What Color Medal Would Michelle Kwan Have Won in Olympic Team Competitions 1998/2002?

[missing]

Right now old skating battles are my safe place, so I started wondering about whether Michelle Kwan would have won gold at either of her two Olympics if there had been team events.

Russia seems to be dominant in1998 but since I don't follow the rules carefully I don't understand how points are awarded. Nor do I know if Michelle would have skated the short and free programs or if Tara would have skated one out of the two and how that might have affected placements. It gets even more confusing in 2002, where Michelle would certainly have skated one of the two programs, but would she have skated one, or would the USFSA decided to go with World medalist Sarah Hughes or with National Silver Medalist (but totally untested) Sasha Cohen. And how would our men, pairs and dance held up against international competition.

Worrying about these sorts of things is so much better for my psyche than worrying about the state of the world. So as an act of kindness, I'd appreciate other people's speculation on this totally theoretical topic.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Interesting question.

It's hard to know who would have been selected to compete in the team event, but below are the Team USA members for each Olympics and their final results in brackets.

Team USA 1998

Tara Lipinski (1)
Michelle Kwan (2)
Nicole Bobek (17)

Todd Eldredge (4)
Michael Weiss (7)

Kyoko Ina / Jason Dunjen (4)
Jenni Meno / Todd Sand (8)

Elizabeth Punsalan / Jerod Swallow (7)
Jessica Joseph / Charles Butler (21)

Team USA 2002

Sarah Hughes (1)
Michelle Kwan (3)
Sasha Cohen (4)

Timothy Goebel (3)
Todd Eldredge (6)
Michael Weiss (7)

Kyoko Ina / John Zimmerman (5)
Tiffany Scott / Phillip Dulebohn (13)

Naomi Lang / Peter Tchernyshev (11)
Beata Handra / Charles Sinek (23)

In 1998 and 2002, Russia won five individual gold medals and were strong in each of the four disciplines, so they would likely have taken the team titles as well.

My guess is that Team USA would have taken silver both times. Although in 1998, France had a very strong team across all four disciplines as well, and may have challenged USA for silver.

 

[screech]

I agree that Russia would have won gold, USA silver both times. France would probably get bronze in 1998, and Canada could have maybe eeked out a bronze in 2002 with strength in pairs and dance (Japan having an advantage in mens and ladies, though Jennifer Robinson was consistent...)

 

[VGThuy]

I do know that Bobek would not have been anywhere near that team event.

 

[tony]

@Andrey aka Pushkin if I remember correctly, went back and crunched the numbers from the last several Olympics to see if the podiums would have changed from the CAN-RUS-USA trio. Maybe he remembers his findings.

 

[SmallFairy]

France were indeed strong in '98. Hubert tanked in the individual competition, but if she had nailed it in the team event, the judges were ready to reward her. They showed that at worlds one month later.

 

[Triple loop]

I'm going to say silver medal for USA based on individual results in 1998 and 2002. I'm not the biggest fan of the team event because the athletes run the risk of injury but it's good practice for them.
However, since the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics was my favorite, I'd say that the Americans would've won the gold but with stiff competition from the USSR. We had great freeskaters like Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Carruthers, Seibert and Blumberg, Tiffany Chin, and Elaine Zayak.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I'm going to say silver medal for USA based on individual results in 1998 and 2002. I'm not the biggest fan of the team event because the athletes run the risk of injury but it's good practice for them.
However, since the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics was my favorite, I'd say that the Americans would've won the gold but with stiff competition from the USSR. We had great freeskaters like Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Carruthers, Seibert and Blumberg, Tiffany Chin, and Elaine Zayak.

Agreed. If I recall correctly, Team USA was the only nation that qualified and sent a full team of 18 as well.

I still think Kitty and Peter should have taken gold in Sarajevo, and that Elaine should have won the short and the free.