Flashback- 1996 Worlds

Flashback- 1996 Worlds

The 1996 World Championships in Edmonton provided us with exciting moments in the men and women division. The 1995-1996 year in skating was a time of drama and excitment (coming off the Tonya-Nancy scandal).

Ladies:

In the ladies competition we had the classic duel between consistent and newly transformed Michelle Kwan of the USA vs beautiful veteran, but sometimes inconsistent Lu Chen of China. We also had the exciting comback of 1989 world champ and 1992 Olympic silver medalist Midori Ito. Many were hoping Ito could make a comeback to amateur skating, and win a medal in her homecountry Olympics in Nagano 1998.
In the Short Programs we had the emergence of new talent in the youthful and powerful Irina Slutskaya of Russia and phenom Tara Lipinski of the USA . Slutskaya had a great year leading up to worlds. She medaled in all her GP events, and grabbed a bronze in the first ever Champion Series Final in February of 1996. Needless to say Slutskaya did not disappoint. She nailed her triple lutz/douple loop combo, triple loop, as well as a variation of a "Tano" 2axel. Irina had great speed, fast spins, and great attack in this program. Lipinski unfortunately didn't have the same fortune. She fell on her double loop in her triple combo, as well as falling on her triple flip. Surya Bonaly of France, reigning world silver medalist was struggling with consistency, and missed her major combo. 2 skaters who had meltdowns at the 1993 worlds came back to Edmonton to prove their worth. Maria Butrskaya of Russia, and Tonia Kwiatkowski of the USA both skated very solid Sp's to remain in the top 10 goin into the LP's. Midori Ito's comeback came crashing down in the SP, where she tried her triple axel, but had a big stumble on the landing, affectively taking her out of the competition. Gold medal faves Chen, and Kwan skated beautiful but very different programs to take 1-2. Michelle skated a very effervescent Flamengo number, and nailed her triple lutz combo. Reigning world champ Lu Chen skated a very soft, elegant program to "Spring Breeze" with beautiful flowing edges, and powerful jumps.

In the Long Programs Michelle and Lu skated back to back and stunned the crowd with perfection. Lulu did her classic "Rach" program, and nailed 6 triples with perfect choreography. Michelle skated her classic "Salome" and threw in a daring triple toe loop at the end if her program knowing she needed it to win, after doubling her triple/triple combo. Both skaters earned 6.0's for presentation, but Michelle won 6 of the judges overall votes. Irina took the bronze in what was a somewhat shaky program for her. she fell on her opening triple lutz, and lacked polish and finesse (very evident here against Lulu and Michelle). Maria B had one glitch on her triple loop but otherwise skated very well to "Malguena" to finish 4th.
Disappointing programs: Surya B, and Midori Ito. Midori doubled out of most of her jumps, and looked to lack the power we're used to seeing from her.
Pleasent surprises: Tanja S of Germany, Tonia K (who was undermarked for a very solid program) and Tara Lipinski who nailed a triple/triple combo to jump up to 15th place.

Other notables: Future world bronze medalist Vanessa Gumeroli (14th), Liashenko (12th),worlds best spinner Lucinda Ruh (19th), Jennifer Robinson who beat Josee Chouinard at nats to make the world team (21st).

Men:
The mens competition also had great performances, and heartbreak. Elvis Stojko of Canada came to these worlds, expected to win. He was reigning world champ. the unthinkable happened in the SP where he fell on the triple axel. The papers all read "The King is dead". He came back in the Lp, and skated a good program but had too much ground to make up. Rudy Galindo of the US, newly minted national champ, landed beautiful triple axels and great choreography to nab his first (and only) world medal. Young upping comer Ilia Kuilk of Russia was a formidable oppent for American vet Todd Eldrege. It was the classic East vs West styles of skating. Ilia had wonderful flow, great edging, and super jumps. Todd had solid skating technique,fast centered spins, if not a bit "mechanical". Todd landed a gorgeous triple axel/triple toe, as well as his nemesis jump the sal. He edged out Kulik for the gold. In what is a classic snapshot, we see him hug his mother and place the gold medal around her neck at the medal ceremony.

