Irina Slutskaya (RUS) - 2002 Salt Lake City, Figure Skating, Ladies' Free Skate 

Irina tried to disguise step-outs as "euler double salchow" for years!!

I wondered if I was the only person to think that she used that pass to cover for an off-balance landing. I even think it's debatable whether the 3 flip was a clean, ratified landing. The second lutz had an awkward stiff landing also.

@@mikeg8375 Yes, it seems like she was trying to cover up a trip or mistake as if to say, "Ya, I meant to do that." LOL

Sarah was lucky, because the other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes......（∩▽∩）

Hughes did nothing artistically and her line was sloppy. What the heck are you posting about? You don't have a clue.

@@ctruth6185 you know what im posting about so many people agree with me

@@MichaelDruck But it doesn't matter if 10 million people agree with you. Popularity is no substitute for the TRUTH. Your statement is just a personal opinion. Its likely, many Americans agree with you out of misplaced nationalism which they believe is patriotism. Lots of people agreeing with you doesn't make your point valid. Its doesn't make it true. The new system rewards pushing the limits & refining technique. It rewards all the parts of the sport which make it athletic and I'm perfectly fine with it. I believe its wonderful, after- all, the Olympics is the zenith of sport. That alone, should be the sole focus---the athletic side of the sport. There are many shows & exhibitions where a skater can focus on art & performing. Once a competitive career ends there are tours that cater to honing the art of skating but strong technique will can only be captured during a skater's prime. It won't last. But its the foundation from which a skater can build their art.

@@lila2986 Shut up you skank. American female skaters are washed up in the sport period. Nobody in the USA gives a rip about skating anyway. GTHOH pig!

@@ctruth6185 Are you informed that Russia and Belarus can no longer compete in world competitions?

I imagine she was thinking, "just slow down everything and don't fall, and you've got it." Unfortunately for her, she didn't have the same technical content as Sarah, and she had a sloppy landing. Months afterwards, Irina said in interviews that it just came down to the judges; she felt she still had deserved that win. I love Irina's fast, powerful skating and had never paid much attention to Sarah, but tonight Irina was slow yet oddly frenetic and it just didn't work. Between eight of the judges, they evened out - it was the Italian judge that nudged Sarah ahead of Irina. And had Michelle not fallen, this miraculous ending would not have even taken place!

@Antonio Jose Vivero Viteri No question about it. In my mind, she fully deserved the gold.

@Antonio Jose Vivero Viteri Sarah had no pressure because no one supports she would be the winner. （∩▽∩）Sarah surprised what happened at the 2002 Olympics more than anyone.

Her heart wasn’t in it. Sarah deserved that medal. You don’t judge an Olympics on how different judges decided to view Kristi Yamaguchi’s program against different skaters in 1992-good grief. You just wanted Michelle to win. It is most definitely not who you are competing against. Michelle had to show up and skate like everyone else. She did a much better job in 1998 against Tara, but there can only be one gold. Sometimes I think they should just award three golds so you don’t have this endless snarking afterwards. Trying to judge who is the “best” is often ridiculous.

@@ravenel2 This wasn't Michelle's night (or season). She deserved to win in 1998 over Tara's juvenile presentation and under-rotated 3-3. The draw was not in her luck.

@@Qacc6 Agree that it wasn't Michelle's time, but on the subject of Tara, 6 of 9 Olympic judges and Michelle Kwan's coach agreed Tara deserved to win.

In this house we stan Sandra

@@antmfan231995 always

I've had a theory for over twenty years now that Michelle would have won the gold here if it weren't for the judging controversy in the pairs competition just a few days earlier. If they had put Michelle second in the long behind Hughes she would have won the gold under these rules, But there would've been another controversy because the public would not have understood why Hughes would have lost despite that electrifying performance which was far better than anyone else's that night... This performance by Slutskaya was really sloppy, uninspired, and slow. I think if there was a mathematical way the judges could have given the silver to Michelle ahead of Irina, they would have. Unfortunately there wasn't and they had to sacrifice the silver medal winner for the gold medal winner.

