Rank the World Championship-winning Ladies LPs 1990 - 1999

[olympic]

The ladies from one end of this decade to the other usually had jump content to include the 3z, so this should be fun -

1. Kwan '96 - 'Salome' is one of her best choreographed programs and she hit 7 triples and 2 2x's to squeak past defending champ Lu Chen.
2. Sato '94 - I think most including myself feel that her basics were the best and she executed the LP when it counted most in her home country.
--Lipinski '98 [Nagano] - I thought this performance was superior to her '97 performance; a little more poise, still contained the 3l-3l and a 3-3 seq. at the end of the LP which beat Kwan.
3. Yamaguchi '91 - 'Samson and Delilah'. 3f - 3t seq. was daring at the time, although she popped the sal. But I thought she was quite spirited througout with decent non-jump elements, too.
4. Chen '95 - I feel 'The Last Emperor' was original and a real break-out for her on the choreo front. Also, she executed this program, but her spins weren't the best and I think she may have doubled something.
--Yamaguchi '92 [Albertville] - 3z/3t, but stumbled on the 3l and doubled the sal
5. Butyrskaya '99 - the performance of her career with 'Otonal' before it became overused, true lutz and 3-3 seq. Still, was a little stiff at times in her non-jump elements, but had presence on the ice.
6. Lipinski '97 - She was good, clean, fast, with competent spins and spirals, and the 3l-3l was revolutionary, but she was still a bit juniorish overall.
7. Yamaguchi '92 - 'Malaguena'. 3z/3t but fell on the 3sal. I felt this performance was anti-climactic, though
8. Kwan '98 - Was a lesser performance of 'Lyra Angelica' after the magical performance at Nats and was even better at the Olympics. She stumbled on the 2x [I think] and the slow ethereal style didn't work if she wasn't committed to it 110%
9. Baiul '93- Despite all the hype at the time, I don't think this performance stands the test of time. Easy, poorly constructed program.
10. Trenary '90 - This performance content to 'Unchained Melody' was more from the '80s era. She skated well for her, and hit the 3f, but everything else was 3t or 3s. I always thought IMO that Jill was a little stiff and I always thought this music was cheesy and Nancy Kerrigan-like
-- Baiul '94 [Lillehamer]- It's sad that this was an olympic-winning performance. On reflection, I would have this behind Trenary '90 whose performance was better constructed with actual spins, spiral, entrances and jump combos, and both had 3 triples

[judgejudy27]

1. Kwan 1996
2. Butyrskaya 1999
3. Yamaguchi 1992- I would rank first if she hadnt fallen on the sal
4. Yamaguchi 1991
5. Chen 1995- probably the most artistically strong on the list but technically not as strong as many of the others
6. Sato 1994
7. Lipinski 1997
8. Kwan 1998
9. Baiul 1993- like Olympic said lots of hype at the time but she doesnt stand the test of time. Anyway Bonaly and Chen both outskated her by a long ways that night.
10. Trenary 1990- I thought I was stuck in a time warp when she won.


However if I counted all the best LPs including silver winning ones my list would be:

1. Ito 1990
2. Chen 1996
3. Kwan 1996
4. Butyrskaya 1999
5. Kwan 1997
6. Yamaguchi 1992
7. Slutskaya 1997
8. Yamaguchi 1991
9. Chen 1995
10. Bonaly 1993

[falling_dance]

1. Chen, 1995
1. Kwan, 1996
3. Butyrskaya, 1999
4. Sato, 1994
5. Yamaguchi, 1992
6. Yamaguchi, 1991
7. Lipinski, 1997
8. Kwan, 1998
9. Baiul, 1993
10. Trenary, 1990

[Marco]

Again, Lipinski and Trenary didn't win the lps the years they won their world titles.

[90 Ito]
[97 Kwan]
96 Kwan
95 Chen
94 Sato
99 Butyrskaya
97 Lipinski
91 Yamaguchi
98 Kwan
92 Yamaguchi
90 Trenary
93 Baiul

[judgejudy27]

The 97 Worlds LP judging was interesting since Kwan, Lipinski, and Slutskaya all 3 1st place votes. It came down to majority of 2nds to decide the order in the LP.

[eurodance2001]

The 97 Worlds LP judging was interesting since Kwan, Lipinski, and Slutskaya all 3 1st place votes. It came down to majority of 2nds to decide the order in the LP.

Which was total BS... Slutskaya was nothing but sloppy skating and very little artistry with decent speed; maybe that's what swayed some of the judges in her favor.. Phantom on Ice was VERY forgettable.. Someone in the other WC thread mentioned that they never really understood the Kwan hype; and I for one never really understood the Slutskaya hype. She always seemed unrefined and sloppy; nothing really memorable from her minus her WC 2005 freeskate in Moscow. It's as if the judges wanted/needed a skater to have a rivalry with Kwan and chose Slutskaya. the number of times that she would land LESS jumps than Kwan and still get higher technical as well as almost equal Kwan in presentation was irksome.. ANYWAY... Tara had decent presentation with her tiny jumps... Kwan had the complete program with the smallest of errors in doubling the second triple lutz.. Kwan should've won the LP more easily..