Other notables: Reigning Olympic champ Alexie Uramnov had some handowns and stumbles on his jumps for a disappointing (5th), The always exciting but unpredictable reigning Olympic bronze medalist, Phillipe Candeloro (9th), Eric Millot first skater to land triple loop/triple loop at the CSF in Paris (7th), entertaining but inconsistent Dan Hollander of the US (10th).

Re: Flashback- 1996 Worlds

I recall that Michelle Kwan threw in one more triple toe at the end of her program, which gave her seven triples to Lu Chen's six triples. Both women received 6.0s for presentation. It was close, but the judges gave the victory to Michelle. At the medal ceremony, Michelle stood with tears flowing down her cheeks as the American national anthem was played.

Todd Eldredge's victory was memorable, too. After he received his gold medal, he skated over to the boards, took off his medal and draped it around his mother's neck.

Rudy Galindo, who had won the 1996 US title, won the bronze medal with two very strong performances. At the men's medal ceremony, Rudy stood with his hand over his heart, with tears flowing down his cheeks.

Re: Flashback- 1996 Worlds

Ilia Kulik too landed a beautiful triple axel / triple toe combination in the free skate (he won the short programme although he was the second to skate!). Such a pity that he forgot to do the triple flip in combination and jumped the same jump twice... If he only would have skated in Edmonton the way he did in Centennial On Ice!!!

Marjaana

Kulik

Jaana I think Ilia Kulik was an incredible skater, and he showcased his skills here. Its unfortunate he was not able to win a world title, in addition to his Olympic one. He certainly had the talent for it.

MK vs LuLU

I'll never forget the LP's of these 2 ladies - both seemed brilliant and it was a nail biter. It's also memorable because this is when I 'threw' my friend out of my home for being too loud and obnoxious while watching skaters 7 -12 skate their LP's and fall all over .

Re: MK vs LuLU

I bought the 1996 highlights but was somewhat disappointed with it. I basically got the best of the US team not a Worlds highlight tape. There are so many tapes to get from tape trade and so little money and time.

They showed Rudy's Nationals LP which was great because I did not get to see it. Quick summary of the rest of the American team.

Then on to Worlds. They did not show all of Elvis' programs (LP and SP) and it made me mad. I really want to see them. They showed portions of Kulik's LP, no SP. They didn't show Lu Chen's short program either. I didn't get to see Worlds because I was in college with no tv. They left out so much of the good stuff. They showed most of Meno and Sand's LP but made an obvious and ugly cut in the middle of the program. There wasn't much of dance at all.

I finally got to see Lu Chen's LP. I love that performance. Why oh why couldn't they have shown her short program?

They did show both of Michelle's performances which made me very happy. I loved Salome, but her short was so amazing. For some reason, I have loved her short programs more than her long programs. They really don't feel like short programs to me. The only times the long programs ever competed as my favorite program was Lamente De Ariane and The Red Violin.

I never really had a chance to watch skating until 1998 Olympics because the rest of my family didn't watch it - I was outvoted 5 to 1 all the time. Then I was in college with no tv. I really appreciate these flashbacks. I know what programs I want to find from the internet. Now if I could just get rid of dialup and switch to cable I would be even happier.

Re: MK vs LuLU

One of my favorite Worlds...I think the outcome of the ladies was determined by Michelle's better spins and finish. She also had one half of a revolution more than LuLu. LuLu's spins travelled and were not held as long, and the positions weren't finished.

Michelle-3L/2T, 3T/2T, 3F, 2A, 3Loop, 3S, 3L and the exciting 3T at the end.
LuLu-3L/2T, 3F/2T, 3T, 2A, 3Loop, 3L, 3S, 2A and 3T at the very end as well.
Presentationwise, they were equal.

