@@TT-ee4qp stop your insults please. We all enjoy reading comments and YOURS is rude and terribly insulting. This is 2024......not 1998. Get mental help and please get a life. Stop your keyboard vomit.
Olympics isone single event and performance. If you win the Olympics it does not mean you're the best overall. To me that night the smile and tears of Lu Chen were worth more than gold. She's the best example of elegance and love of the sport honoring it as best she can. Her bronze medal was from the heart.
Before Tara even found out she won she was bawling and after she got her scores with one skater to go she went back stage and cried. Everyone cries. If I skated like they do I'd cry too. Let's just be happy for both of them. They are very talented.
maryanne bowley she had lived in the U.S. for a time and loved it here--she was ordered home by the Chinese Olympic federation. Afraid she was going to defect.
@@hollyjolly2066 well, she would have lost her Chinese citizenship and wouldn’t have been able to complete for them in the Olympics, which is what she was working towards at the time. She couldn’t compete for the US without becoming a citizen and that process takes longer than the amount of time until the next olympics.
I usually defend Tara, but she didn't have to shrug Michelle off when she tried to hug her. Tara sort of said "we only do that on the Podium...not here". Where as Michelle was genuine and was like "well if you won't hug me I'll hug Lu Chen". BTW, I love that Lu Chen put her hand over her heart too :)
You did not see Michelle backstage when the camera snuck up on her, read her book, she even said she handled it very immaturely..no WOnder Tara didn't give her a fake hug until she had to.
@@elizabethhurley1129 Just because T was younger and fiter then MK, T is more easier to jump. That's why T gave up figure skating after she won Olympic. Because T would lose her physiological advantage one day.
It is amazing and heart-breaking at the same time, when you have arguably the greatest american skater in history who just couldn't win that Olympic gold...So many championships but not the one she most wanted and deserved...I love you Michelle!!!!!!!
@Mountain Lover yes indeed michelle got what she deserves. tara and sarah skates to win while michelle skates not to lose. they both won where it matters most, the olympics. i am sure michelle is willing to trade in all her 10 national and 5 world titles for 1 olympics title, period.
I think Tara won on the basis of her triples. Michelle's performance was much more artistic, also her body type is more elegant on the ice. If Michelle had had more triples in her program, she would have won. After looking at both programs, I still think Michelle should have won regardless
victoria grant it's not so much the number of triples, it was the triple/triple combinations. Tara had two, Michelle didn't do any. They each had a total of seven triples, it's just that Tara's were harder in combinations than Michelle's. Had Michelle done the same combinations and landed them as flawlessly as Tara did, she likely would have won because her artistic marks were higher than Tara's.
I love how nice mIchelle Kwan is! She hugged everyone. Tara was a little bit snooty to her. Michelle was just trying to give her a hug! Michelle was such a good sport anda very nice person GO MICHELLE KWAN!!!:)
People need to stop being so rude. They are BOTH amazing skater who BOTH deserve praise for their accomplishments. They are the few people in history that get to say they won a medal at the olympics so chill out and be happy for both of them!
My heart just broke for Michelle, you could just see the pain in her eyes. She always deserved the gold, but just could never pull it off due to the pressure, or nerves. She still reigns the most decorated figure skater in history, where I hope she remains forever.
Michelle was robbed and Tara was overrated. Michelle's artistry and technique were better, her performance was classic, beautiful and womanly. Tara had a kid's body and weight so easier to jump , even so , she still didn't make a correct 3+3 to win. Tara retired because she got hurt and grew up, then everything changed.
@@23Echeo Tara's flip and lutz would be called out for under rotation today. Tara's triples were cheap. Tiny, rushed jumps. Tara's technique was overrated and wouldn't get marks today. Michelle was robbed.
