Retrospective: The 1992 Olympics

[Maofan7]

Retrospective moves on to the 1992 Olympics

The key facts in relation to these Olympics are:-

• Kurt Browning was the favourite going into the Olympics. He was the reigning world champion, and had won the world title on 3 consecutive occasions between 1989-91. However, he had been hampered throughout the 1991/92 season by a back injury. Although he had won Trophée Lalique, also held in Albertville, earlier in the season, his programs contained many mistakes due to the back problem. Moreover, he was off the ice for 6 weeks after Trophée Lalique due to his injury problems, and missed Canadian Nationals as a result. Hence, the Olympic competition was his first competition since Trophée Lalique in 3 months. In his short program at the Olympics, he fell on the 3A part of his 3A+3T combination and two footed the landing on his 3Z. Consequently, this left Browning in just 4th place after the short program. The short program was won by Viktor Petrenko (runner up at the previous 2 world championships to Browning, and who had struggled at Europeans just a few weeks before, finishing 2nd behind Petr Barna after a poor SP) with a superb performance (3A+3T, 3Z, 2A). Hence, Petrenko led going into the long program, with Barna 2nd and Wylie 3rd. A poor SP had left Bowman in 7th place. Petrenko then won the free skate with a good, but conservative, long program, to take the Olympic title (becoming the first Soviet skater to win the Men's title, albeit 2 months after the dissolution of the USSR). Browning had a disastrous free skate which dropped him to 6th place overall.
  
  
• The surprise of the Men's competition, apart from Browning's 6th place, was Paul Wylie who had never previously been placed higher than 9th at a world championships, and that was back in 1988. A good short program had left Wylie in 3rd after that segment, and then he performed the FS of his life to finish 2nd in the LP. That won him the silver medal. He had skated so poorly at U.S. Nationals just a few weeks prior to the Olympics (finishing 2nd behind Bowman), that although Wylie was selected for the Olympic team, Mark Mitchell was selected instead of him for the 1992 World Championships. In fact, after his FS at Nationals, Wylie thought he had blown his chance of Olympic selection as Sports Illustrated point out: "In 11 years of major competitions, Wylie either fell or staggered through his routines. He knew it, his parents knew it, the Scotvolds knew it. He didn't stand up under pressure. It had happened as recently as last month's U.S. nationals, an event Wylie has never won; he skated so poorly that he changed into his street clothes before the medals ceremony, only to discover that his chief competitors had also botched their programs and that he'd finished second, qualifying for Albertville. "I'd already moved on to the rest of my life, mentally," said Wylie last week. [In his free skate at the Olympics, Wylie] skated by far the most compelling program of the night. As Wylie so elegantly showed on this evening, jumping is only one way to get the fans out of their seats. Skating to the theme from the movie Henry V, he mesmerized the audience with his dynamic spins, dramatic lines and flawless timing. Wylie's three Russian splits at the end of his program, his toe picks slapping the palms of his hands, called to mind 1984 gold medalist Scott Hamilton and brought the spectators to their feet for the only time all night."
  
  
• European champion, Petr Barna, won the bronze medal, landing the first ever quad (a 4T) at the Olympics in his FS. He had been in 2nd place heading in to the LP, but mistakes in his FS dropped him down in to the 3rd place overall. Christopher Bowman finished a disappointing 4th overall.
  
  
• Kristi Yamaguchi and Midori Ito were the favourites going into the Olympics. At U.S. Nationals, a few weeks prior to the Olympics, Yamaguchi had performed the best free program of her life, in which she even managed to successfully land her bete noire, the triple salchow. In fact, the performance was practically flawless and Sports Illustrated described it as one of the most "complete performances on ice". There were 7 triples, which included a 3Zx3T combination, 3Z, 3S, 3R, 3T, and 3F. At the Olympics, Yamaguchi won the short program with a faultless performance which included a 3Z+2T combination. Midori Ito fell on the 3Z part of her combination, which left her in 4th place after the SP. She had been intending to do a 3A instead of 3Z in her combination, but she had failed to land the 3A in practice before the SP. Hence, her coach instructed her to change it to a 3Z. Hence, going into the LP, Yamaguchi led, with Kerrigan 2nd, Bonaly 3rd, and Ito 4th. Harding trailed in 6th place after a disastrous SP in which she fell on a 3A attempt. Yamaguchi then won the LP, despite a fall on a 3R and doubling out on a 3S, to take the Olympic title. In winning, she became the first American ladies singles skater to win the Olympic title since Dorothy Hamill in 1976.
  
