The Skate Gods bestow upon you 4 wishes...

[DBZ]

...to change the final result of any amateur skating competition.

This is your opportunity to change the skating history books and (in your opinion) put right what went wrong.

Two simple rules

• Only 1 wish per each discipline
• You cannot change the performances given, only the judging outcome/result

Here are the results I would change:

Ladies
1998 Olympics
Michelle Kwan 1st instead of Tara Lipinski

Men
2013 World Championships
Denis Ten 1st instead of Patrick Chan

Dance
2018 Olympics
Papadakis/Cizeron 1st instead of Virtue/Moir

Pairs
1998 Olympics
Wötzel/Steuer 2nd instead of Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze

What about everyone else? Which result would you change?

 

[gkelly]

Ladies:
1992 Olympics, Harding bronze and Kerrigan fourth. I think the next two years might have played out very differently with those results.

I don't feel the need to change any results in any of the other disciplines.

 

[Marco]

Ladies: Kwan 1st and Lipinski 2nd at 1998 Olympics (FS and overall)

Men: Chan 1st and Hanyu 2nd at 2014 Olympics (FS and overall)

Pairs: B&S 1st and S&P 2nd at 2002 Olympics (FS and overall, i.e. no tie)

 

[skategal]

In order of preference:

Ice dance:

Weaver & Poje win over Cappelini and Lanotte Worlds 2014.


Ladies:

Elizabeth Manley wins 1988 Olympics


Men:

Brian Orser wins 1988 Olympics


Pairs:

Tempted to say M&D over G&G 1994 Olympics but I can live with it either way...

 

[Rhumba d’Amour]

In order of preference:

Ice dance:

Weaver & Poje win over Cappelini and Lanotte Worlds 2014.

Also the first thing I thought of!

 

[antmanb]

I was coming here to say the competition I've most bitched about was 1995 Europeans pairs competition where I would have given Kavarikova/Novotny the win over Woetzel/ Steuer.

I decided to go back and rewatch both LPs before posting and unlike 6.0 singles programmes that look so empty and easy compared to IJS programmes, pairs is still great to watch, especially this era - the top couples included the big SBS triples and 2As but there was always a sequence of two doubles in the progamme that I used to enjoy. Often there were two death spirals to show two different edges, the lifts were great and varied (not all the same group 4 or 5 lifts with the same difficulty for levels), the pairs spins were good and not interminable.

I miss 6.0 pairs. (but not singles).

 

[bardtoob]

1) Patrick Chan stayed with Kristi Krall through 2014 Olympics
2) Patrick Chan finished developing the 4S back in 2011-12
3) Michelle Kwan won the Olympic Gold Medal in any Olympics
4) Laetitia Hubert never crashed into Midori Ito

 

[DORISPULASKI]

Pairs: Inoue & Baldwin in third place in the SP in the 2006 Olympics. That was the first Olympic throw triple Axel, and the best I have ever seen, even today and it barely got plus GOE. The whole program was awesome.

Dance: Davis & White in first in the 2012 World's FD. Die Fledermaus was just a lovely program.

Ladies: Kwan over Lipinski in 1998

Men: Rudi Galindo wins Worlds in 1996. It was great that he got the bronze. Todd skated well, but that program was so empty. Ilia Kulik 2nd, Todd 3rd.

 

[I❤️Marina&Sergai]

In order of preference:

Ice dance:

Weaver & Poje win over Cappelini and Lanotte Worlds 2014.


Ladies:

Elizabeth Manley wins 1988 Olympics


Men:

Brian Orser wins 1988 Olympics


Pairs:

Tempted to say M&D over G&G 1994 Olympics but I can live with it either way...

I loved Katerina back in the day but am leaning towards your choices.

 

[Vagabond]

Men: 1968 Winter Olympics. Tim Wood 1st, Wolfgang Schwarz 2nd (because of the notorious misscoring, though Schwarz should be DQ'd for his subsequent criminal activity).

Ladies: 1998 Winter Olympics. Michelle Kwan 1st, Tara Lipniski 2nd (My poor eardrums! )

Pairs: 2002 Winter Olympics: Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo 1st, Russians and Canadians tied for 2nd.

Ice Dance: 1975 World Championships: Colleen O'Connor & James Millns 1st, Irina Moiseeva & Andrei Minenkov however far down they deserved to be. (Minenkov's skating skills were not up to standard.)

I thought about including the Open Event at 1902 Worlds, when Ulrich Salchow literally gave Madge Syers his gold medal, but there is no video.

 

[tony]

Only one really comes to mind immediately:

Butyrskaya losing to Slutskaya at the 2000 NHK Trophy by one judge. Even though she beat her a few weeks later at the smaller Japan Open pro-am, I think that took a lot of the energy out of Maria's skating for the rest of her eligible career. At Worlds later that year, she commented that she was shaking the entire short program and it was actually noticeable through some of her elements. When she skated a strong free skate, it seemed she was even surprised with herself.

 

[skateboy]

Mens: Zagorodniuk over Kurt Browning in (I forget which year) Trophee Lalique.

Ladies: Trixi Schuba coming back in 1994 to win the gold medal over everyone based on her free skating.

Pairs: M/D over Gordeeva/Grinkov at the 1994 Olympics.

Dance: Shibutanis winning silver medal at 2018 Olympics. (Sorry, but P/C should have been dumped based on their SD.)

 

[VGThuy]

Three of those wishes was for Kwan to win three Olympics. The next was for the Shibs to come back to competition and be gold medal contenders.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Are you assuming people like Michelle skated better or just wish the judges scored it differently?

 

[VGThuy]

Yes.