Re: MK vs LuLU

About Michelle's 3toe at the end of her LP - you sure she just added that because of her 3-2 earlier on? Wasn't she planning to do that 3toe? If not, what was she planning to do there instead? The music came onto a huge climax at the exact time she jumped, I can't imagine what she would have done instead of the jump. I thought it was a fantastic ending the way she did it.

Re: MK vs LuLU

A double axel.

When she'd landed the 3-3 at the beginning of the program, she'd put a 2axel at the end. Since she missed the 3-3, she put the 2nd 3toe in place of the final 2axel.

Re: '96 Worlds

What a great thread! This was an amazing competition.
Seeing the difference in Michelle from the year before was incredible. Her classic battle with Lu Chen, IMO, is one of the great figure skating moments.
Add to that Todd's victory ... I loved his program to "First Knight." And he never skated it as well as he did in Edmonton.
And of course, the scene between he and his parents was a beautiful moment.
I think maybe I'll go pull out my tape and rewatch it!!!

Re: MK vs LuLU

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Wasn't she planning to do that 3toe? If not, what was she planning to do there instead? The music came onto a huge climax at the exact time she jumped, I can't imagine what she would have done instead of the jump. [/quote]

If MK had completed a 3t/3t, she planned a double axel there giving the program two 2a. Earlier that season, she placed a double axel there. The way she did it was dramatic, she extended her right hand as if she was receiving a platter from someone, then she launched the double axel, as she was landing it, she switched the platter from the right hand to her left hand, and exit the jump with her left hand held high as in offereing the platter to her evil mother.

I loved both ladies long and short programs. Lulu's spring breeze was one of the most beautifully choreograph and skated. It was daring to use minimalistic music and be able to pull that off.

small detail

Irina Slutskaya won silver at the 1996 Champions Series Final.

Josee Chouinard took bronze, and Lu Chen was off the podium (fourth) for the first time in any competition she'd entered since the 1992 Olympics.


What I liked about that season was the men's event. By the time Worlds was over, almost every one of the top 7 men had both beaten and lost to all the others in at least one program at some point during the season. Off the top of my head, I think the only exceptions were that Galindo never beat Kulik and never lost to Millot . . . but considering that he hadn't participated in the Champions Series and thus had only encountered the others at Worlds, in the short program at Centennial on Ice before he withdrew, and in Eldredge's case at Nationals, it's not surprising that he would be the exception. The other six guys were back and forth with each other all season. And most of them had interesting programs too.

The ladies, on the other hand, were all pretty painful one way or another in Edmonton, aside from Kwan and Chen. And the free dances were all pretty uninteresting to me as well.

Forgot..

Ellyn Thanks for the correction.
The 1996 CSF was a bit of an odd competition. I think it was because the early 90's skaters were not used to skating in another big championship final after their GP series. It showed in a lot of te perfromances. MK fell in her SP. Lu Chen and Todd Eldrege had complete meltdowns in their Lp's. Of course now the GPF is even worse, making skaters skate 2 LPs's<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

Forgot..

Ellyn Thanks for the correction.
The 1996 CSF was a bit of an odd competition. I think it was because the early 90's skaters were not used to skating in another big championship final after their GP series. It showed in a lot of the perfromances. MK fell in her SP. Lu Chen and Todd Eldrege had complete meltdowns in their Lp's. Of course now the GPF is even worse, making skaters skate 2 LPs's<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

Re: Forgot

Well, Kwan had just come from her only loss of the season, due to illness, at Centennial a week or two before. Perhaps she was not fully recovered, or had lost training time at any rate. Also wasn't there some rumor of someone stalking her in Paris, which might have proved distracting?

And I wouldn't really call Eldredge's LP at the CSF a meltdown -- I thought it was better than he'd skated the same program at Nationals. It just wasn't as good as what he'd done with the Chess program at Skate America and therefore gave no hint of how much better he would do at Worlds.

Re: Flashback- 1996 Worlds

I recall one of the commentators stating that the windchill factor outside the Edmonton arena was something like minus forty degrees. Ugh!! :x :| :x :x :x

The figure skating, however, was fantastic!!