  
• Midori Ito took the Silver medal by moving up from 4th after the SP to 2nd overall, after finishing 2nd in the LP. She landed the first ever 3A by a ladies skater at the Olympics in her FS, but she fell on her other 3A attempt in her LP and doubled out on the 3Z part of a combination. After falling on a 3A in her SP, Tonya Harding also fell on her 3A attempt in her FS. Nevertheless, she did enough in her LP to move her up from 6th place to 4th overall. Nancy Kerrigan, who was in 2nd after the SP, made several mistakes in her FS, but did enough to win the Bronze medal. Surya Bonaly fell from 3rd to 5th place overall after a poor FS.
  
  
• Natalia Mishkutenok & Artur Dmitriev win the Olympic pairs title. They were the reigning world champions and the favourites going into the competition, and they won the Olympic title easily (winning both the SP and LP). They had struggled with their SBS 2A's in practice prior to the SP, but when it counted most, they landed them in competition in their SP. Mishkutenok did single out on hers in the FS, and had a double footed landing during the SBS 3T in the LP, but they were their only mistakes, and their combination of athleticism and artistry put them well ahead of the competition. Their signature move, the "Natasha's spin" (named after Mishkutenok), in which Mishkutenok would perform a split with her head turned upside down with her arm around Dmitriev's leg (whilst Dmitriev held her upraised skate), to achieve a position in which they were vertically aligned during the spin, was included in both their short program and their Liebestraum long program. They would attempt to retain their Olympic title 2 years later at the 1994 Olympics, but finished 2nd to Gordeeva and Grinkov. Mishkutenok retired after the 1994 Olympics, but Artur Dmitriev teamed up with Oksana Kazakova and went on to win a 2nd Olympic title with Kazakova at the 1998 Olympics.
  
  
• Elena Bechke & Denis Petrov win the Silver medal. Like Mishkutenok & Dmitriev, they were coached by Tamara Moskvina. Moskvina would accomplish the same feat of coaching both the Gold and Silver medalists at an Olympics 6 years later, at the 1998 Olympics in which Dmitriev & Kazakova won the Gold, and Elena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze won the Silver. As a competitor, Moskvina finished 5th with Alexei Mishin at the 1968 Olympics, and won the Silver medal at the 1969 World Championships. In winning the 1969 Soviet Championships, they beat both the Protopopovs and Rodnina & Ulanov. As a singles skater, Moskvina is believed to be (although it is not certain) the first skater to perform what is now known as the Biellmann spin at the 1960 European Championships. She was inspired to perform it after seeing a gymnastics competition.
  
  
• Marina Klimova & Sergei Ponomarenko win the Ice Dance title. In doing so, they won every segment - both compulsory dances, the original set pattern, and the free dance. The reigning world champions, the Duchesnay's, were expected to put up a tough fight for the Gold medal, but they got off to a bad start by finishing 3rd in both compulsory dances. However, a 2nd place finish in the OSP moved them up to 2nd overall. The FD was a closely fought battle between K&P and the Duchesnay's, but K&P, with a brilliant program performed to music from Bach (Air from Suite No.3, Toccata and Fugue in D minor), won it narrowly, thereby taking the Olympic title. The Duchesnay's won the Silver, with Maya Usova & Alexander Zhulin taking the Bronze.
  
  
• Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991 into 15 post Soviet states/republics, 6 of those republics performed as a joint team at the 1992 Winter Olympics just a few months later. This was known as the "Unified Team," and it was made up of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Armenia.

Here are the videos for the medal winning performances:-

MEN'S

Gold: Viktor Petrenko (The Unified Team)

Short Program, Free Skate, Exhibition, Medal Ceremony, Profile

Silver: Paul Wylie (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate, Profile

Bronze: Petr Barna (Czechoslovakia)

Short Program, Free Skate, Profile

4th: Christopher Bowman (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate, Profile, Interview

5th: Alexei Urmanov (The Unified Team)

Short Program, Free Skate

6th: Kurt Browning (Canada)

Short Program, Free Skate, Profile

7th: Elvis Stojko (Canada)

Short Program, Free Skate, Profile, Interview

8th: Viacheslav Zagorodniuk (The Unified Team)

Short Program, Free Skate

9th: Michael Slipchuk (Canada)

Short Program, Free Skate

10th: Todd Eldredge (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate

11th: Grzegorz Filipowski (Poland)

Short Program, Free Skate

12th: Steven Cousins (GBR)

