Figure_skating_at_the_1998_Winter_Olympics

Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics

Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics

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The figure skating events in 1998 Winter Olympics were held at the White Ring in Nagano. There were no changes in the format or scoring systems from 1994. Professionals were again allowed to compete, although they had to declare that intention and compete in ISU-approved events to do so. Previously, the ISU had been accused of rejecting Western professionals, while allowing Eastern Bloc state-sponsored "amateurs" to compete.[1][2] Most of the top competitors by 1998 were now openly professional.

Quick Facts Type:, Venue: ...

The competitions took place on the following days:

  • Pairs: 8–10 February 1998
  • Men's singles: 12–14 February 1998
  • Ice dance: 13–16 February 1998
  • Ladies' singles: 18–20 February 1998[3]
  • Exhibition gala: 21 February 1998

Medal summary

Medalists

More information Event, Gold ...

Medal table

More information Rank, Nation ...

Participating NOCs

Thirty-five nations competed in the figure skating events at Nagano.

Results

Men

The favourites and top two after the short program were Ilia Kulik and Elvis Stojko, who would skate first and last, respectively. Medal contenders Alexei Yagudin, Todd Eldredge and Philippe Candeloro went in between. Steven Cousins was the other skater in the final draw, but he was not considered to have a realistic chance of making the podium.

Kulik skated a flawless program which included a quad toe loop to open the last session. Yagudin, who was one of several athletes suffering from the flu during these games, fell on his quad attempt and his triple Axel, which took him out of medal contention. Eldredge was skating cleanly until he popped what was to be his second triple Axel, and then he fell again when he tried to complete the jump again in the closing seconds. Candeloro, with the exception of a step out on his triple Axel, skated his program flawlessly to end up second in the free skating. Stojko, who skated last, originally intended to perform a quad toe loop/triple toe loop combination. However, a partial groin tear and the flu prevented him from attempting the combo, so he downgraded his quad to a triple. Despite his injury, he skated a clean program but finished the free skating third, placing second overall behind Kulik.

The countries represented by the podium finishers were the same as in the men's competition at the Lillehammer 1994 games, with Stojko and Candeloro getting their second consecutive silver and bronze medals, respectively. In a noteworthy instance, Stojko had to limp to the podium on sneakers at the medal presentation. He also did not skate at the figure skating gala, although he did take the ice briefly to announce that he would skip the World Championships next month.

More information Rank, Name ...

Referee:

  • Britta Lindgren

Assistant Referee:

Judges:

  • United Kingdom Margaret Worsfold
  • Ukraine Vladislav Petukov
  • Canada Sally Rehorick
  • Romania Mariana Silvia Chita
  • Japan Mieko Fujimora
  • Russia Sviatoslav Babenko
  • Azerbaijan Evgenia Bogdanova
  • United States Paula Naughton
  • France Marie-Reine Le Gougne
  • Hungary Zsofia Wagner (substitute)

Ladies

The primary contenders for the gold medal were Americans Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan.[4] Kwan and Lipinski were in first and second place respectively after the short program. In the free skating, both Lipinski and Kwan skated clean. 6 judges placed Lipinski ahead of Kwan, and three placed Kwan ahead of Lipinski, which meant Lipinski won the gold medal, and Kwan took the silver.

The primary competitors for the bronze medal were Maria Butyrskaya and Irina Slutskaya from Russia, and Chen Lu from China. In the free skating, they all skated well, but had mistakes. The final placements were very close. The 3rd–5th place votes were split unevenly between Chen, Butyrskaya, and Slutskaya. Chen beat Butyrskaya by the tally of 5 judges to 4 and beat Slutskaya 6 judges to 3, giving Chen her second straight bronze medal in the Olympic Games.