 

[Spiralgraph]

My immediate first thought is impossible but I'll type it anyway. That the 1961 plane crash that killed the entire USA team never happened. Second, that Randy Gardner never had that blasted groin injury at the 1980 Olympics. My personal opinion is that Tai and Randy would have won the silver medal, but I really wanted them to shine at their peak at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.
Third, okay this is possible at least, that the 2022 Winter Olympics are held successfully.

Oh I almost forgot, I have four wishes, well being the pair skating fan I am I want to see an American pair win a world championship. I'm not going to ask for too much and ask for an Olympic gold medal.

 

[Bellanca]

The only wish I have is that people stop changing the final results and reassigning medals.

 

[bardtoob]

The only wish I have is that people stop changing the final results and reassigning medals.

I think it should be acceptable for Tim Wood in 1968 since the Canadian judge literally mismarked the score.

Q: You actually lost the 1968 Olympic title to Wolfgang Schwarz on a technicality. Can you explain what happened?

A: They actually all thought I had won. Back then, at the Olympics the factor of scoring was ten and the factor was twelve at Worlds. You had a smaller margin you could give to someone if you were judging. The Canadian judge Ralph McCreath wanted me to win but he mismarked me and realized he made a mistake but it was on paper and you couldn't change it back then. He went to the referee Josef Dědič and there was nothing he could do. I lost the Olympics by one judge by one tenth of a point. Can you imagine that? My coach came over and could not have been worse about it. He just couldn't compliment anyone and give them credit. That was just him. He was more impressed with John Misha Petkevich than me, his own student. So here I am - I am the World Champion and he's telling me to skate like John. We were just at each other's throats and it was a shame it had to end that way. I think going through those kinds of experiences made me much more sensitive to the human being and sensitive side when I coach; when I work with kids. As they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Interview With Tim Wood

Interview with World Figure Skating Champion Tim Wood

skateguard1.blogspot.com

 

[Bellanca]

I think it should be acceptable for Tim Wood in 1968 since the Canadian judge literally mismarked the score.

Interview With Tim Wood

Interview with World Figure Skating Champion Tim Wood

skateguard1.blogspot.com

In that case, sure.

Everything else is just futile desire from disgruntled fans.

 

[bardtoob]

In that case, sure.

Everything else is just futile desire from disgruntled fans.

What if I were to wish that Jan Hoffmann, the judge at the 1994 Olympics, had not been psychologically damaged at the 1980 Olympics by scoring the most points but still only ranking 2nd, losing to the "more artistic skater"?

He was noted as saying that he did not see Kerrigan's 3T-3T while judging or he would have made her marks higher.

Kerrigan was tied for the most points but lost in the tie breaker, losing to the "more artistic skater".

 

[Bellanca]

What if I were to wish that Jan Hoffmann, the judge at the 1994 Olympics, had not been psychologically damaged at the 1980 Olympics by scoring the most points but still only ranking 2nd, losing to the "more artistic skater"?

He was noted as saying that he did not see Kerrigan's 3T-3T while judging or he would have made her marks higher.

Kerrigan was tied for the most points but lost in the tie breaker, losing to the "more artistic skater".

What-ifs...

 

[VGThuy]

What-ifs...

Let people have their wishes. What’s the point of looking down on people who are using this thread as it was intended...sort of...

 

[bardtoob]

What-ifs...

You're boring.

 

[bardtoob]

I wish that Jan Hoffmann, the judge at the 1994 Olympics, had not been psychologically damaged at the 1980 Olympics by scoring the most points but still only ranking 2nd, losing to the "more artistic skater"?

He was noted as saying that he did not see Kerrigan's 3T-3T while judging or he would have made her marks higher.

Kerrigan was tied for the most points but lost in the tie breaker, losing to the "more artistic skater".

 

[Bellanca]

Let people have their wishes. What’s the point of looking down on people who are using this thread as it was intended...sort of...

Jeez, lighten up. I mean really. It was a couple of comments on a skating forum where redundancy is the norm. But, as usual, the same cast of characters jump on any little thing. Learn to laugh a little. Nobody is looking down on anyone. Where do you get this stuff?

Sorry for the thread-drift, but I still feel like the right skaters won their titles even if I wasn't a fan. Unless, there was corruption of some kind — or the fix was in.

 

[bardtoob]

Unless, there was corruption of some kind — or the fix was in.

I wish all the Judges of the Ladies event at the 2014 Olympics had the ability to read the rules.

One was literally sanctioned by the ISU for not being able to read the rules.

 

[bardtoob]

I wish Jan Hoffman actually watched the programs he judged.

 

[meggonzo]

The only wish I have is that people stop changing the final results and reassigning medals.

I think you missed the point of this thread. Jeez, lighten up. I mean really. Learn to laugh a little.

 

[Rollersk8Icesk8]

The only one that comes to mind for me is 1994 Olympics - Kerrigan over Baiul. I would change that.

I’m also in favor of seeing a US pair team win gold at World’s!

This is a fun thread, thanks!

 

[Bellanca]

@bardtoob, I hear what you’re saying about judges and their shortcomings or their inability to apparently pay attention. However, I wouldn't want to punish the skater(s) for a judge’s ineptitude by stripping them of a title or medal because the judge happened to be spacing out and then comments after the fact that they missed this, that, or the other. If they are that preoccupied or incompetent - they should not be judging. And, yes, they should have a very clear understanding of what they are reading, no question. Judging is inherently biased, anyway. So, all the sport can hope for is to get a panel that is relatively neutral and fair-minded. It's always going to be a challenge because everyone has an opinion, impression, viewpoint — and judges are no exception. Some have been terribly corrupt, they just have.