I’d edit Max out as a great skater , namely because of his resolve to REFUSE to learn to SKATE
Majorov. His own OC refused to send him although he was consistently top 10 at Europeans and met all the qualifications for the Olympics.
Kristi (and her team) probably felt that she needed to really focus solely on singles to have a shot at winning the OGM there given the competition. Plus, between ladies and pairs, we all know where Kristi had more of a shot winning a gold medal. Given how celebrated a gold medal in ladies singles is in the U.S. compared to pairs, well, I guess it seemed like a no-brainer at the time despite it negatively affecting Rudy. But in the end, Rudy had a pretty magical career out of that disappointing break up.
I’m sure they all knew figures were going to be elimonsted before they were. Interestingly, in her TSL interview, Kristi said she felt she still would be competitive with figures because she felt as if she knew she was improving on them and would be better once 1992 hit,
He placed 14th in Sochi. The Swedish Fed didn't allow him to go in 2018, however, because he already had his chance previously and he didn't do well enough for them to send him again.
Team Trenary, including her coach, Carlo Fassi, Olympic Champion Maker and master politiker, were shocked. I think it was assumed that figures were going to be 10% of the overall score into the 1992 Olympics, not totally eliminated.
I adore Kristi, but I don't believe her figures could ever be that good because she weighted so little and was not muscular at all, which would have effected the quality of her tracings.
Let's be real ... Holly Cook beat Kristi Yamaguchi at 1990 WORLDS because of figures. Also, Ternary won Worlds with a disastrous SP because of figures. How can anyone claim figures weren't her weakness after that.
Also, Kristi was only 5th at 1990 Nationals in figures:
1. Trenary
2. Cook
3. Harding
4. Kerrigan
5. Yamaguchi
In other words, whenever Yamaguchi would have been sent to a Worlds or Olympics up to that point, it was known that at least one or two other skaters from her own team would be better than her at figures. That plus international competition would have made it so she was always coming from behind in figures and was never guaranteed a win in the SP or LP because of Harding, Ito, and even Trenary.
The rational thinking may be on your side, but champions often are people who don't listen to other people telling them what's a likely result for them.
Had figures not been eliminated, Kristi would have been in the running for bronze in Singles or Pairs, but not gold because the former Soviets dominated pairs and Kristi was not as good as Trenary in presentation and figures and not as good as Midori in jumps. Also, we simply can not forget Harding soundly beat Kristi at 1991 Nationals.
I just don't know how you know that for sure.
We do know Midori being better at jumps didn't help her beat Kristi in a time where figures was eliminated, so it should have been easier for Midori to beat Kristi.
I say if Midori could do it, then why not Kristi? If Kristi could manage to win the SP and LP (like she did at 1991 Worlds and Olympics and 1992 Worlds), then she could afford a slightly lower placement in figures if the ones way ahead of her in figures dropped in the SP and LP.
I still think Tonya should have at least placed third in the LP in Albertville with her actual skate there.
A bit like Sandhu in 1998It was the Olympic Committee, not the federation that refused to send him in 2018.
Someday I will PM you my mad theory on why Kerrigan got the bronze in 1992
Someday I will PM you my mad theory on why Kerrigan got the bronze in 1992
Same. Please, do share.I'm intrigued.
Depends on what the purpose of competition is.
If the Olympics is more about participation and inclusion, then 3 per country sounds fair because the aim is to include as many countries as possible; and 3 is the domination number because a country can at most sweep the entire podium and not more.
If the Olympics is more about having the best competitors, then qualification should be strictly merit based instead of country based.
Well, we can take Higuchi off the list but the others...yeah.I don't want to jinx them but I'm afraid Wakaba Higuchi, Mai Mihara, and Marin Honda will not get a chance, either
I would love to hear what you think! That Olympic bronze medal placement still makes no sense to me to this day. I don’t believe I have ever seen a more sloppy free skate performance at the Olympics result in a medal. I will also laugh and roll my eyes at anyone claiming it was her programs, artistry, choreography, spins or skating skills that won the medal for her as she was vastly overrated in that regard.Someday I will PM you my mad theory on why Kerrigan got the bronze in 1992
Have I missed something and something happened to Wakaba Higuchi ? She is/was on the Olympic team. Or do you mean to say that something might still happen to prevent her from taking part in the Olympics? Even if so, that is indeed jinxing.I don't want to jinx them but I'm afraid Wakaba Higuchi, Mai Mihara, and Marin Honda will not get a chance, either.
@Louis the post you replied to is 3 years old.Have I missed something and something happened to Wakaba Higuchi ? She is/was on the Olympic team. Or do you mean to say that something might still happen to prevent her from taking part in the Olympics? Even if so, that is indeed jinxing.