The best performances in 90's women's figure skating that just missed out on a World medal

[On My Own]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, that 1995 performance should have medalled (and for me, personally, Chen should have won 1996 Worlds).

Yeah, me too. Would have been interesting if Kwan had gone into 1998 with zero world titles compared to Lipinski's one (which I felt was deserved).

 

[Marco]

Yeah, me too. Would have been interesting if Kwan had gone into 1998 with zero world titles compared to Lipinski's one (which I felt was deserved).

My guess is if Kwan had not won in 1996, she wouldn't have crumbled like that in 1997 and Lipinski might not have been able to beat her at all the key comps that season. At least there would be no pressure to defend a world title and her dad might not get to force her to change blades.

 

[On My Own]

My guess is if Kwan had not won in 1996, she wouldn't have crumbled like that in 1997 and Lipinski might not have been able to beat her at all the key comps that season. At least there would be no pressure to defend a world title and her dad might not get to force her to change blades.

I don't really know any of this backstory stuff and would be very difficult to predict.

Chen Lu going in with two world titles and Lipinski with one against Kwan's zero might have had influence on the judges though, as there's extensive evidence for in skating. And while Kwan would still be the more decorated National medalist, I wonder how the fandom would have treated Lipinski had she still won Nagano.

 

[Marco]

I don't really know any of this backstory stuff and would be very difficult to predict.

Chen Lu going in with two world titles and Lipinski with one against Kwan's zero might have had influence on the judges though, as there's extensive evidence for in skating. And while Kwan would still be the more decorated National medalist, I wonder how the fandom would have treated Lipinski had she still won Nagano.

Whether Chen had won gold or silver in 1996 Worlds was not going to change her injury and federation issues in 1997. So she is not a gold medal threat regardless.

If Lipinski had 2 world titles and Kwan 0 heading into Nagano, but Kwan was beating Lipinski handily that season at Skate America and Nationals, I am guessing the judges would still see them as roughly even (and way above the rest of the field) in Nagano and let the actual skates decide, not unlike what actually happened, and not unsimilar to what happened to Medvedeva and Zagitova in 2018.

 

[VGThuy]

I do think it was about the skating in end. We don't know who the judges preferred or what they had in mind as the default pecking order if all things were equal, but we do know that Tara had the best skate of her life at Nagano; that perception being supported by the fact that she skated levels better than she had all season though she did win the GPF, she wasn't at her peak at Nationals, had exceeded the effervescence she had at 1997 Worlds LP, attacked the program, and did a 3/3 with both of them being loops and a 3/1/3 at the end. Bezic also composed that LP well. Even as a Kwan fan who would have given her the 1st place ordinal, I know that the judges went with what they saw that night.

Now, as to that bronze medal fight... things just fell into place with those ordinals being as mixed as it was between Lu, Irina, and Maria. Maria had four 3rd place votes (Russia, Ukraine, Poland, France) and four fifth place votes (Australia, Hungary, Austria, and U.S.) meaning that only one judge (Germany) placed her where she ended up in the LP. Lu Chen had five 4th place votes and one 5th place vote (Russia... are you surprised?) meaning that only three judges (Australia, Austria, and Germany) wanted her to medal. The majority of the judges had Irina placing higher than the 5th place she ended up (two 3rd place and three 4th places). It was kinda wild.

None of the judges ranked the top 5 in the order of the eventual LP placement order.

 

[On My Own]

Whether Chen had won gold or silver in 1996 Worlds was not going to change her injury and federation issues in 1997. So she is not a gold medal threat regardless.

But she could be a silver medal threat.

If Lipinski had 2 world titles and Kwan 0 heading into Nagano, but Kwan was beating Lipinski handily that season at Skate America and Nationals, I am guessing the judges would still see them as roughly even (and way above the rest of the field) in Nagano and let the actual skates decide, not unlike what actually happened, and not unsimilar to what happened to Medvedeva and Zagitova in 2018.

I'm not too sure since Lipinski did win GPF. Bigger than Skate America and more international than Nationals. Of course Kwan wasn't there due to injury, but OTOH that could be on the Olympic judges' minds too...

 

[VGThuy]

But she could be a silver medal threat.

I'm not too sure since Lipinski did win GPF. Bigger than Skate America and more international than Nationals. Of course Kwan wasn't there due to injury, but OTOH that could be on the Olympic judges' minds too...

If it was, it didn’t show up in the SP when the tech content was a bit more equal, and with Tara doing the triple flip as her solo jump and a Lutz/loop combo. Maybe if Kwan hadn’t been a world champ, the SP results would have been different but then maybe a lot of things would have been different leading up to Nagano. It’s hard to say.

If Chen was in the same shape as she was in Nagano, I don’t see how she could have been a silver medal threat at all. She may have gotten more than one 3rd place ordinal, but whatever your take on that is, it’s all just wild guessing.