​@mikeg8375 Totally agree. Michelle was robbed because of the pairs scandal. Notice that Sarah never won a nationals or worlds, she got lucky.

Still better than Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes.

@@TT-ee4qp Absolutely not.

gift is that you are able to write without brains

When are you gonna learn that under the 6.0 ordinal system, the score is a ranking relative to other skaters.

Главное было 5 судей с первым местом, а не 5,9

@Novak D exactly. I love it 🤣

Right? She always had awful choreography

Laughing

Just the end? I thought it was a mess from the first pose onwards.

y gana la adolescente de 16 años de USA, igual que 4 años antes ganó la adolescente de 15 años de USA

​@@KoraimaLynn Así es!

Agreed. The choreography was terrible.

Sarah was a middle skater, she did a good job never happened before to win and she was lucky because the other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes.

I have to adapt my comment, Irina was underscored af in the short program, she should have been first and THEN she would have won the gold, because only Sarah, but no other skater had beaten her in the free skate!!!!!

It wasn't about triples and Irina doing the hand over her head was more complex a 3 lutz. Her entries & exists were more difficult. What did that have to do with the freeskating? She didn't technically blow Irina out of the water. You have that American bias.

Wtf r u doing here? Go watch Sara videos, especially those after 2002

@@ilyichoblomov The 2002 Olympics winner Sarah got the 6th place at the 2003 World championship. （∩▽∩）Yes, Sarah was a middle skater.

With that COP a fall took you out. Irina was mature and superior to that only a clean Michelle could've beaten her. The U.S got the hometown bonus = cheating.

@@ctruth6185 No. You are blind. You are the cheat!

@@ctruth6185 true, a fall did that, but Michelle had the worst technical program of the evening and she correctly was given 5.6 by many of the judges for technical, she deserved 5.8 for artistic. I think Sasha skated better than Michelle, although Sasha did have some flat spots in her choreography - its easy to hide behind music like Carmen and Don Quijote

It's debatable who should have been ahead between Irina and Michelle, but if Irina had not beat Michelle, then Michelle would have won the gold, which I don't think would have made sense, so I think overall the results ended up pretty fairly.

I question whether you know what you saw? Technique isn't just triples. Irina did Bielmann spins on both legs. Sara's triple-triple = Irina's 3 loop, 2 sal, 2 loop. Sara's spins were blah & she lack any choreography at all. She skated around doing triples and that's it. Her skating hasn't held up with time. She got a gift from the judges for being American Michelle did too. She was on her butt. The Foreign skater got ripped.

@@ctruth6185 What? Slutskaya was sloppy and almost fell on a jump. Sarah was flowing and no, a triple triple is more difficult than a triple double double.

@@ctruth6185 What? Sarah’s spins were gorgeous!

Yup, looks like it. I think it was some sort of strategy that was taught: just disguise a turn out with a double sal.

At most, Slutskaya deserved a 5.6 for artistry.

It's ridiculous because your athlete didn't win

@@deeem5468 I’m British we didn’t have an athlete therefore your comment is moot. Fact is Slutskaya had poor presentation & even poorer posture.

@@TressBraga agree 100%

What's even more ridiculous is that Irina believes she deserved gold lol

Ilove Snoopy She looked like she was just out to do the jumps. Just a fucking lump. She was as exciting as a really slow-burning dumpster fir. fire.

It was just painful to watch. There is no artistry anywhere in this train wreck.

The 2loop landing also looked uncontrolled to me, like this "series" was a cover for un unclean landing.

@@mikeg8375 Correct! She stepped out of the double loop. Tried to disguise it by adding the double toe.

@ChristianLehrer Overall, I think her performance was sloppy and I might have even placed her fourth in the long program if I was a judge.

