ahead of schedule, and that change of schedule may have contributed to Orser's combination jump mistake.

At the 1988 Worlds, Kurt Browning of Canada, one of the "young guns", became the first skater in history to land a quadruple jump - the quad toe. He did turn around on the landing leg, but the ISU ratified the jump. Kurt finished third in the long program and sixth overall.

The PAIRS:
Katia Gordeeva/Sergi Grinkov had charmed the world with their gold medal win in Calgary. At the Worlds, however, they had to settle for the silver medal. Katia was suffering from the flu, and she fell on their throw triple salchow. They made a few other minor errors. Elena Valova/Oleg Vasiliev of the Soviet Union, the Olympic silver medalists, won the World title with a strong, clean long program. The Soviet skater swept the podium that year, as Larisa Selezneva/Oeg Makarov won the bronze medal.

Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard of the US had won the bronze medal at Calgary. During the long program warmup, they suffered a collision with another pair, with the other man's skate striking Jill's head. Watson/Oppegard were able to skate their long program, but the accident clearly threw off their timing. They made several errors and finished sixth overall.

Ice DANCE:
Olympic champions Natalia Bestemianova/Andrei Bukin of the Soviet Union won their fourth and final World title, with their rather garrish long program. Natalia's costume featured a kind of "bubble" skirt, and some of their moves were, well, not very attractive. Natalia struck a kind of "squatting" pose several times that looked almost vulgar, in my opinion. Marina Klimova/Serei Ponomarenko won the silver medal, and Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall of Canada won the bronze medal. The Olympic podium was repeated at this Worlds.

"Sports Illustrated" published a wonderful article on this World Championship, and the final paragraph (to paraphrase) stated, "This World Championships was like a senior prom. Everybody was all dressed up in their finest outfits, and for many of them, it was the final time for them to socialize at the same place. For many of these skaters, this was the final time they would see each other in a competitive arena, for many of them are moving on to professional careers. It is with a twinge of sadness that we say farewell to this rich, bouyant chapter in the history of figure skating."

US Finishers at the 1988 World Championships:

MEN:
Brian Boitano, 1st
Christopher Bownan, 5th
Paul Wylie, 9th

WOMEN:
Debi Thomas, 3rd
Jill Trenary, 5th
Caryn Kadavy, 7th

PAIRS:
Gillian Wachsman/Todd Waggoner, 4th
Jill Watson/Peter Oppegard, 6th
Natalie Seybold/Wayne Seybold, 10th

DANCE:
Susan Wunne/Joseph Druar, 9th

:D
 

mpal2

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
How very interesting. It sounds like everyone that medaled at the Olympics actually bothered to attend Worlds. It's frustrating to see how many skip after the Olympics though I must say that I was more impressed with the showing at 2002 Worlds.

The top 2 in dance and pairs didn't go, but we had at least 2 of the 3 in singles competing. I can completely understand why Elena/Anton and Jamie/David skipped in 2002 though. That would have been a circus instead of a competition.
 

Antilles

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Mpal, I think up until the 1992 Olympics, most medalists went to the Worlds, unless they were injured. Skaters skipping Worlds was a phenomenon that started in '94.
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
You're welcome, NanSinger2. Glad you enjoy the recaps!!

SkateFan4Life

:)
 

mpal2

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Antilles said:
Mpal, I think up until the 1992 Olympics, most medalists went to the Worlds, unless they were injured. Skaters skipping Worlds was a phenomenon that started in '94.


And today's skaters just need to get their heads back on straight and finish the season. Thank you Michelle for not skipping. I don't think Irina has either. Way to go both of you!
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Yes, it is refreshing to see a top skater (one who wins a medal at the Olympics) continue on and complete the season by competing at the World Championships. That used to be the norm, but it's becoming the exception more and more these days.

:mad:
 

berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
"Skaters skipping Worlds was a phenomenon that started in '94."

I think that there were good 2 reasons for that:

1) all of the reinstated skaters who wanted one more Olys (Boitano, Patrenko, T&D, G&G, Witt). Either it didn't work out as well as they hoped, or they just wanted another Olys and not another career.

2) all of the skaters who stayed in 2 more years just because of the schedule change (Kurt, Nancy, M&D, possibley B&E, possibly U&Z) and had a disaponting Olys anyway.

Lulu was injured. Only Oksana grabbed the prize and ran, probably out of fear.

98 was another story. That one seemed to be filled with skaters who just couldn't bother to fill out the year (Ilia, Phillipe, Lulu, W&S, G&P)

They existed before (Roz, Jeannete Altwegg, Midori, David Jenkins, Wolfgang Schwartz, to name a few) just not so many all at the same Olys.

Elvis, K&D, I&D were injured. Tara was either injured, too scared, or too lazy, or possibly all 3.

In 02 Plushy was injured, and I really don't blame anyone involved in the scandal (A&P, B&S, S&P) for getting out asap.

Sarah seems to be only one to come up with the lame "I'm too busy being fabulous to compete" excuse.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
At the 1988 Worlds, Kurt Browning of Canada, one of the "young guns", became the first skater in history to land a quadruple jump - the quad toe. He did turn around on the landing leg, but the ISU ratified the jump. Kurt finished third in the long program and sixth overall.

I would have loved to have been able to see that LIVE or at least just remember seeing it on TV... I know we probably watched it... but I was 3 and I barely remember the Olys from that year :(
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Yes, it was the short program that did in Orser. Boitano skated his SP brilliantly. Orser's mistake gave Boitano one more chance to be (or tie for) being the first to land a quad in competition without risking losing. It was not his best quad attempt, and he never reached that particular goal,but won any way.

But kudo's for having the guts to try!

dpp
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Had Alexandr Fadeev not suddenly withdrawn just before he was to skate his short program - and he was scheduled to skate immediately before Brian Orser -- perhaps Orser would not have been rattled about changing his order of skate. He was still preparing himself mentally when he received word that he had to skate immediately.

Had he skated a clean short program and skated the great long program that he skated at Worlds, perhaps Orser would have won the title.

Just another "What if" scenario.....
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Midori Ito had another strong competition at the 1988 Worlds. While she still did not medal, thanks to her relative weakness in the school figures, she was definitely a star of the future. The
'Jumping Flea' leaped and soared all over the arena, much to the delight of the audience.
 
Top