@@TT-ee4qp Tara's jumps were like Yulia Lipnitskaya's, very tiny, no height, and relies on spinning the jumps rather than jumping them. Yet Yulia was still scoring high
Michelle Kwan was a joy to watch all the years of her skating career. A true "complete" skater. Here at the medal presentation she is showing incredible graciousness. She has my respect. Even though Tara lipinski was awarded the gold here, I do not think she was a complete skater. It was a youthful, athletic performance. Alina Zagitova at the same age showed much more polished skating maturity. Lipinski does not stick out as a memorable skater to me. Sometimes it isnt the best skaters who win the gold.
Lou Chen was such a beautiful skater to watch and such a class act!!! Michelle was a true hero of skating and an ambassador for the United States. She went the distance in her skating career bringing alot of style and grace to the sport!!! Tara was so young here but after she won the Gold medal there was really no place for her to go. Professional skating is much different from amateur were you had to be to do serious competing. Most skaters don't stay as professionals and find other career choices.
Tara was overrated to win the Olympics gold. Michelle was robbed. Tara's program was a Disney Cartoon, she also had a incorrect triple triple combo.....under the new system, Michelle would be the winner.
I don't get the Michelle hate IMO she is a great skater who I think should have won the Olympic gold. Even though she didn't she's still a great skater and she has earned her place among the best.
Its because she absolutely hated the facts that Tara beat her She was supposed to win gold and she was so upset when Tara won. A lot of people didn't like her attitude
@@Dragoneen what attitude?? She was always gracious- all her competition said as much. Besides Michelle was not the favorite Tara was the reigning world champion.
@lizsha2 Think of this..Kurt Browning is generally acknowledged as being one of the greatest skaters, yet he did not win any Olympic medals ( he would just make so many mistakes). Then there was Ocsana Baiul - her win was a travesty. It is what it is.
I remember the '98 games like they were yesterday! Tara Lipinski gave the best performance ever and I was literally in hysterics when she won, that's how happy I was. I can't believe it's been 10 years. I know that a lot of people criticized her for immediately turning pro after winning the Gold...but c'mon..think about it...winning the gold medal is as far as you can go. Sure, it would have been great to see her try for a second medal but she proved the first time that she was great. :)
Lu is the real winner that night. Though she was technically weaker, she defied all odds to prove herself. Would Kwan or Lipinski be on the podium if they were 25th the year before?
This was written 15 years ago but imma say something. Lutz is more difficult for most skaters. For professional skaters 3 rotations is not difficult. So as for the more common double axel it’s not that bad (triple is ultra c so I won’t even talk about it cause that wasn’t a thing) HOWEVER getting the proper edge on jumps is very difficult i.e. triple lutz (which uses an outside edge) is harder than a double axel.
The Olympics is one moment. It doesn't matter as much as you think. Both Michelle and Tara are very happy, as they should be. You might need to rethink your position and stop seeing everything so black and white.
@kraxi88 I get the impression that she wasn't being ungrateful but that she was really nervous. When Michelle tried to congratulate her at the very beginning, it looks like Tara asked her a question about the ceremony. If I were only a 15 year old at the Olympics I would want to know what to do during the ceremony so I wouldn't be embarrassed! I don't think she was ever ungrateful, just look at all of her interviews after the Olympics!
IMHO Michelle's was the best, and she did what every gold medal winner before her did...and then some. The thing is, she is the skater thats so wonderful, she didnt NEED a gold medal to be a legend. say what you wish..but she IS a legend! I'm a nurse and a grandmother, it bothers me because in interviews Tara tells how the dr told her not to do that jump combo, warned her bout her potential injury..she said "without it i wouldnt have th gold, so it was worth it" What kind of mother let her???
As you may recall, Michelle Kwan had been suffering from a broken foot! Because of that broken foot, which was STILL causing her pain at the Olympics, she could not do her 3toe/3 toe combo. Do you SERIOUSLY think Michelle and her team did not know what Tara was competing with?! Michelle did the best she could with what she was physically capable of executing at the time!