​@@mikeg8375 Agree!

the issue was the rankings of the fs. Since michelle was 1st in the sp and sarah 4th, someone other than Sarah had to also beat michelle in the fs. A lot of people felt michelle should have been 2nd in the fs and have beaten irina, which would have allowed michelle to win the gold medal, with sarah second

@@zb6070 That would be wrong, because with Michelle's mistakes, she didn't deserve the gold that night. I think the problem was that Michelle placed in front of Sasha in the fs. Yes they had a similar amount of mistakes, but Sasha fell attempting a triple lutz-triple toe combination, Michelle fell on a solo triple flip, 2 footed her triple toe during the triple toe-triple toe attempt, and eventually bailed to do a triple-double. I would've had for the free skate: 1) Sarah 2) Sasha 3) Irina 4) Michelle

@@mht4908 there is more to skating than jumps. Transitions, spins, spirals etc. Irina had next to no artistry and made many jump mistakes. Taking artistry kwan should easily beat irina. Sasha has performance but didnt have the reputation yet and her program had a lot of dead spaces which hurt her.

Sarah had 7 triples, and by the way, there are 4 sets of marks in total. 1 clean program doesn’t win the competition. Settle down.

You don't seem to understand how the 6.0 system worked. Sarah was 4th after the short. I could even agree with a ridiculous argument about Sarah deserving 6.0s that night. What I don't agree with was how the ladies were ranked in the long program. Yes, Sarah probably won the long. However, Slutskaya should not have placed 2nd in the long. It should have been Kwan or Cohen.

Sarah Hughes was lucky. 😂

Sarah deserved to win the LP. An argument could be made that she should've been placed lower than 4th in the SP. I think Irina should've won the SP, which would then given her the overall win even with this flawed LP.

Вы всегда ноете, что лучше всех. Мания величия, только и всего.

The Italian judge had her 4th behind Cohen. Rightfully so in my opinion.

Yeah it was just really uninspired. Technically there was some decent work in there but it was SLOW and very sloppy. That jumping pass which included the 2 doubles at the end looked to me like a cover for an off balance landing.

It did seem like she was going through the motions. I agree

Michelle's 2004 program < Tosca > was better than Irina's here.

@@ardeladimwit Unfortunately, Michelle fell at the 2002 Olympics, it's a accident and just happened, that's why Sarah got the gold. Sarah did a good job never happened before to win, and she was lucky because the other better skaters made mistakes.

Michelle Kwan fell, Sasha Cohen fell and Irina Slutskaya have a mediocre performance with a few jump mistakes. She think she would win because she was second in the short program.

I would have given Cohen third in the long over Slutskaya. This was artistically really weak, technically mediocre.

I agree with you - this was a mess. Her short program was excellent and she skated it well. But even without a fall, Irina's skating is painful thing to look at.

@auntiechercher4266 it was 100% the wrong music selection also. Not suited for her at all. Something more modern would have served her much better.

Даааа!!!!А потом был чемпионат мира и где Саша её там не было!!!А Ирина взяла там золото!❤

Agreed. That was just poor choreography

It was ugly, that's what it was.

One of my favorites 😁🤩

Totally agree. She needed to skate clean with better landings and a 3-3 to have a shot at beating Hughes in the long. When she makes mistakes on the jumps it hurts her because her skating Doesn't have a whole lot more strengths to get her the high scores she needs. Another good example of that would be at the 2001 world championships. She had one really sloppy landing compared with a mesmerizing performance from Kwan. It was a no brainer.

Agreed. But the corrupt judges didn't want another scandal and the general public is too stupid to figure out that the short program is 1/3 of the overall score and Sarah lost the short program. They needed to score Irina higher than Michelle to make sure Sarah won so the judges avoided more, although deserved, scrutiny. Watching the 2002 Olympics is tough. For me, skating died here.

@@jadedixon3641 Unfortunately, you are 100% correct! Michelle was made the sacrificial lamb that night. The only silver lining was Michelle would continue to skate and evolve for several more years post-Salt Lake.

​​They could've put Sasha as 2nd in the free. Sasha had a beautiful program even with the fall.

The only way Sarah Hughes could win the gold medal, which she rightfully deserved for her stellar LP, was if someone else defeated Michelle Kwan in the LP. The only skater who could come close to doing that was Irina. There is NO WAY this mess of a LP beat Michelle, but the judges had to place her ahead of Michelle in order for the rightful skater, Sarah, to win gold. The way the ordinals played out, the judges had to sort of throw Michelle under the bus for Sarah to win. Kwan should have been no lower than silver here, but mathematically, that wasn't possible. They had to sacrifice the rightful silver medalist in order for the rightful gold medalist to win.