Tara Lipinski (gold), Michelle Kwan (silver) and Chen Lu (bronze) were the World Champions in 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. Lipinski also became the youngest competitor in Winter Olympics history to earn a gold medal in an individual event.[5]

While not a medal winner, France's injured Surya Bonaly, who placed 10th, completed an (illegal) backflip during her long program, making her the fourth person and only woman to ever land a backflip in competition. She is the only person to land on one foot and to do a split mid-air (now colloquially referred to as a 'Bonaly'). She performed the unorthodox maneuver as a result of a previous fall and poor program due to an injured foot, however given the illegal nature of the move, her backflip was not considered when grading her technical merit. Youtube video

More information Rank, Name ...
Rank in FS
Rank in FSSkaterJudge (Australia)Judge (Hungary)Judge (Austria)Judge (Germany)Judge (United States)Judge (Russia)Judge (Ukraine)Judge (Poland)Judge (France)Average
1Tara Lipinski1112211211.3
2Michelle Kwan2221122121.7
3Chen Lu3433454443.8
4Maria Butyrskaya5554533334.0
5Irina Slutskaya4345345554.2

FS=Free Skating

Final Rank
Final RankSkaterRank in SPRank in FSTotal Score
1Tara Lipinski212.0 ( 2 * 0.5 + 1 = 2.0 )
2Michelle Kwan122.5 ( 1 * 0.5 + 2 = 2.5 )
3Chen Lu435.0 ( 4 * 0.5 + 3 = 5.0 )
4Maria Butyrskaya345.5 ( 3 * 0.5 + 4 = 5.5 )
5Irina Slutskaya557.5 ( 5 * 0.5 + 5 = 7.5 )

SP=Short Program, FS=Free Skating

Referee:

Assistant Referee:

  • Tjasa Andrée-Prosenc

Judges:

  • Australia Frank A. Parsons
  • Hungary Judit Furst-Tombor
  • Austria Karin Ehrhardt
  • Germany Jan Hoffmann
  • United States Susan A. Johnson
  • Russia Anatoli Bogatyrev
  • Ukraine Alfred Korytek
  • Poland Maria Miller
  • France Anne Hardy Thomas
  • Czech Republic Liliana Strechova (substitute)

Pairs

Artur Dmitriev of Russia won his second Olympic gold here. He had previously won in 1992 with a different partner. He was the first man to win the Olympics more than once with different partners.[6] The first woman to do so was Russian skater Irina Rodnina, who won three Olympics with two different partners.

Full results

More information Rank, Name ...

Referee:

  • Walburga Grimm

Assistant Referee:

  • Ronald T. Pfenning

Judges:

Ice dance

Grishuk and Platov became the first pair ever to repeat as champions in Olympic Ice Dance. They won 21 straight events before they won in Nagano.[7]

The judging was marred by accusations that the Europeans colluded in "bloc voting" (where judges tend to favor skaters from their regions), so that the dance teams representing their countries would take the medals, while keeping the Canadians off the podium.[8][9]

Full results

More information Rank, Name ...

Referee:

  • Wolfgang Kunz

Assistant Referee:

Judges:

References

  1. [1]
    Riordan, Jim (1993). "Rewriting Soviet Sports History". Journal of Sport History. 20 (3): 247–258. JSTOR 43609911.
  2. [2]
    Knisley, Michael (7 March 1994). "1998 Ad". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2006.
  3. [3]
    "Figure Skating at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  4. [4]
    "The Women Who Would be Queen - New York Daily News". Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  5. [5]
    "Tara Lipinski becomes youngest Olympic figure skating gold medalist".
  6. [6]
    Longman, Jere (11 February 1998). "THE XVIII WINTER GAMES: FIGURE SKATING; Dmitriev Rises to Occasion in Pairs Once Again". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  7. [7]
    Longman, Jere (17 February 1998). "THE XVIII WINTER GAMES: FIGURE SKATING; Russian Duo Remain Unbeatable". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  8. [8]
    Canadians dig for gold on ice: Bourne and Kraatz will battle opponents and judges in Nagano Archived 25 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Steve Milton, 7 February 1998
  9. [9]
    Skating federation to investigate judging Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, sportsillustrated.cnn.com, 12 February 2002

Men

Ladies

Pair

Dance
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