@@carrietremble had michelle added a 3Toe/3Toe beside the 3Lutz/2Toe that she did, i still think it wouldn't matter because tara would have 1 more 3/3 than michelle. she did 3Loop/3Loop and at the end of the program added a 3Toe/1/2Loop/3Salchow that is incredibly difficult, and she was rewarded for that.
@@minavamp2811 Michelle's performance was classic, beautiful and womanly. Tara skated like a Ping Pong. Michelle's artistry was much better than Tara. Michelle should be the winner.
@@minavamp2811 Michelle beat Tara at 1998 US Nationals before the Olympics , which means Michelle's artistry and technique were better. Tara's technique was unstable, Tara fell again and again by the incorrect triple triple combo before the Olympics.
Keegan Thorpe had the result gone the other way, Michelle likely would have gone pro right away and Tara probably would have stayed around at least another four years to go for a gold.
yes indeed both tara and sarah won where it matters most, the olympics. hands down michelle is willing to trade in all her 10 nationals and 5 world titles for 1 olympic title, period.
Tara is not the first woman to land a triple-triple at the Olympics. It was Midori Ito in Calgary. Kristi was also able to land a triple in 1992 and Nancy did it in 1994.
Michelle won how many World Championships in a row? Seven? Nine? She will be the greatest American if not the best women's figure skater in my lifetime. There is no question that she was the finest sportsman and athlete in the sport as well.
Michelle Kwan performed classical type of flawless and Tara Lipinski performed flawless - more like contemporary type of performance, so both SHOULD receive GOLD MEDALS.
Isn't it sad that just 12 years ago the USA dominated the podium with at the ladies event with one of the strongest teams ever. Now we can't even contend internationally.
@JNagarya I'm pretty sure many skaters are not extremely close to each other for a reason: They are competitors. Anyways, Tara left the amatuer skating world too early for us to tell if she could have become better friends with Michelle. All of the other skaters in her professional career seem to have nice things to say about her: Scott Hamilton for example. Just throwing that out there.
Tara never did a proper lutz in her life, under-rotated the second triple in her sequence combo, had a weak spiral and small jumps. She did show a lot of energy. But Michelle has the last laugh, because she is a figure skating legend, while Tara is just a footnote. And before all the Tara fans jump on me, let me say this: I think it's too bad that Tara blew out her hip training for this gold medal, because she was enormously talented. But she never became the skater she might have been.
Because it took a lot for her to regain Olympic form after the meltdown relationship with her coach. That girl came from a very modest cultural context and became one of the best artists of the sport. It took 16 years in the making of this moment.
@JNagarya Exactly, if she was born in the U.S. regardless of weather or not both her parents or grandparents are polish or yugoslavakian or whatever, as long as she was born in the U.S. on U.S. soil that makes her an american from birth.
She's still Polish American, Even if she's born in the US. I know, because I am also part Polish due to my mom's origin from Poland. And even if I am born in the US, Ii am still considered part Polish. Its the same with Sasha's Ukrainian heritage even if her mother emigrated from the Ukraine to the US. So it does matter in form of sharing something in common with your family heritage. And its not just as an American.
Boy times sure have changed. It’s kind of bittersweet to see these two American girls on the podium at the Olympics, and how but for a few exceptions, American women used to dominate ladies figure skating, and now for the past decade at least they haven’t won anything.
I never said they werent to be respected. what are you talking about, i guess you do think for urself, think stuff up that is? And really, if OG was that important, then yeah, they would be as well known. Kristi Yamaguchi is, Dorothy Hamil is, Peggy Flemming, Sonja Henne...come on now. dont be dumb. And NO OG is NOT necessary to be the best of the best, true she isnt champion of olympic GAMES, neither are Nancy, Irina, Kurt, Elvis, etc. Tara knew she was lucky, she left, she couldnt do it again
I realize this is a rather old comment, but I dont care..I just dont like people not qualifying their claims.. As far as Button's comment, I think it was regarding the 2004 Campbells performance (The Debut performance) of Michelle's Bolero program. The fall came during a miss-step during the footwork sequence at the end. Whether it was an error on Michelle's part, or a crevice in the ice is unknown. What is known is that the rest of that performance was pretty great. That is all.