Short Program, Free Skate

14th: Nicolas Pétorin (France)

Short Program

15th: Éric Millot (France)

Short Program

16th: Cameron Medhurst (Australia)

Short Program

17th: David Liu (Chinese Taipei)

Short Program, Free Skate

18th: Ralph Burghart (Austria)

Short Program

20th: Konstantin Kostin (Latvia)

Short Program

21st: Jung Sung-Il (South Korea)

Free Skate

22nd: Henrik Walentin (Denmark)

Short Program



LADIES

Gold: Kristi Yamaguchi (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate, Exhibition 1, Exhibition 2, Medal Ceremony, Profile, Interview

Silver: Midori Ito (Japan)

Short Program, Free Skate, Exhibition

Bronze: Nancy Kerrigan (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate, Exhibition, Interview

4th: Tonya Harding (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate, Profile

5th: Surya Bonaly (France)

Short Program, Free Skate

6th: Chen Lu (China)

Free Skate

7th: Yuka Sato (Japan)

Short Program, Free Skate

8th: Karen Preston (Canada)

Short Program, Free Skate

9th: Josée Chouinard (Canada)

Short Program, Free Skate

10th: Marina Kielmann (Germany)

Short Program

11th: Lenka Kulovaná (Czechoslovakia)

Short Program

12th: Laetitia Hubert (France)

Short Program, Free Skate

13th: Patricia Neske (Germany)

Short Program

14th: Julia Vorobieva (The Unified Team)

Short Program

15th: Anisette Torp-Lind (Denmark)

Short Program

16th: Tatiana Rachkova (The Unified Team)

Free Skate

17th: Viktoria Dimitrova (Bulgaria)

Short Program

18th: Joanne Conway (Great Britain)

Short Program

19th: Zuzanna Szwed (Poland)

Free Skate

20th: Alma Lepina (Latvia)

Short Program, Free Skate

21st: Olga Vassiljeva (Estonia)

Free Skate

22nd: Suzanne Otterson (Great Britain)

Short Program, Free Skate

23rd: Krisztina Czakó (Hungary)

Short Program, Free Skate



PAIRS

Gold: Natalia Mishkutenok & Artur Dmitriev (The Unified Team)

Short Program, Free SKate, Exhibition, Medal Ceremony, Profile

Silver: Elena Bechke & Denis Petrov (The Unified Team)

Short Program, Free Skate

Bronze: Isabelle Brasseur & Lloyd Eisler (Canada)

Short Program, Free Skate, Exhibition, Profile

4th: Radka Kovaříková & René Novotný (Czechoslovakia)

Short Program, Free Skate

5th: Evgenia Shishkova & Vadim Naumov (The Unified Team)

Short Program, Free Skate

6th: Natasha Kuchiki & Todd Sand (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate, Profile

7th: Peggy Schwarz & Alexander König (Germany)

Short Program, Free Skate

8th: Mandy Wötzel & Axel Rauschenbach (Germany)

Free Skate

9th: Christine Hough & Doug Ladret (Canada)

Short Program, Free Skate

10th: Calla Urbanski & Rocky Marval (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate

11th: Jenni Meno & Scott Wendland (USA)

Short Program, Free Skate

12th: Sherry Ball & Kris Wirtz (Canada)

Short Program, Free Skate

13th: Danielle Carr & Stephen Carr (Australia)

Short Program, Free Skate

14th: Rena Inoue & Tomoaki Koyama (Japan)

Free Skate

15th: Anna Tabacchi & Massimo Salvade (Italy)

Short Program, Free Skate

16th: Line Haddad & Sylvain Privé (France)

Short Program, Free Skate

17th: Kathryn Pritchard & Jason Briggs (Great Britain)

Short Program, Free Skate



ICE DANCE

Gold: Marina Klimova & Sergei Ponomarenko (The Unified Team)

CD1, CD2, OSP, Free Dance, Medal Ceremony, Profile

Silver: Isabelle Duchesnay & Paul Duchesnay (France)

CD1, CD2, OSP, Free Dance, Profile

Bronze: Maya Usova & Alexander Zhulin (The Unified Team)

CD1, CD2, OSP, Free Dance, Exhibition

4th: Oksana Grishuk & Evgeni Platov (The Unified Team)

CD1, CD2, OSP, Free Dance

5th: Stefania Calegari & Pasquale Camerlengo (Italy)

CD1, CD2, OSP, Free Dance

6th: Susanna Rahkamo & Petri Kokko (Finland)

