Brilliant Skating that finished too low (Olympics edition!)

[satine]

Anyone think Brian Orser should have won gold? In 84 or 88?

 

[Casual]

Sochi: As a die-hard Yuna fan, I think it was a close battle between her and Carolina for gold (I honestly have no preference between the two in this case), with Adelina in third. There. I said it.
Pyeongchang: Javier should have gotten silver, imo.

Disagree about Pyeongchang. Javier deserved a lot of fan love points, but Shoma was better, IMO.

 

[GGFan]

Anyone think Brian Orser should have won gold? In 84 or 88?

Easy to make an argument that he should have. He's probably the only skater who lost out on 2 golds in circumstances in which under future rules he would have won. In 84 it was the figures and in 88 it was how they decided the tie breaker.

I think the 88 one seems more unfair and tragic because he was at home. I would still say 84 was the one he deserved to win however. It just has always felt to me that since he won two of the three segments he should have won. It's similar to what happened to Midori in 1990.

 

[Casual]

This is such a depressing thread...

Especially in the context of ongoing Worlds' judging controversies.

 

[Amei]

Of placements I disagreed with that few found controversial, I'd add 1994 G&G placing over M&D. G&G were amazing pairs skaters but, for me, they lacked the technical content and creativity of M&D. Had they not both been Russian pairs, I think there might have been more outrage over the result.

I was a little young in 1994 but was the Gordeeva/Grinkov idolization like it is today? Because perhaps G&G being a beloved pair makes the judging unfairness overlooked.

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This is such a depressing thread...

Especially in the context of ongoing Worlds' judging controversies.

I'm gonna go grab a box of cookies and wine while I read this thread

 

[GGFan]

I was a little young in 1994 but was the Gordeeva/Grinkov idolization like it is today? Because perhaps G&G being a beloved pair makes the judging unfairness overlooked.

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Let's not cause trouble by reopening this can of worms. Not that I'm biased or anything. :dev2:

I honestly do not think the 1994 was a controversial result. It was not 5-4 or 6--3 even. There are preferences on both sides but that alone does not make something controversial. I think the judges made a call based on the speed, size of the elements, difficulty of the program etc. that gave G/G a small cushion. I don't fault them for that. G/G needed a fall to lose that gold.

This is neither here nor there, but I think this is exactly what should have happened in 2002. B/S should have had their G/G skating skills/tougher program cushion and still won in a 7-2 or 8-1 vote.

 

[AngelENTL]

I feel like these type of threads are almost deliberatrly trying to bait Sochi arguments. Sigh.

Anyway...

I will forever argue Tonya Harding deserved Bronze in 1992. Had more judges (I think only one or two did) placed Kerrigan's god awful mess of a free in 5th where it deserved to be, she might have had it. Harding certainly deserved to go ahead on the free even if that wasn't enough to take the medal.

I agree that Harding should've placed ahead of Kerrigan in the free, but Chen should've placed ahead of both of them. I placed all the top sakers as I thought it should've been for both original and free - and it turns out my podium matched what really happened.

FYI - this is how I would've placed them:

ORIGINAL
1. Yamaguchi
2. Kerrigan
3. Bonaly
4. Sato
5. Hubert
6. Ito
7. Chen
8. Harding

FREE
1. Yamaguchi
2. Ito
3. Chen
4. Harding
5. Kerrigan

The hardest placements for me were Ito vs Chen in both original and free, but I gave edge to Ito in both bc her non-combo jump and spin elements in the original were #1 in the field, and it's hard to not give the benefit of the doubt to Ito for that historic triple axel. (Is she still the only woman to have landed one in the 2nd half of a free/long program?)

 

[Osmond4gold]

Well, you could also say it wouldn't have happened if the Russian Fed hasn't snubbed Adelina and allowed her to skate one of the Team programs instead of Julia doing both.

That fired Adelina's cylinders to end up giving her the two best performances of her career, no matter what placement people believe she should have ended uap in.

Or gave an advantage, as Adelina did not have 4 skates in just days like Julia or Kaetlyn had to do, so that we are clear and for the record.