People seemed to forget just how lucky Tara was to be at the Olympics in the first place! Remember the changed the eligible age to 16 but allowed Tara in due to her world championship! She should have acted better off the ice period!
Michelle and Lu Chen...their artistry were better than Tara, Tara's performance just like a Disney cartoon . Tara had a incorrect triple triple combo to win.....WTF.
no but tara was the first to land a tripple loop tripple loop. witch it differant to say a tripple toe tirpple lutz or som,ething what they did. loops are harder!
I don't think Tara noticed. I would bet she'd feel a bit overwhelmed seeing as she just wont the olympic gold and perhaps just didn't see Michelle extend her hand.
the judging was not fair. as kwan skated first off the last group of girls. so the judges had to save marks for the other skaters. kwans skate was flawless, more joy, exquisite, and definately so painful to watch this moment as she had to deal with just silver. I will never forget this moment, and Tara should be tarnished and her gold should be taken away from her, and be given to the one who deserves it. Kwan - the greatest skater of all time. Look it up EVERYONE.
I agree... If Michelle had skated last, that medal would have been hers. I always felt like the reason Tara retired immediately following those Olympics was because she knew she couldn't really win over Michelle. I have never seen such a beautiful, graceful person on the ice than Michelle Kwan. That's my opinion, anyway... And what was with Tara when Michelle first came out on the ice. At the very beginning of this video, it looks like Michelle put her hand out to shake hands or something and Tara just stood there...
I was heartbroken for Michelle Kwan for not getting gold in two Olympics. But unarguably, the best female skater. She never needed an Olympic gold medal to prove she's the greatest.
@@karllieck9064 To me she is the greatest because of longevity, maintenance and tenacity. Her shelf life was way longer than most if not all the figure skaters. She is still the most decorated figure skater of all time.
Unfortunately she never brought it together when it counted the most, fair enough that in Nagano since she had her foot injury so she was more conservative, but SLC was hers to lose and a fall and 2 foot were enough to do the damage
@@mht4908 Unfortunately, Michelle got hurt ( her toes ) before the 98 Olympics, so she couldn't make triple triple combo. However, Michelle's artistry was much better than Tara Lipinski. And Tara's technique was overrated to win, Tara's technique wouldn't get marks today. Michelle kwan was robbed.
Has any country ever had a ladies team that had 2 skaters as dominating as Kwan and Lipinski were heading into Nagano? Unless something major happened the other skaters were fighting for the bronze.
Yes, the US in 1992. Yamaguchi, Harding and Kerrigan had won gold, silver and bronze at the 1991 World Championships. That was the only time that happened until the 2021 World Championships when the three Russian ladies swept the podium.
When you ask someone to name a figure skater, i betcha most ppl will name Michelle Kwan. An Olympic Gold doesn't mean anything. One can win one Olympic Gold or one World Gold Medal and can be forgotten (Oksana Baiul), but one can win so many hearts of fans w/o that one medal (Michelle Kwan, Irina Slutskaya). Don't get me wrong...Tara won it fair and square. She had a good program too. The only unfair Olympic event was 94 when Kerrigan definitely deserved it.
To finish out of order, sorry this is third in line. but, she said all she wanted was the OGM, well, she got it, and if she'd waited, she probably wouldnt have, due to injury etc. She had the weight of her parents marriage too. Michelle didnt have to worry about all that. I think Michelle should have won, but of the two, Michelle has gone much farther and been more respected without a gold than Tara would have. So its a good thing for her she won the, she NEEDED it. Michelle, the legend, didnt!
Oh man I remember this. I felt SOOOO bad for Michelle and I still do. Not only did she get trumped this year, but the next one as well?!?!? I know that has to hurt more than anything.