CD1, OSP, Free Dance

7th: Klára Engi & Attila Tóth (Hungary)

OSP, Free Dance

9th: Sophie Moniotte & Pascal Lavanchy (France)

CD2, Free Dance

11th: April Sargent-Thomas & Russ Witherby (USA)

CD1, CD2, OSP, Free Dance

12th: Jacqueline Petr & Mark Janoschak (Canada)

CD1, CD2, OSP, Free Dance

13th: Anna Croci & Luca Mantovani (Italy)

CD2

15th: Rachel Mayer & Peter Breen (USA)

OSP, Free Dance

16th: Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas (Lithuania)

CD2

18th: Han Bing & Yang Hui (China)

OSP

[A.H.Black]

The surprise of the Men's competition, apart from Browning's 6th place, was Paul Wylie who had never previously been placed higher than 9th at a world championships, and that was back in 1988. A good short program had left Wylie in 3rd after that segment, and then he performed the FS of his life to finish 2nd in the LP. That won him the silver medal. He had skated so poorly at U.S. Nationals just a few weeks prior to the Olympics (finishing 2nd behind Bowman), that although Wylie was selected for the Olympic team, Mark Mitchell was selected instead of him for the 1992 World Championships. In fact, after his FS at Nationals, Wylie thought he had blown his chance of Olympic selection as Sports Illustrated point out: "In 11 years of major competitions, Wylie either fell or staggered through his routines. He knew it, his parents knew it, the Scotvolds knew it. He didn't stand up under pressure. It had happened as recently as last month's U.S. nationals, an event Wylie has never won; he skated so poorly that he changed into his street clothes before the medals ceremony, only to discover that his chief competitors had also botched their programs and that he'd finished second, qualifying for Albertville. "I'd already moved on to the rest of my life, mentally," said Wylie last week. [In his free skate at the Olympics, Wylie] skated by far the most compelling program of the night. As Wylie so elegantly showed on this evening, jumping is only one way to get the fans out of their seats. Skating to the theme from the movie Henry V, he mesmerized the audience with his dynamic spins, dramatic lines and flawless timing. Wylie's three Russian splits at the end of his program, his toe picks slapping the palms of his hands, called to mind 1984 gold medalist Scott Hamilton and brought the spectators to their feet for the only time all night."

I wanted to add my own story about Paul in 1992.

I attended Nationals in 1992 with my highest priority being to watch Paul Wylie. Paul had always been good in practice but he was almost flawless in practice in 1992. I remember watching 2 perfect short programs and 1 perfect free program. Many of the men's practices took place at a run-down old shopping center rink. The speakers were so low the pairs couldn't practice there. Some of the novice competition was there too. I seem to remember a young Matt Kessinger and Derrick Delmore in Novice men's. The rink was separated from the seating area (not bleachers, but an old deserted cafe/cafeteria set-up with a lobby and some benches for changing skates) by glass so you couldn't hear the music half the time. In those days the skaters milled around with the spectators a lot more. We chatted with most of the skaters, including Paul, Scott Davis, and others. We laughed at the insults they traded about ugly practice costumes. I still have a photograph of my friend and Paul sitting on one of the tables.

The local media all showed up to interview/watch Christopher Bowman and, to a lesser extent, Todd Eldredge. When Paul took the ice, we would watch them perk up and look at their lists of skaters, . They would question each other - "Who's that?" - type of stuff and sort of scurry around trying to figure out why they weren't there to cover Paul. I remember seeing a few jaws drop as they watched.

Paul had such a great week. The morning of the short program at warm-ups, he was perfect on his jumps. The LaValse choreography was fabulous anyway, Paul's spinning was always good, and his footwork was wonderful (although spinning and footwork really didn't count for much at that time). I remember him being relaxed and excited. I watched him joking with Evy and Mary Scotvold. They seemed really confident that day.

In the 6-minute warm-up Paul was again perfect. His 3-axel (always his nemesis) had been on all week. Again he was happy. I remember we were very nervous, but excited. We thought he might actually win.

Then, during the short program, Paul had a really messy fall on the 3-axel combination. One of those falls that really looks bad. I still don't know how he got up and finished the program. I remember he went beet-red from his face, clear down to the bottom of the V-neck of his costume. We were heartbroken. Paul was crushed. I remember seeing Nancy Kerrigan in the audience, in tears. I also remember looking at his parents, and wishing I hadn't intruded, as they looked devastated as well.