@@L1623VP - that makes sense. Thanks so much!

Иди в пень,завистник

Because Kwan fell at all.

I think Michelle fell? If she didn't fall they ripped her off! She should've sued them.

so much natioanlism.

Because Sarah was the best performance that night. It’s not hard.

Well, she called it correctly because Sarah was the rightlful winner that nightl

Well Sarah is American. She will be the best, forever.

I very much preferred her to Tara.

I would have scored Sasha's presentation a 5.8 - Michelle was a bit dull (for Michelle) -equal to Sarah's presentation. Unfortunately, Sasha got pushed off the battlefield in the end, which is a shame.

Those are not ordinals, those are scores/points. Ordinals are placements.

The judges screwed up by putting Sasha behind Michelle, they wouldn’t have had to over score Irina had Sasha been 2nd

Sarah had the best program on both fronts. I had Sarah 5.8 5.8 Sasha 5.6 5.8 Michele 5.5 5.8 and Slutskaya 5.7 5.6 ( the judges would never mark Slutskaya that low)

You can’t give Michelle the gold on a performance like that, no matter what she did in the short. Sarah Hughes absolutely grabbed that gold and good for her.

@@ravenel2 Sarah's jumps were all underrotated.

2:39 Looks like the toe of her left foot is on the ice, although it would require slow motion to be sure.

No judge should ever engineer an outcome. Kwan and Cohen were better than Slutskaya in the long.

@coffeebreakmediaPH I agree. I feel that the judges felt a lot of pressure to get this right in the eyes of the media after the pairs fiasco, so they engineered the placements in a way the media wouldn't question, but it went against the spirit of the system as it was at the time.

Дааа!!!А какже было просто с 4 места пригнуть на первое!!!Ну прям чудо а не фигуристка !!!Подлые воры!!!

A poor music choice for Irina. Her obvious struggle to interpret the music contrasts painfully with her much better presentation in the short program here, and in future seasons, she had better presentation than this in several of her programs, including her 2006 long program. The judges were generous to her on both marks here, especially the presentation mark, to place her above Michelle. It is strange that Irina felt cheated (as she later implied in an interview) after skating a less difficult, and also flawed, performance compared to Sarah's clean performance. She should have considered herself lucky to get the silver.

​@@Dylvente I agree, her 2006 free skate was much better suited for her. Its a shame she choked so badly there.

Do you think Slutskaya deserved to rank higher than Kwan that night?

После нескольких просмотров, нет вопросов, Ирину очень высоко поставили, программа не пригодна к многократном пересмотр у, столько остановок, помарок,нет комбинации 3/3, одни амбиции, могла и постараться!Соперница была выше на голову, красивое женственное катание, прекрасное владение коньком! Чем и знаменита школа ФК в Америке! Но глаза болельщиков в такие минуты слепы!😁😁😁

Да и в небольшом перерыве с етой же программой стала чемпионкой мира!!!Где Сары Хьюстон и не наблюдалось!!!❤❤❤

Sarah lost the short program. Irina did not skate better than Michelle. The judges were using this to cover up their corruption after the pairs scandal.

Slutskaya did not have a tantrum. She was visibly upset but reacted naturally and respectfully. What event were you even watching?

Юдзуру Ханью посмеялся где-то. И Нейтан Чен.

Hopefully you're over it now.

A L - Neither of them was a superior skater to her on that particular evening, at that particular event.

@@MrOu83 Sarah was lucky because the other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes.

@@TT-ee4qp sometimes I think that Michelle hypo is only because she was Asian.

@Novak D I'd agree her Olympic win was a fluke, but she had a bronze from a previous worlds and several Grand Prix medals. Her win wasn't completely out of nowhere. She probably would have still medaled in SLC if Kwan and Slutskaya had skated cleanly in the LP.