@Novak D Michelle did not deserve the win in SLC due to her fall and the 2 foot landing, Sarah also had 2 triple-triples whereas Michelle bailed on hers after 2 footing the first triple toe
@@mht4908 Yes, Michelle should be the winner if she didn't make mistakes. 😥 Michelle challenged herself more than challenged the Olympics, she beat herself, she shouldn't be alone without Frank Carroll.😳 But people know Michelle kwan is more than a Olympics gold.🥰👍👍👍
@@mht4908 It's a accident that Sarah Hughes won the 2002 Olympics. Sarah's technique and artistry were never good enough to win the World championship or the National championship. 😇 Sarah was lucky Olympics Cinderella because the other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes. 😇 But, even so, Sarah Hughes placed 4th at her SP, that means Irina Slutskaya was robbed and Irina Slutskaya should be the 2002 Olympics winner.😎
If anything, Tonya Harding should've been "bump[ed off" for her particiipation in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. But it's safe to assume that if Kerrigan hadn't been attacked, then she and Harding would've ended up in first and second place, respectively. That's why Harding's husband wanted to off Kerrigan, 'cause she was too much competition. She'd already won the bronze medal at the 1992 olympics just two years before so he didn't wanna take any chances.
michelle didn't get bumped off. the us olympic committee felt that nancy deserved the sport more, and they were right. she had to miss the nationals because of an attack which was totally unfair to her. besides, michelle was only 13 and had many years to come
It,s not bad if you are not expecting any medal. In Michelle's case, she didn't win a silver medal, she lost the gold. In Lu Chen's case, she was just thankful to get bronze, hence the obvious happiness and appreciation.
@@user-yu4xq9xy3d Tara was so lucky to win the Olympics gold, because she didn't really make a correct 3+3. Tara had a kid's body and weight, it's the reason why she could jump higher .
to finish...I would NEVER have let that happen, gold or NEVER gold. Tara is to be pitied, she felt that at 15 people were 'against her' because they were for michelle. similar to nancy and kristi, it was kristi's turn that year, and the next time, most every1 was for nancy. Same wouldve happened, had her mom not trashed the Kwans, and had she showed a little respect to Michelle who was ahead of her, we all would have pulled for Tara. In hindsight, its good she won...
@JNagarya It's a joke I got from comedian Margaret Cho who IS asian. Look it up if you don't believe me. And lighten up. If you can't make fun of yourself or laugh at yourself then your not living life. Yes, I'm proud to contribute what I MYSELF think is constructive indeed. What is to me may not be to you. What you find funny I may not and vice versa. I could really careless what YOU think but I got YOUR attention. Thanks for being a fan:) I'm gay btw. Love gay jokes too! White jokes, mexican..
Tara was good, but her performance just like a Disney cartoon, and her technique was overrated because she had a incorrect triple triple combo.....Michelle's performance was classic and elegant, totally robbed.
This is like how Yuna Kim had to settle for Silver in 2014 in Sochi when she clearly won the Gold. To Yuna's credit, she was classy like Michelle here.
I would say it's pretty different, Sochi had very blatant double standards. Adelina had a triple toe she did that was almost 180° underrotated but was overlooked, her program components were similar to Yuna's yet Yuna was heavily marked down. Whereas for Mao Asada, she slightly underrotated her triple axel and it was called out for a double. The fix was even more obvious because comparing Adelina's results from 2013 Worlds to Sochi, her short program improved by 15 points, and the free skate by about 33 points. In Nagano, Tara did indeed perform more difficult elements, technique was not the best, but I think the judges thought they had to give it to her before it was much more difficult than what Michelle did. She also did win the 1997 Worlds prior, so the win was more justified
@@mht4908 Tara's flip and lutz would be called out for under rotation today. Tara's triples were cheap. Tiny, rushed jumps. Under the new system, Tara's technique wouldn't get marks. Michelle was robbed.
It was a 'women's' competition when Sonja Henie first won it at age 15. What's your point? The best each time should win. It's the Olympics not a beauty pageant.