I have often contrasted that day, that short program, with the short program Paul skated at the Olympics. The short program at the Olympics was wonderful. Paul was exhilarated and Evy and Mary were beyond thrilled. That program was one of the best he ever skated. I would love to ask him some day about those two programs.

__________________________________________________ ________________________________________

Concerning the free skate at Nationals - Paul blew a kiss to the ice when he ended. It was clear to everyone he thought that was the end of his skating career. We thought it was the end too. We thought we would never see Paul skate again. How wonderful that we were all so wrong.

I will always be grateful I saw that one practice at Nationals. Paul's Henry V free skate wasn't perfect at Nationals and it wasn't perfect at the Olympics. I got to see one perfect version - at practice - at that dumpy little rink - in that half deserted shopping center in Orlando.

[judgejudy27]

It was one of the suckiest competitions ever except for the dance which was brilliant. The pairs winning and silver medal performances were very good (though not flawless). Paul was the surprise of the Games and a great inspirational story and led to a wonderful pro career. The rest of the competition was a nightmare. Almost all the contenders making numerous mistakes. So poorly skated that even people like Nancy Kerrigan and Petr Barna who came in as outside shots to medal probably would have won the singles golds had they skated cleanly in the long program (of course they didnt even come close to it, like everyone else who was in contention). Skaters like Yamaguchi and Petrenko almost had bittersweet wins, winning with their worst skates in years, maybe ever. Isabelle Brasseur said in her book the food was bad and many skaters were getting sick, and the ice wasnt that great, so that might explain alot of it.

[liv]

I remember this Olympic competition as being the opposite of how it had gone in Calgary, where so many people rose to the occasion and made names for themselves with fantastic skates in every discipline.

I remember being ecstatic that Klimova/Ponamarenko had been able to rebound from the previous year's loss and come up with such a sensational program, especially amid all the hype with the Duchesnays.

I was very upset that Midori had such a rough go but thought her huge 3A near the end of her program was the perfect way to rebound and win herself a silver after such heavy national expectations of gold. From that jump on it was the real MIdori and I was so glad that she had finally been able to emerge. I was disappointed in kristi's win, not because I didn't like her, but because it was so lacklustre for a winning skate.


I thought Wylie's free was amazing and even now I watch it from time to time to see how perfectly he skated to that music and how he performed at the most important moment in his skating career. We've heard that wonderful music since, but no one has captured it as well.

But yes, it was not a great year for figure skating Olympic performances.

[Jessica]

A.H.Black--Thanks for your story about Paul. How lucky you were to see his "Perfect Free Skate."

[TheIronLady]

Isabelle Brasseur said in her book the food was bad and many skaters were getting sick, and the ice wasnt that great, so that might explain alot of it.

I would have thought French Olympic catering would be magnificent.

[Coco]

Color me embarassed, I had no idea Michael Slipchuck was an Olympian. This is the director of high performance, right?

[A.H.Black]

Pairs is missing 14th place, which was Japan. Rena Inoue and Koyama. I couldn't find the short program, but here is the free - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcHcjucIWKE

[Maofan7]

Pairs is missing 14th place, which was Japan. Rena Inoue and Koyama. I couldn't find the short program, but here is the free - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcHcjucIWKE

Many many thanks. Much appreciated.

I've added the video to the initial post.

[TheIronLady]

Exciting. I have never seen Inoue & Koyama.

[TheIronLady]

Can I just say that old pairs are so enjoyable to watch? The number 14 team was a pleasure.

Pairs today reminds me of a cross between ladies singles and synchro skating. I do not mean this as a compliment.

[Marco]

To me both singles disciplines were very weak events. There were technical breakthroughs, but everyone made mistakes and no one really skated lights out.

Yamaguchi's win was not disputable, it was just a let down because she was so clean at Nationals just weeks before (and better at Worlds just weeks after).

I keep thinking what might have happened to Ito if not for the crash with Bonaly who was attempting a stupid, illegal backflip at competition practice. She lost her lutz that week as a result. Gutsy attempt at the second 3axel considering she didn't really land it all week - if she didn't land it, she really could have been out of the medals - she already fell once. I guess I am most upset that there wasn't a real head to head between Yamaguchi and Ito (and Harding).

Harding was so on at Skate America and was a real title threat heading to the Olympics. Although Harding failed in her 3axel attempts in both the short and the long, I really think she had enough to win the bronze over Kerrigan, who was dull and mistake-ridden herself in the long. Perhaps if she had done the Moonriver program which she debuted later at Worlds, she wouldn't place so low after the short. Kerrigan continued to be the most overrated skater with the ridiculous scoring of her long at this event.