Yes but I think if Irina had won the short (which IMO she actually should have) the judges would have now placed Michele 2nd in the long and Irina 3rd in the long just to make sure Sarah won. Basically with the two skates being similar-ish they were going to place whoever had to be 3rd for Sarah to win there to make sure of that result. They didn't want another scandal after all the broo hah over the pairs and they know the dumb as hammers general skating audience would not get things like factored points or too far back after the short, etc...Of course if Sarah had been lower than 4th in the short as she also should have been it would now have been impossible to find a way to give her the gold overall anyway.

@@grantgoffin4774 It's a accident that Sarah won the Olympics just because the other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes.

Michelle kwan had triple triple combo since 1995 ~ 2005 ( not every time ) ,which means her technique was stable and better than the other skaters like Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes had triple triple combo just for 2~3 years.

Irina had strong technical, but she skated like a truck driver, her artistry was far from Michelle's.

Actually, Michelle created so many difficult programs in her career. Much difficult than Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes..... Under the new system, Tara's technique and Sarah's wouldn't get marks today.

Я вас умоляю, выскочка однодневка))) которой подарили золото. Противно и смешно

I agree. I guess they had a better view than we do, but both Scott and Sandra were quick (not just here) to call out two-foot landings that in some cases really weren't. (In the 2006 Olympics, Sandra did so but corrected herself when the replay happened.) Still an overrated performance on the technical mark IMO.

You could tell it was two-footed in part by how the ice flew off when she landed. Clearly, it was two-footed.

Even if it wasn't two footed, it was sloppy. If you compare it with Kwan's second Lutz it was not as good.

Sarah Hughes was lucky, she didn't really deserve to win.

@@TT-ee4qp They all knew how the judging system worked before they went into this - it had been like that since the first competitions in the early 20th century. You skate clean, technically superior programs against those that might be artistically superior but technically FLAWED, you're going to win. Sarah's skill got her the strongest free program; luck got her the gold instead of silver. I love rooting for the underdog, despite the obvious Schadenfreude that came into play here.

@@scottw6704 Sarah Hughes was a middle skater in the history. Sarah's technique never won any World champion or the National titles. Sarah Hughes never did 2 triple triple combo before or after the 2002 Olympics. Sarah's terrible jumps wouldn't get marks today.

@@scottw6704 It's a accident that Sarah won. She was lucky because the other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes. And Sarah's technique was overrated. Sarah was just a Olympics Cinderella.

Ну вы попробуйте сами попасть хоть в один такт этой непростой музыки, тогда и посмотрим, кто из вас лучше и музыкальнее

It's a accident that Sarah won the Olympics gold....just like Tara Lipinski and they were lucky .（∩▽∩）

Sarah was a middle skater. Even she won the Olympics gold.

​@@ardeladimwit I have wondered that myself - I think it's definitely a paid troll.

Sarah got lucky and she knew it. If it hadn't been for the pairs scandal she wouldn't have won, unless she had been in the top 3 in the short program, which she was not.

Tara's Disney Cartoon program was totally overrated.....Tara skated like a happy puppy running in the park.

​@@TT-ee4qpAnd now they all skate like that. It's painful to watch anymore.

Michelle had that one fall. she didn't have a tripple tripple. So it wasn't fair to give her a gold when Sarah had 2 tripple tripple in her program. Irena didn't have a tripple combo either.. just a tripple with doubles. They, Michelle and Irena handed it to Sarah and they both knew it. but it was a great competition

It should've been Sarah, Sasha, Michelle then Irina. But it was too late.. They already placed Michelle over Sasha.

@@dbulc5171 They over glorified Michelle through out the whole season.. and yet again she didn't deliver. Just listening to Michelles interviews made my eyes wonder off into space. The media never paid that much attention to Tara or Sarah. They did shine some light on Sasha.. did that glimmer freak her out when it came time to perform.. yeah.. it did. You could see it in her skating. Michelle also cracked.. but she really didn't have the technical jumps like Tara or Sarah 4 yrs later. Her training was off or was it more ego skating for her.. like "I won so many already i just have to skate and they will give it to me" attitude. they gave the gold to the rightful skaters in the end technically and artistically.

