The 1990 World Pairs event must be one of the most disputed in history. The top 4 finishing pairs- Gordeeva & Grinkov, Brasseur & Eisler, Miskutienok & Dmitriev, and Selezneva & Makarov could literally have been reasonably placed in any order from 1st to 4th and there would be valid arguments for it. Gordeeva & Grinkov had one smaller error, stepping out of a side by side triple toe, and one gigantic error, messing up the double axel sequence and taking awhile to get back in the program, but the rest was sublime.
Brasseur & Eisler were on home ice and skated technically great with lots of energy. Their side by side jumps though were much easier than all the Russian teams, M&D and S&M hitting theirs, and their throws were landed low and possibly with a small hand down on both. Some in North America argued they were robbed of winning, but even if they won the long program, if G&G were 2nd they would not have won as they were 4th in the short. Some others argue they were inflated by home ice and should not have been as high as 2nd, so again debates both ways.
Miskutienok & Dmitriev skated very well, they were not as polished as a year or two later and their music choice and program wasnt everyones cup of tea. Their elements were technically done well, but smallish compared to the others in the top 3. Still their content was top notch, and they were the only one of the top 4 to skate truly clean.
Selezneva & Makarov skated quite well, with some minor problems, she stepped out of a side by side double axel, but they did triple toes and another double axel-double toe sequence as well. The throw triple toe also might have had a small foot down. Their music choice was also not everyones cup of tea, and their technical marks were better than G&G and M&D and close with B&E, but their presentation marks were by far the lowest and dropped sharply to keep them out of the medals. Also they did this same program at other events, including the 1989 Europeans and it was very well received artistically, so i think politics was a big factor here too. Their lifts were probably the easiest of the top 4 teams too.
What order would you have put them in. Honestly I probably would have given Selenzeva & Makarov the win, Miskutienok & Dmitriev the silver, placed Brasseur & Eisler 3rd in the long which would keep them 4th overall, and placed Gordeeva & Grinkov 4th in the long which would keep them above B&E in 3rd overall. So the exactly the opposite order the judges put, LOL!
I think some things that came to play in the judging personally:
G&G- legend bonus. Their was a buzz they were struggling with motivation, which is probably true as they surprisingly went pro soon after. The judges wanted to give them a push to continue.
B&E- homeice bonus.
S&M- The Russian fed. probably wanted them to retire. They never imagined G&G wouldnt go until 92 atleast, they had Miskutienok & Dmitriev coming up, and they had teams like Bechke & Petrov and a young Shishkova & Naumov waiting in the wings. They had also been on the scene since 83 and still never won a major title, and never been the Russian #1 really. Their staying around was probably seen as stifling and slowing the progress of the up and coming teams. The Russian fed did not want to encourage them to continue. Had the Russian fed. known G&G were going pro soon, it probably would be a whole different situation.
Brasseur & Eisler were on home ice and skated technically great with lots of energy. Their side by side jumps though were much easier than all the Russian teams, M&D and S&M hitting theirs, and their throws were landed low and possibly with a small hand down on both. Some in North America argued they were robbed of winning, but even if they won the long program, if G&G were 2nd they would not have won as they were 4th in the short. Some others argue they were inflated by home ice and should not have been as high as 2nd, so again debates both ways.
Miskutienok & Dmitriev skated very well, they were not as polished as a year or two later and their music choice and program wasnt everyones cup of tea. Their elements were technically done well, but smallish compared to the others in the top 3. Still their content was top notch, and they were the only one of the top 4 to skate truly clean.
Selezneva & Makarov skated quite well, with some minor problems, she stepped out of a side by side double axel, but they did triple toes and another double axel-double toe sequence as well. The throw triple toe also might have had a small foot down. Their music choice was also not everyones cup of tea, and their technical marks were better than G&G and M&D and close with B&E, but their presentation marks were by far the lowest and dropped sharply to keep them out of the medals. Also they did this same program at other events, including the 1989 Europeans and it was very well received artistically, so i think politics was a big factor here too. Their lifts were probably the easiest of the top 4 teams too.
What order would you have put them in. Honestly I probably would have given Selenzeva & Makarov the win, Miskutienok & Dmitriev the silver, placed Brasseur & Eisler 3rd in the long which would keep them 4th overall, and placed Gordeeva & Grinkov 4th in the long which would keep them above B&E in 3rd overall. So the exactly the opposite order the judges put, LOL!
I think some things that came to play in the judging personally:
G&G- legend bonus. Their was a buzz they were struggling with motivation, which is probably true as they surprisingly went pro soon after. The judges wanted to give them a push to continue.
B&E- homeice bonus.
S&M- The Russian fed. probably wanted them to retire. They never imagined G&G wouldnt go until 92 atleast, they had Miskutienok & Dmitriev coming up, and they had teams like Bechke & Petrov and a young Shishkova & Naumov waiting in the wings. They had also been on the scene since 83 and still never won a major title, and never been the Russian #1 really. Their staying around was probably seen as stifling and slowing the progress of the up and coming teams. The Russian fed did not want to encourage them to continue. Had the Russian fed. known G&G were going pro soon, it probably would be a whole different situation.
