Julia Soldatova, what happened? (2004)

[Marco]

Ouch! You really weren't a fan of Soldatova.

IMO those skaters whom I placed ahead of her were just better, all things considered. She was just mediocre all the way through, kind of like an earlier version of a recent US skater who shall not be named.

[judgejudy27]

Gusmeroli did not deserve a medal at the 1999 Worlds. Her jumps were weak, especialy in the long program.

Kwan was also majorly held up in the SP at the 1999 Worlds and deserved 7th or 8th in that phase.

The podium after Butyrskaya probably should have been some combination of Rechnio, Malinina, and Soldatova.

[briancoogaert]

Gusmeroli did not deserve a medal at the 1999 Worlds. Her jumps were weak, especialy in the long program.

Kwan was also majorly held up in the SP at the 1999 Worlds and deserved 7th or 8th in that phase.

The podium after Butyrskaya probably should have been some combination of Rechnio, Malinina, and Soldatova.

A fall on a single element was .3 to .5 deduction. MK received marks between 5.1 and 5.5 for technical merit in the SP : that was marked fairly.

[Jarrett]

A fall on a single element was .3 to .5 deduction. MK received marks between 5.1 and 5.5 for technical merit in the SP : that was marked fairly.

I dunno, I'm a fan of Michelle and even I think she was overmarked in the SP. She completely went splat on the axel, the landing of the lutz was questionable, she did the easiest solo triple, spins were slower than usual. The performance (like the her entire competition) was a little off and I am not sure she deserved the 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.6 5.9 5.9 presentation marks for Fate of Carmen. That said I don't remember the other skaters so I don't know if any should have placed ahead of her.

[David21]

A fall on a single element was .3 to .5 deduction. MK received marks between 5.1 and 5.5 for technical merit in the SP : that was marked fairly.

How can a 5.5 be fair when she fell on the double axel, had a shaky lutz combo and did only a triple toe as solo jump? That's mathematically not possible.

I was rewatching Worlds 99 the other day and I found Kwan's skating very lacklustre in that whole competition. Malinina, Rechnio and Gusmeroli (not to mention Butyrskaya of course) were all better than her IMO. Soldatova only in the SP, though.

[fenway2]

Malinina likely lost a medal in the short program where I thought she deserved to beat Kwan in that segment.

[eurodance2001]

How can a 5.5 be fair when she fell on the double axel, had a shaky lutz combo and did only a triple toe as solo jump? That's mathematically not possible.

I was rewatching Worlds 99 the other day and I found Kwan's skating very lacklustre in that whole competition. Malinina, Rechnio and Gusmeroli (not to mention Butyrskaya of course) were all better than her IMO. Soldatova only in the SP, though.

Well to make note, Michelle had been sick with a bad cold/respiratory issues right before Worlds and was still suffering from the effects of that. So none of her skates really had that extra spark..

[judgejudy27]

A fall on a single element was .3 to .5 deduction. MK received marks between 5.1 and 5.5 for technical merit in the SP : that was marked fairly.

A fall was a minimum .4 deduction. Kwan also barely held onto a shaky triple lutz combo, did only a triple toe, had a weak and ugly layback. A first mark of 5.4 or heaven forbid 5.5 was a total joke. The fall was disrupting to the program so the numerous 5.9s for presentation were also wrong.

Others like Rechnio, Liashenko, Poth were undermarked.

Even U.S reporters all agreed at the time Kwan was held up in the short program.

[Jarrett]

Well to make note, Michelle had been sick with a bad cold/respiratory issues right before Worlds and was still suffering from the effects of that. So none of her skates really had that extra spark..

I agree that was the problem. Although by the exhibition she looked a bit better and did a great the red violin program.

[gkelly]

A fall on a single element was .3 to .5 deduction.

A fall was a minimum .4 deduction.

Under the rules in effect in 1999, the deduction for a fall on a solo jump was exactly 0.4. Not minimum and maximum -- that was the deduction.

Now, of course, the judges were free to set the base mark for the program as a whole wherever they wanted to, up to 6.0. So the maximum score for required elements would be 5.6 if there was a fall on a solo jump and no other mandatory deductions.

Within those parameters, there's room for disagreement.

[Marco]

I dunno, I'm a fan of Michelle and even I think she was overmarked in the SP. She completely went splat on the axel, the landing of the lutz was questionable, she did the easiest solo triple, spins were slower than usual. The performance (like the her entire competition) was a little off and I am not sure she deserved the 5.8 5.8 5.9 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.6 5.9 5.9 presentation marks for Fate of Carmen. That said I don't remember the other skaters so I don't know if any should have placed ahead of her.

I agree that her marks were on the high end, but under the old system, provided mandatory deductions were applied, marks were merely placeholders.

[judgejudy27]

Under the rules in effect in 1999, the deduction for a fall on a solo jump was exactly 0.4. Not minimum and maximum -- that was the deduction.

Now, of course, the judges were free to set the base mark for the program as a whole wherever they wanted to, up to 6.0. So the maximum score for required elements would be 5.6 if there was a fall on a solo jump and no other mandatory deductions.

Within those parameters, there's room for disagreement.

Bottom line is the highest any judge should have scored Kwan for that performance was a 5.2 or 5.3 for required elements and 5.7 or 5.8 for presentation. 5.5s for technical merit from a couple judges for that performance is just a huge ROTFL!!