She certainly did NOT deserve 1st place in the short. Watch Bobeks short, every single element except doing an easier solo triple is better. Lutz better even with the flutz, a ton bigger, and way more flow out. All the spins were better, and spiral and footwork sequence defintely better than here. And artistically much better.
If she had put her hair in a bun and worn a bit of make up, it could have made all the difference, scarily enough. Just brilliant, and at such a young age too.
They got it wrong here. Surprising, because they're very astute commentators. I went and watched her Nationals programs. She did not mess up the axel there. (She faltered on the lutz.) As you say, she had trouble with the axel later on in her career. But at this point she was known for holding the landing edge beautifully (although she didn't do so here).
@OapostropheC I think the new SP rules at the time had just come into play in 1995 (allowing the ladies to do a second triple). Bonaly did do it in Dortmund (Euros) that year I think - although not entirely clean...
It's absurd Bonaly placed ahead of this; what I do like about the COP (despite it's weaknesses in many other aspects) is that it does allow up and comers their fair shake, versus making them "wait their turn." I mean, this program should ALWAYS beat a short program where an entire element is botched, ala Bonaly.
She got media sensation for being the youngest competitor at this World's. She skated very good! I think she paved the way for Tara. Back then being 14 was way too young to win even if she skated better than say Bonaly. Her skating wasn't mature yet as the announcer commented. Now the skaters are younger and win. Big difference in their generations.
I just noticed Kwan only did about 6 rotations in the layback spin. I'm not sure on the specific number of rotations required back then, but by the late 90s 8 rotations were required. Interesting if the requirement then was also 8 and she was short because throughout her skating career she was never known as someone who missed on requirements like this.
Was she really having trouble with 2 axel at this time? I don't really believe that, because at this age, it was her best jump, in terms of technique (other than 3 toe). Later on, she struggled with it, but it was never really a 'bad' jump for her. In fact, I think they switched the combo and the axel to make sure her combo was stronger than she did it at Nationals.
In this short competition kwan and bobeck have a flutz..chen lacked of a quarter rotation and bonaly put a hand on the ice..the only girls who realised a real lutz without fault were markova and leray.
@@existenzialist I disagree. The hand-down pretty much was the only reason she could even complete it and I think is a graver error. That said, the flutz should be penalized, especially Bobek's which didn't even attempt the outside edge. Even if it was penalized more than a hand-down that was almost a fall, Bonaly had other major issues in that SP that Kwan and Bobek did not have.
