What if...?

Kostner, with a badly double-footed Lutz, also defeated Mao's flawless performance in the Short Program.

:no:

I am still mad she got a medal at Worlds that year.

I actually wouldn't mind if there were two different medalling opportunities for SP and LP (it is very analagous to swimming or running 100m and 200m).

But then some people may argue that the LP is longer and more challenging, and its required skill are similar to the SP, so is that fair?

Well, an easy counter-argument would be that there is a high chance that a winner of the LP could also win the SP, so, a chance for two golds. Isn't that nice? And if you messed up a little in the SP and fell down to 2nd place, you could get a silver-gold combo.

I really think that on the basis of medals, the skills and investment needed to put into figure skating is not proportionately rewarded.