[eurodance2001]

My list is:
1. Kwan 1996
2. Ito 1990
3. Kwan 1997
4. Butryskaya 1999
5. Yamaguchi 1991
6. Chen 1995
7. Sato 1994
8. Kwan 1998
9. Baiul 1993
10. Yamaguchi 1992

[judgejudy27]

Which was total BS... Slutskaya was nothing but sloppy skating and very little artistry with decent speed; maybe that's what swayed some of the judges in her favor.. Phantom on Ice was VERY forgettable.. Someone in the other WC thread mentioned that they never really understood the Kwan hype; and I for one never really understood the Slutskaya hype. She always seemed unrefined and sloppy; nothing really memorable from her minus her WC 2005 freeskate in Moscow. It's as if the judges wanted/needed a skater to have a rivalry with Kwan and chose Slutskaya. the number of times that she would land LESS jumps than Kwan and still get higher technical as well as almost equal Kwan in presentation was irksome.. ANYWAY... Tara had decent presentation with her tiny jumps... Kwan had the complete program with the smallest of errors in doubling the second triple lutz.. Kwan should've won the LP more easily..

I think you are being far harsh on Slutskaya. I agree Kwan deserved to win the LP but Irina had the strongest overall technical that night IMO. Her jumps and spins were better than either Tara or Michelle, other than Tara's extra jump content. Her footwork and spirals were also better than Tara's. Artistically she was very unpolished and her music and costume were horrendous. However she did have strong skating skills, very strong speed, and interpreted and hit the accents of the music well I thought. On presentation I think she was even a bit better than Tara. I think she definitely should have been placed over Tara which would have Kwan the gold overall.

For me the LP results:

Kwan: 5.8 technical, 5.9 presentation
Slutskaya: 5.9 technical, 5.7 presentation
Lipinski: 5.8 technical, 5.6 presentation


As for Irina's rise due to needing a rival for Kwan I agree that was true. And the all powerful Russian federation never liked or had confidence in Butyrskaya for a variety of reasons so it was never going to be her so....

[judgejudy27]

My list is:
1. Kwan 1996
2. Ito 1990
3. Kwan 1997
4. Butryskaya 1999
5. Yamaguchi 1991
6. Chen 1995
7. Sato 1994
8. Kwan 1998
9. Baiul 1993
10. Yamaguchi 1992

Wow you think Yamaguchi's 92 performance was the worst? I thought other than her one fall it was an incredible skate. If she had landed the triple salchow it would have been her best performance ever IMO.

[eurodance2001]

I think you are being far harsh on Slutskaya. I agree Kwan deserved to win the LP but Irina had the strongest overall technical that night IMO. Her jumps and spins were better than either Tara or Michelle, other than Tara's extra jump content. Her footwork and spirals were also better than Tara's. Artistically she was very unpolished and her music and costume were horrendous. However she did have strong skating skills, very strong speed, and interpreted and hit the accents of the music well I thought. On presentation I think she was even a bit better than Tara. I think she definitely should have been placed over Tara which would have Kwan the gold overall.

For me the LP results:

Kwan: 5.8 technical, 5.9 presentation
Slutskaya: 5.9 technical, 5.7 presentation
Lipinski: 5.8 technical, 5.6 presentation


As for Irina's rise due to needing a rival for Kwan I agree that was true. And the all powerful Russian federation never liked or had confidence in Butyrskaya for a variety of reasons so it was never going to be her so....

Irina had good speed, but hunched over posture, barely saved the landing of the first lutz, and her last triple toe was kind of iffy.. 5.9 is a bit much for that I think... eh! So many years later...

[eurodance2001]

Wow you think Yamaguchi's 92 performance was the worst? I thought other than her one fall it was an incredible skate. If she had landed the triple salchow it would have been her best performance ever IMO.

Maybe I should revisit Yama's 92 program.. I haven't seen a few of these programs in quite awhile...

[judgejudy27]

Irina had good speed, but hunched over posture, barely saved the landing of the first lutz, and her last triple toe was kind of iffy.. 5.9 is a bit much for that I think... eh! So many years later...

Like I said I think overall her jumps and spins were still the best of all of the top 3, and her spirals and footwork were fairly good and better than Tara's. Her first triple lutz was a bit wobbly on the landing but still clean, Michelle's triple toe-triple toe was wobbly on the landing too and an easier triple-triple than either Irina or Tara's. And Tara of course flutzes, has small though very precise jumps, and falls short in virtually all other technical areas. So I think she deserved the highest technical mark. Presentation wise I think Michelle was so far superior to either Irina or Tara, but Irina was still no worse than Tara here either. Overall Irina definitely deserved 2nd in the LP over Tara I think.