@@bannockmuncher I agree with you. The gold medal winners were correct at both games. Did Irina deserve silver? No but it had to happen for Sarah to win gold.

@@dbulc5171 They underscored Sasha on the artistic impression as well, she also tried a 3Lz - 3T combination which was more difficult than Michelle's. Yes she fell on that, but Michelle's fall was on a solo triple flip, and she 2 footed her first 3T on that 3T - 2T combination

No. Michelle was 'in the lead' before this skate because Sarah's 4th place short skate + 1st place free skate in total ranked behind Michelle's 1st place short skate + 2nd place (at that moment, before Irina skated) free skate. Once Irina skated and the judges ranked her 2nd in free, that bumped Michelle down to 3rd. If Irina was given 1st place in free (2nd short+1st free), she would have won gold, Sarah silver (4th+2nd), and Michelle still would have received bronze (1st+3rd).

Got it... thanks!

@@corawaller-jacobs8007 the equation back then was SP rank * 0.5 + FS rank * 1 = Total Factored Rank.

@@phantasmex Sarah was lucky, because she didn't belong to the level of Michelle and Irina. The other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes, so that Sarah won.

seriously?? with THAT visible of a fall in her long program? (or maybe it was a a very visible hand down on the ice? read: mandatory deduction)

@@Parker528 Yes even with the fall. So are you saying this mess of a performance deserved the silver?

@@dbulc5171 No I'm not. Actually id give this 3rd. But I can't put Sasha in the top three. And it's impossible to leave Sarah out as well as Michelle out of the top three because one won the short program and one won the long program. So yeah I see its definitely subjective and a matter therefore for interpretation, But I can't see how it's valid in giving Irina anything below bronze.

@@Parker528 Exactly...if this was 3rd then Sasha would have to be 2nd. Michelle couldn't be 2nd in the free because then she would win the gold and that wouldn't be fair to Sarah.

@@dbulc5171 gotcha. Thanks for that breakdown. (Not so great it understanding ordinals and how they work But that's for another time! Thank you)

Why, particularly?

@@scottw6704 too much talking and not justice looks

They were still trying to look like Dorothy Hamill back then, they thought it emphasized maturity and poise

Actually I had that hair cut in 1981 during elementary school graduation.

This is another one, where the presentation score is so OFF you just know something fudgey is happening with the judging. (1998 was another example). NO WAY this should have earned 5.9s in presentation, it was a hot mess..Cohen and Kwan were both superior. Not even a nationalistic viewpoint as I thought Hughes was also worse than both artistically and even her technical scores for all the triples don't hold up over time (seeing how UR, wrong edge, etc).

И Вы не поняли каких выше? Трех американок конечно.

The middle of the jump/height yes, but her landings are sloppy and no flow. Choreography was awful

Here's how the SP and FS were scored. Hughes (4th) 2.0 (1st) 1.0 = 3.0 (wins tie for having best long program) Slutskaya (2nd) 1.0 (2nd) 2.0 = 3.0 Kwan (1st) 0.5 (3rd) 3.0 = 3.5 If Irina had come in 3rd in the long... Hughes 2.0 + 1.0 = 3.0 (silver) Kwan 0.5 + 2.0 = 2.5 (gold) Slutskaya 1.0 + 3.0 = 4 (bronze) If Irina had won the long: Hughes 2.0 + 2.0 = 4 (bronze) Slutskaya 1.0 + 1.0 = 2 (gold) Kwan .05 + 3.0 = 3.5 (silver) If Irina had come in 4th in the long: Hughes 2.0 + 1.0 = 3 (silver) Kwan .05 + 2.0 = 2.5 (gold) Slutskaya 1.0 + 4 (bronze) Cohen 2.0 + 3.0 = 5 So the ONLY way for Sarah to win was for Irina to come in second in the long.

If michelle had been second in the long program, which i truly think is where she should have been, Then she would've won gold. In the old rules, if the winner of short program is second in LP only to the 4th place sp placer, then she still would've won. Imo, it should've been, kwan 1st, hughes 2nd, 3rd Slutskya.