 

[Mishaminion]

That would leave Adelina where she belongs.

We have eyes, you know.

She absolutely belonged on the podium, hers was my favourite LP, I'd never seen her skate that well or with that much fire before. In my mind she seemed a bit too much of a headcase, bombing her LPs in particular under pressure. She deserved a medal for staying on her feet despite the intense expectation she was suddenly facing after Julia failed to perform as hoped.

Then again, I'm one of those rarer creatures who accepted her victory and was very happy for her, so what do I know, right?
I have eyes too btw xD

 

[Mishaminion]

Or gave an advantage, as Adelina did not have 4 skates in just days like Julia or Kaetlyn had to do, so that we are clear and for the record.

Which is why Russian Fed made a huge error snubbing Adelina, shot themselves and Julia in the foot so to speak.

 

[satine]

Easy to make an argument that he should have. He's probably the only skater who lost out on 2 golds in circumstances in which under future rules he would have won. In 84 it was the figures and in 88 it was how they decided the tie breaker.

I think the 88 one seems more unfair and tragic because he was at home. I would still say 84 was the one he deserved to win however. It just has always felt to me that since he won two of the three segments he should have won. It's similar to what happened to Midori in 1990.

I'm probably projecting, but whenever BO speaks about the Olympics- especially Calgary -he has a very 'oh well' attitude, but his face and body language seem so damn sad. Breaks my heart. Silver truly may be worse than bronze in the 'what could have been' sense.

But Brian can add four Olympic medals via coaching to his repertoire, which hopefully is of some condolence to him

 

[NymphyNymphy]

Nice attempt to stir up controversy straight after I voiced my opinion that threads like these are designed to do so.

And with Gracie photoshopped onto podium in your pic no less.

Lol

The olympics photoshopped Adelina onto the podium so I see no problem in doing the same for Miss Gracie Gold.

 

[NymphyNymphy]

She absolutely belonged on the podium, hers was my favourite LP, I'd never seen her skate that well or with that much fire before.

So because it was your favourite LP, therefore the entire world should see Adelina as belonging on the podium. That makes a lot of sense.

 

[Mishaminion]

So because it was your favourite LP, therefore the entire world should see Adelina as belonging on the podium. That makes a lot of sense.

I'm okay with people arguing she shouldn't have won, but denying she skated well enough for a medal is petty, bitter and very unfair.

Mao botched her SP and took herself out of contention and Gracie fell on her butt in the LP, whereas Adelina had the two performances of her life. Very few people deny she earned a spot on the podium completely.

 

[StephenGfan]

I hate to rehash sochi but as much as i don't like Adelina's skating very much she deserved bronze in Sochi. Gracie had a fall.

 

[Seren]

I am going to be 90 years old in the nursing home, with dementia and having forgotten everything about my life and still be complaining Michelle was robbed (1998).

I will be proof that figure skating fans really don't like to let it go.

 

[Mishaminion]

I am going to be 90 years old in the nursing home, with dementia and having forgotten everything about my life and still be complaining Michelle was robbed (1998).

I will be proof that figure skating fans really don't like to let it go.

Michelle had everything. A gloriously emotional, beautiful and clean performance.

Tara had... tiny pre-rotated jumps. 3L-3L is hard to pull off, she did have (ignoring her technique) more technical difficulty. First set of marks deserved to be slightly higher than Michelle's, but there's NO WAY she should have got presentation marks anywhere close to what Michelle got.

I'm not really a [insert name here] was robbed! kind of person, but 1998 is the one I come close to agreeing with.

 

[Lunalovesskating]

I am going to be 90 years old in the nursing home, with dementia and having forgotten everything about my life and still be complaining Michelle was robbed (1998).

I will be proof that figure skating fans really don't like to let it go.

That is me with Sochi.

 

[NymphyNymphy]

That is me with Sochi.

When ISU causes so much trauma it survives through dementia.

 

[Jeanie19]

I am going to be 90 years old in the nursing home, with dementia and having forgotten everything about my life and still be complaining Michelle was robbed (1998).

I will be proof that figure skating fans really don't like to let it go.

That will be me about Evgenia.