Hmm, I can think of quite a few messy mediocre skaters who have worn Olympic gold. I won't name any names. Michelle is a legend, something Tara will never be.
Talk about a preview of things to come! Even at this young age, I think we all knew that this was going to be a world class legend. Thank God she lasted for as long as she did, and gave us some of the most emotionally satisfying moments in sports history.... usually an athlete has a "moment" that's great, but Kwan had more than a dozen! Incredible.
metsdudenj: Just for the record, there were judges from CHina, Japan, and Canada, but I agree she was undermarked. Remember, they didn't realize they were in the presence of perhaps the greatest of all time yet.
@ihearticesk8ing the two judges who gave Michelle Kwan a 5.9 for artistry and gave her 1st place are the only two that should never be allowed to judge again.
This performance still gives me goosebumps. I love how her smile got bigger with each jump that she landed. Too bad she didn't medal. One missed medal followed by a near decade of world domination, not a bad trade off ;) :P.
Skateschool: That is so sweet! i loved your message. I saw her a few months later doing this one too, and was totally amazing, but never dreamed how much of a legend and icon she would become.
thus began the transformation. it was Michelle's '95 to '96 transformation that really pushed the envelope as far as the expectancy of maturity and artistry at a young age. that's why so many newer skaters (attempt to) show more maturity at 13 and 14 years old. this was wonderful though!
People say she got slower towards the end of her career... maybe she did, but she also got steadily more elegant and gorgeous in her artistry. *_* 2004 was one of her best years ever.
Wow...14. My son is 14. So I'm thinking, "They're the same age...freaky." Then I realized he was born in 1995. So now I feel old. LOL! Amazing how quickly time flies! I remember watching this live, with no clue what a skating legend she would become.
@goingplaces11 she was so happy. 2 clean performances and after her struggles in providence during the nationals it was really a very rewarding performance and you can really see she enjoyed it.
She was 3rd in the long. She didnt get the bronze since Bobek won the short. It was Bobek's outstanding short program that won her the medal and pushed Kwan out. Alot of people keep forgetting this.
Frank Carroll really knows how to package his skaters. He created a program that perfectly showed off everything Michelle Kwan was capable of at the time and showcased her tremendous growth from the year before. I would never argue that she should have won outright, but seven triples has to count for something. Her artistry wasn't special but she was so enjoyable to watch, and that should have counted for something, too. She should have at least gotten the bronze, IMHO.
What I think is interesting is that Chris and Simon are truly leaning towards Kwan. Bezic immediately wrote her off. I honestly do think that this performance not only lead to Kwan's maturity the later year but it also to tought the coaches of future young and up and coming skaters what they needed to do in order for their skaters to win.
In comparisson to how beautiful she then becomes, she is almost plain here to look at! Mark wise, surely that performance deserved a medal, not to say a gold and to see some 5.6 was just outrages. I hate people and their charity votes. Michelle deserved to be on that podium!
@Mbookfreak: No problem! I totally understand that art/performance can be subjective and based on personal taste. I really liked what you said about the mark of her success being that people are so protective of her! That's a really good point. Your comment was honest and kind, whereas one or two posters tend to post hateful things that are offensive. I know I get protective b/c her skating has brought me such joy, it's like I feel I owe her, if that makes sense? Who do you like?
Michelle wasn't robbed of gold at either Olympics, even though I was rooting for her in 2002. In 2002 they wanted to give it to her quite honestly. Tara brought the 3/3s and Michelle was more tentative. Her '98 Nationals skate would have done it at the Olys, but Kwan standing up doesn't automatically equal a win. That said, I'm not a kwan fan, but this video was a great effort. The start of an illustrious career.
@Mbookfreak: That's cool... i'm just really surprised by your comment. I think what everyone loved MOST about Kwan was her music/choreography, and especially her ability to draw an audience in! This is certainly not an example of her artistic excellence, as she was so young, but have you watched, for example, her free programs in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004? She brought the house down! But I respect your opinion.
@mlc2005 I know exactly what you mean! I'm kinda the same way with my favorite baseball team actually, I grew up with baseball long before I started skating. For skaters though, I always loved Irina Slutskaya in general, low stylistic marks notwithstanding, and I've gotten very attached to Mirai since she came back from her growth spurt-- that's gotta be so tough! She looks like a lady on the ice now though, not so much like (sorry Mirai!) a jumping kid:-) So much joy in her too, I love that!
she deserved the silver medal and Bobek the bronze. Notice with the all European panel how well Bonaly did. Had there been judges from USA CHN JPN CAN the results would have been different I assure you
I disagree that Cohen was better at age 14. Cohen only skated one clean free program in her competitive career that I'm aware of. But I agree that Cohen is an amazing skater, she just never had the consistency of Kwan.
I bet if they had put a little makeup on her, styled her hair and given her a slightly more sophisticated costume she would have scored higher and medalled here. She just looked like such a young child that she didn't get the grown-up marks.
@bboylilizzi Only thing i can think of is that the judges were telling Michelle that she needed to be more mature in her skating to get on the podium. Frank Carrol said as much. They wanted a woman on the podium not a girl.
OMG...I forgot how much she changed in one year. If only they would have done something to her look that year...she could have had another world medal...if not the gold. But perhaps her career would not have been the same or had as much meaning the following year.
I remember that. I remember the how and why she didn't get the bronze but it still seemed unfair that the only one to have two clean programs (even if she was artistically immature) didn't get anything. I still think she didn't get enough credit for what she did do, even though she still had years of development ahead. Oh well. Five world titles later makes this not matter so much. Just a reflection.