I really think Chen should have placed 4th if not 3rd in the long (definitely ahead of Kerrigan). Too bad she had a poor short, skated early and wasn't quite accomplished enough to contend at the top (yet).

To me, Petrenko's win was also undisputable but again a let down because he had skated that program much better to not even win Worlds before. Wylie had a good moment for himself but it wasn't a great performance by any means. I might even have Barna ahead. It's just extremely unfortunate that Browning and Bowman could not rise to the occasion at this event because to me they were the best skaters during that era along with Petrenko. I love Barna but he didn't even have a 3axel (OK Bowman didn't either but at leats he did decent attempts at most times and repeats the flip).

[Loves_Shizuka]

Obviously I didn't watch Albertville at the time, but having seen lots of coverage in recent years (my sister still has it all on tape) the first thing I always think of is Ito's 2nd triple axel. For me one of the most memorable isolated moments in figure skating.

I agree that overall it all felt a bit ... flat. Odd really. Still, other highlights for me were Lu Chen's LP and Rahkamo & Kokko's FD

[briancoogaert]

Really the worst Olympics in singles disciplines. Not that 1994 Olympics were that good in Ladies.
I was really happy with the results, but really disappointed by the way they all skated.

[gk_891]

Here's Grishuk & Platov's blues CD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYWm_AG0N90

Many will call me crazy but I honestly would've placed them 2nd at these Olympics. Their blues CD was IMO superior to either the Duchesnays or Usova/Zhulin (Usova clearly does a back inside edge on her chocktaw rather than the required back outside edge). And both their OD and FD were so much more difficult than the couples I mentioned.

Klimova & Ponomarenko were clearly the best at these Olympics and were unbeatable which is no feat considering that they were in France competing against the Duchesnays. I remember being moved while watching Marina break down in the kiss and cry area when the artistic marks came out and it became clear that they were going to win the gold medal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIxXQWnV_Rg (has Christopher Dean commentating)

I also have Grishuk & Platov's FD from these Olympics with Chris Dean commentating (he liked them back then!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRlNzp_V35A

[Maofan7]

Here's Grishuk & Platov's blues CD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYWm_AG0N90

Thanks. Added to initial post

Here is a Sports Illustrated article on Kristi Yamaguchi's win

[gkelly]

Thanks for compiling all this, Maofan7.

For the sake of historical accuracy,

[*]European champion, Petr Barna, won the bronze medal, landing the first ever quad (a 4T) at the Olympics in his FS.

It would not be accurate to say that Barna's quad was the first successful quad at the Olympics because it was not quite successful (underrotated, slight touchdown of free foot) and nor was it the first close-to-successful attempt. Not even the first on that evening.

Here's an early history of quads at the Olympics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmAeuv5kvQc

Even Zhang's looks like it might deserve a < call under IJS rules. If so, the honor of first squeaky clean Olympic quad would go to Zhengzhin Guo and Ilia Kulik in 1998.

What we can say about Barna is that he was the first Olympic medalist to win that medal with a pretty-close quad landed in the program.

[briancoogaert]

Here's Grishuk & Platov's blues CD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYWm_AG0N90

Many will call me crazy but I honestly would've placed them 2nd at these Olympics. Their blues CD was IMO superior to either the Duchesnays or Usova/Zhulin (Usova clearly does a back inside edge on her chocktaw rather than the required back outside edge). And both their OD and FD were so much more difficult than the couples I mentioned.

In the ISU Dance VHS, you clearly see Usova's inside edge, with a change of edge after. I'm surprised they kept this as an example, since it's clearly not good technique.

[Maofan7]

Thanks for compiling all this, Maofan7.

For the sake of historical accuracy,



It would not be accurate to say that Barna's quad was the first successful quad at the Olympics because it was not quite successful (underrotated, slight touchdown of free foot) and nor was it the first close-to-successful attempt. Not even the first on that evening.

There were issues with it, but it was credited with being the first at the Olympics

[gkelly]

Well, I'll accept that it was the first time "this" [a (bronze) medalist successfully landing a quadruple jump] had been accomplished at the Olympics.

But I'd like to know where this Sports Reference website gets its facts from. Unless the ISU has said that they officially ratified Barna's quad and not Kostin's or Urmanov's earlier that evening, then I don't take a statement that Barna's was the first successful quad anyone ever landed in Olympic competition as official or accurate.