Re: Flashback- 1996 Worlds

Had I seen this thread I wouldn't have started the other thread "1996 Worlds revisited - Lu Chen vs Michelle" and I would have spared some of you the torment of rediscussing this issue. Anyway, thanks to those who helped me appreciate Lu Chen's program Rach, I rewatched it a few more times and indeed I began to see it as a masterpiece. I had initially thought it was merely a good program (someone hit me). Anyhow, I still think Michelle's program was a bit better, biased? I don't know.

Re: Flashback- 1996 Worlds

<span style="colorurple;font-size:medium;"><strong>PAIRS</strong></span>
Russian team had two strong but somewhat unexciting pairs. They were both beautiful, but turned out the kind of performances you easily forget. <strong>Eltsova & Bushkov</strong> (students of Pavlova, T&M's as well as Bereshnaya's former coach) reached the peak of their career to get the gold. <strong>Shishkova & Naumov</strong> (students of the Velikovs, P&T's coah, as well as former coach of Anton's) got the 4th place, which as a very disappointing finish for them. Also making their debut in the Russian team were <strong>Kazakova & Dmitriev</strong>. Their elements were somewhat shaky, landing them in 5th place; however, you could tell it was just a matter of time before they got to the very top. Also, I recall how touching it was to see Artur very caring toward Oksana, especially when she made mistakes.

In 2nd were the German <strong>Wotzel & Steuer</strong>. Don't know why, but I just never warmed up to the two of them. Always felt they had close to no chemistry on ice. (Not bashing, I know they did their elements well and all.)

U.S. had a very strong team, with <strong>Meno & Sand</strong> finishing 3d, and <strong>Ina & Dunjien</strong> getting ending up in 6th.

A few things of note:
<strong>Shen & Zhao</strong>, finishing in 15.
The pair to watch that season was <strong>Berezhnaya & Shlyakov</strong>. That season, they won Trophee Lalique (over K&D and M&S), and where 3d in Skate America. Unfortunately, it was in January that Elena's accident took place, so they of course were not in Worlds.

<span style="colorurple;font-size:medium;"><strong>DANCE</strong></span>
In dance, it was yet again G&P for gold, K&O for silver, and a duel between B&K and A&P for the bronze.

<strong>Grishuk & Platov</strong> had a somehat disappointing FD I thought (according to them, that year they worked basically with no coach, as Lininchuk was spending all her time with K&O). However, they had Addagio for their exhibition -- absolutely exquisite! Of course, they got the gold.

<strong>Krylova & Ovsyannikov</strong>. I loved their OD. It was Paso Doble, and I always found it incredible how perfect Angelika was for Spanish dance. They got the silver in the end.

<strong>Bourne & Kraatz</strong>. As always, their OD was unusual (you can always count on those two to push the envelope). I thought, however, that it was not as strong as A&P's. Their FD did not much impress me either. I know, I am not a big fan of this team, but I really thought that year that it was subpar <em>for them</em>. Perhaps they were just adjusting to Dubova's style.

<strong>Anissina & Peizerat</strong>. Their OD was very sure, much more so than B&K. Their FD, though, was a bit too much like an exhibition piece.

5th and 6th places were occupied by <strong>Romanova & Yaroshenko</strong> and <strong>Lobacheva & Averbukh</strong>.

In 23d were <strong>Chait & Sakhnovsky</strong>.

Re: Flashback- 1996 Worlds

Guess I'll have to watch that tape again.

I remember it's a good tape; especially I remember Ilia Kulik.

Maybe this weekend.....

sh

Re: Flashback- 1996 Worlds

"Michelle-3L/2T, 3T/2T, 3F, 2A, 3Loop, 3S, 3L and the exciting 3T at the end.
LuLu-3L/2T, 3F/2T, 3T, 2A, 3Loop, 3L, 3S, 2A and 3T at the very end as well.
Presentationwise, they were equal. "

Is this right? LuLu with 2 3T's? Which one is correct?