2nd

T T = Michelle Kwan, still bitter after choking at 2 Olympics after all these years. MAGAs just don't know that they are always going to be losers. She is the Kari Fox of figure skating :D

@@NetPlay525 Tara Lipinski was one of the Olympics winner that didn't really deserve to be. 🤣 ▪︎Tara's artistry was far from Michelle's. Tara skated like a happy puppy running in the park, she should go to the kid's Olympics with her Disney Cartoon program. ▪︎Tara's technique wouldn't get marks today. Tara's flip and lutz would be called out for under rotation. Tara's triples were cheap. Tiny, rushed jumps.

@@NetPlay525 ▪︎ Overall, Michelle was robbed at the 98 Olympics .😎 ▪︎And Tara Lipinski didn't good enough to join the 2002 Olympics which means Michelle, Irina and Sarah were better than Tara. 😙😙😙

@@NetPlay525 ▪︎Sarah Hughes was lucky to win because the other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes. ▪︎Sarah Hughes was a middle skater who never won any World champion or the National titles. 😙 ▪︎The 2002 Olympics lucky winner Sarah Hughes placed 6th at the 2003 World championship which she really belonged. 🤭

@@TT-ee4qp Sarah's win was well deserved. And she was injured in 2003 at worlds. Illa Kulik won no world championships either.

Первая ласточка Мария Бутырская, первая российская чемпионка мира, трехкратная чемионка Европы, шестикратная ЧР.

I agree that she deserved to win the FS, but not the gold medal, not under those rules. If they had scored Kwan higher than Irena, she would have taken the top spot; I personally believe that Cohen also should have gotten bronze, since Irena had zero artistry here and her skate did not match her music. After the corruption scandal, though, they were worried for the sanctity of their sport. Sarah did great and she was the the safest choice.

Ничего не украли. Прошло время и видно, что на золото она не накатала, допускала помарки. И катание у неё всегда было тяжёлое.

Get help

Sasha Cohen fell several times. You must really hate Sara Hughes who was a class A competitor.

@Novak D Sasha Cohen fell but the quality of her skating was superior. Especially since Slutskaya and Kwan made many mistakes as well, Sasha Cohen should have won the Silver medal. How the Fck did Slutskaya and Kwan have higher marks in both technical and artistic scores compared to Sasha Cohen?! Even in the short program, Sasha Cohen should’ve been in 1st place.

Yes, Sasha was robbed. She was better than Kwan or Slutskaya.

@C Truth To be fair, Sasha only fell once, and the rest of her program was superior to Kwan and Slutskaya - but definitely not better than Sarah. Sarah crushed it!!!!

Irina was much better than Tara Lipinski.

Irina used to FLY across the ice which made her technique look exciting; here at slow speed it makes the jumps all look alarmingly clunky and disconnected. Michelle's jumps were so expertly woven into the program that you barely even noticed them (which was both good and bad). Sarah's jumps were REALLY slow but - well executed despite the slight underrotation, and no two-foot landings or falls...there was no way to score this final any differently. She lucked out by having the cleanest skate (and the skate of her life) when everyone else visibly faltered. Irina said later "it's the judges!" but honestly I hope she looks back at this skate one day and goes "oh wow that actually did suck".

@@scottw6704i completely agree with you. I think Irina knows deep down that this was slow and ponderous, and the choreography was clunky. That said, her jumps are bigger and better rotated than Hughes’, and she didn’t have a very obvious mistake like Kwan (the pitching forward on the flip isn’t as bad as falling). So maybe she does genuinely feel hard done by. Hughes absolutely lucked out here.

Posting this everywhere doesn't make it so, but keep tryin troll.

Sarah and Tara BOTH had some suspect jumping technique. It is accurate to state that they would br heavily downgraded in today's code, correct.

I like Michelle Kwan’s performance at Nationals in 2004 to the same music.

@@corawaller-jacobs8007 Michelle's 2004 LP " Tosca " is a piece of work.