@mlc2005 yeah, even then... idk, just never really grabbed me somehow. but thanks for being nice:-) i know a lot of people are VERY protective of michelle, which is a mark, maybe the biggest one, of her success-- and i respect that!
Yeah I agree. Michelle doubled her last triple lutz in the 97 Worlds LP and still won the LP over Tara. Slutskaya should have actually also beaten Tara in the LP which would have given Michelle the gold overall anyway even with a big mistake in the short and another mistake in the long. With all clean jumps Michelle would destroy Tara in 97.
If Sasha fell less, then I would be inclined to agree with HowsaBowsa.. but Sasha's fall ruined it all for her. And if you look at Alissa Czisny's falls, you could see what I mean. I see that Kwan's a better skater. But she did have some nice extensions too.
I think Michelle this year would have beaten Tara in 97. Like ants said Tara rose to the top a bit by default. In the winter of 97 Kwan going through a period of confidence crisis, Irina gaining lots of weight and losing her jumps, Lu out completely with injury, and nobody else a real threat. Even so I still think Kwan even with her mistakes did enough to deserve to beat Tara 97 for sure at 97 Worlds and arguably (though this is closer) at the 97 GP final. Tara deserved 97 Nationals I concede.
@dsfddsgh Yep they said they wanted a woman on the podium not a girl. Following year Michelle came out like gang buster. Then a year after, they gave the goddamn medal to a fucking little girl-Tara Lapinski. A skater whose all jump, no artistry or horrible technique. With Michelle, it's always damn is she do, damn if she don't she always had to prove herself and is the only one expected to ALWAYS give a flawless performance to win and yet there's messy skaters winning gold.
herm712 was right. the judges really held her down after the short program. and under the ordinal system, she would have needed to finish at least in second place in the free skate (beating Bonaly) to win a medal (which would have been silver. but since she finished third after the free skate, bobek still beat kwan overall under the ordinals. if kwan won the free skate, she would have been tied with lulu under the ordinals, but would have won the gold if she won the free skate outright.
dang she just attacks her jumps. she doesn't even look the slightest bit nervous. if i was her i'd be shitting my pants being in front of all those people. and her scores are exactly the reason i'm SO glad the 6.0 system is gone.
@idolfan9495 Bonaly did more difficult jumps and was already ahead in the short program.Only Bonaly and Bobek did triple-triple combos at this event.However Chen Lu was ahead on artistry, as was Bobek but Bobek had two falls in long so finished behind Bonaly.
@bboylilizzi Frank had nothing to do with Michelle not getting on the podium. He was her coach not a judge. He was just trying to understand why she placed 4th. Knowing Frank he wasn't happy with the judges either but knew she had to start presenting herself as a more mature skater.
@citizenlen and it is also stupid to say Kwan is the only one who has to be perfect to win. There has been no skater between 1995 and 2006 who won Worlds or Olympics with anything less than a perfect long program except.....oh yeah Kwan herself at the 98 Worlds. Sasha Cohen a skater with stunning spins, spirals, and artistry has never been awarded a major gold medal due to just 1 or 2 small slips each time.
It was not technically the best of the night: Bonaly- 7 triples, 2 triple-triples, huge impressive jumps Kwan- 7 triples, 0 triple-triples, tiny baby jumps with no flow out of them
@Algorithm16 The judges likely saw Michelle as a girl versus a ladies medalist. Personally I thought her artistry was okay, but technically she was superior to the three medalist. I actually thought she had won bronze until I saw the scores. She was 3rd in the LP over Nicole Boebeck.
I said Bonaly was technically superior to Kwan, not Nicole. Surya Bonaly also did 7 triples, but two triple-triples. Yes they were cheated a bit, but they would still would be credited, and hers always were in the past as well. Nicole deservedly won the bronze over Michelle because of her short program which was by far the best in the event.
she didn't medal because the judges were wary of making any "kids" gold medalists. they felt burned by oksana, who promptly turned pro after her wins. they rewarded kwan the next year though, for sure.
Kwan's wonky (cheated on take-off and landing, even in my opinion before COP took over) was enough to give the SP to Slutskaya IMO. I'd even entertain putting Cohen in 2nd, as her 3flip, 2axel, all 3 spins, and musicality were better than Kwan's IMO. The combination jump and spiral sequence are pretty equal in my book.
@jwretro she did beat Bobek in the long. Bobek was 1st in the short to Michelle's 5th so stayed ahead. The only way for Kwan to have medalled would have been to beat Bonaly in the long program which would have pushed Bonaly off the podium.
it's sad because she was flawless...but that's skating. back then michelle was just coming up, so she had to pay her dues. the judges held her down in the short program and made sure they placed her fourth after her wonderful performance in the free. that's okay cuz the next year she came out and kicked ass!
Yeah, I'm not even so much peeved that she didn't win but that she walked away with nothing. Just because she was young didn't really justify her skating so well and not getting rewarded with at least a bronze. But, it's easy to say now some 13 years later, but even the commentators thought she got gipped. Oh well.
I think my mother has a shower curtain in that material. :-) Seriously, lovely program from Michelle, as a girl... joyous to watch but very much a "girl" skating. Just look at her performance a year later to notice the change.
@dsfddsgh Ok, I understand now, I thought Frank was one of the judges or something. Though I must say having seen the perfomances by the other skaters, I understand that comment now. Thanks for your time dsfddsgh. Why not call yourself R2P2 instead, that would be a lot easier :) kidding! bye now!
Michelle was clearly better than anyone who place higher than her just because she looks like a kid and not a women. Now where are those so called "women"? They are not even famous anymore after their skating career whereas Michelle is doing far better than any of them.