[briancoogaert]

It's not that easy. My favorite skaters of the decade were Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi and Yuka Sato. But Kristi made mistakes in 1991 and 1992, MK in 1998. Yuka was far from perfection in 1994.
The mistake-free programs (7 clean triples) were Butyrskaya 1999, Lipinski 1997, Kwan 1996.
It's all a matter of personnal preferences.
My thoughts :

1-MK 1996 Salome (with Lu Chen and her wonderful Rachmaninoff)
2-Kristi Yamaguchi 1992 Malaguena
3-Tara Lipinski 1997 Sense and Sensibility
4-Maria Butyrskaya 1999 Otonal
5-MK 1998 Lyra Angelica
6-Kristi Yamaguchi 1991 Samson and Delilah
7-Yuka Sato 1994
8-Lu Chen 1995 Last emperor
9-Oksana Baiul 1993
10-Jill Trenary 1990

[briancoogaert]

My list is:
1. Kwan 1996
2. Ito 1990
3. Kwan 1997
4. Butryskaya 1999
5. Yamaguchi 1991
6. Chen 1995
7. Sato 1994
8. Kwan 1998
9. Baiul 1993
10. Yamaguchi 1992

Baiul and Sato ahead of Yamaguchi in 1992 : her 6 triples (including a 3Lutz/3Toe) and her basics ?? LOL

[bardtoob]

I don't understand Baiul being ahead of Yamaguchi, but Sato's basics were at a higher level than Yamaguchi's basics. It was the 3Lz that Sato normally could not pull off to save her life.

[olympic]

I'm confounded by my realization that IMO, Baiul's '94 Olympic LP was the weakest of all championship-winning LPs in the 90s, including Jill Trenary in 1990. In fact, you'd have to go past Midori in '89 into the 80s to find a championship that that performance could have won....

[smarts1]

1. Chen 1995--I LOVE this program... I could watch it forever... It's a shame the judges never truly realized her true elegance and artistry... Even if she doubled a jump...
2. Kwan 1996--Great program.
3. Lipinski 1997--Great technical skating.
4. Butyskaya 1999--Best program she ever did... Unfortunately, she is just too stiff in the knee.
5. Yuka Sato 1994--The only cleanish program she really only gave... But her basics and footwork were to die for.
6. Michelle Kwan 1998--Not as pure and graceful as the others performances she gave... Ran out of steam towards the end of the season.
7. Yamaguchi 1991--Better than 92, I thought, but still does nothing for me.
8. Yamaguchi 1992--Her skating does nothing for me... Pretty boring programs... Nothing is special about her and yet she still gets 5.9s across the board for presentation.
9. Trenary 1990--Her skating is no match to any of the skaters mentioned above IMO.
10. Baiul 1993--Hate her skating, junior-like programs, no footwork, two-footed jumps, and dumb poses.

[judgejudy27]

I'm confounded by my realization that IMO, Baiul's '94 Olympic LP was the weakest of all championship-winning LPs in the 90s, including Jill Trenary in 1990. In fact, you'd have to go past Midori in '89 into the 80s to find a championship that that performance could have won....

I have to disagree on you vs Trenary. Baiul's 94 Olympic LP as overrated and undeserving of a gold medal that night as it was, would have easily beaten Trenary's 1990 LP just in the LP phase anyway IMHO. I actually disliked Baiul's performance more with all the mugging, posing, and the free loading at the end which I found just sloppy. However she atleast stood up all 5 types of triples even if a couple two footed while the only thing Trenary tried harder than a triple salchow was a shaky triple flip, and did a beautiful triple lutz to start the program. Granted it isnt just about jumps but I dont even want to start into comparing the bizarre choreography, musical edits, and many other strange aspects of both programs.

[judgejudy27]

I don't understand Baiul being ahead of Yamaguchi, but Sato's basics were at a higher level than Yamaguchi's basics. It was the 3Lz that Sato normally could not pull off to save here life.

I am not sure if I can think of any skater who had better basics than Sato. As an amateur I found her programs kind of bland and she never really had the It factor. As a pro she was so much better. Still even as an amateur she was a skaters skater. She had no real actual skating weaknesses of any kind other than possibly jumps to a degree.

[eurodance2001]

Baiul and Sato ahead of Yamaguchi in 1992 : her 6 triples (including a 3Lutz/3Toe) and her basics ?? LOL

Like I said, I need to watch some of these again. So I guess I will "withhold" further comment until I have watched them on youtube while sober; I think that's the problem.. LOL..... I "withdraw" my list for now...