Kristi Yamaguchi (USA) - 1992 Albertville Winter Games, Ladies' Free Skate + 6-Minute Warm-Up
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- Albertville, FRANCE - 1992 Winter Games, Figure Skating, Ladies' Free Skate - First, the 6-minute warm-up of the final flight of skaters followed by a short interview with 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist Katarina Witt. Lastly, the Free Skate of Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States where she was able to hold on to win the Gold Medal despite falling on the triple Salchow and doubling the triple loop.
- Sport
There was something about Yamaguchi's presentation that was mesmerizing and caused her to stand out among her competitors.
This is my favorite Olympic gold medal skating program. The 92 Olympics were fun to watch.
They were. Between her and Midori , they single-handedly raised the standards of athleticism in the Olympic Ladies’ Figure Skating.
Thank goodness none of the Harding-Kerrigan circus from two years later. It was all about the skating.
But CBS lapped up the skyrocketed TV ratings two years later.
Oh my God.. that warm up Triple Axel from Midori Ito...she made it look easy.
In this warm up, the ladies were doing more technical jumps than what we see now in 2016-triple axels, triple lutz-triple toe, quad toe, etc.
Tress Braga who did a quad toe in this warm up????
David G I think the commentators mentioned Surya did.
Bonaly was attempting quad toes at this time. She had one in her program at Albertville and stayed on her feet, but it was half a turn under rotated.
That triple axel that Midori Ito landed during the warm up is bigger than any of the quad jumps that the female Russian skaters are doing now!
Such a better balance of technical and artistry than Kwan. The speed, height of jumps, positions are all top notch. And her artistry if she committed to it she could have executed artistic programs incredibly. My favorite skater ahead of Yuna Kim
I'll agree that Kwan could have pushed herself more technically, but no one interprets music or reaches the crowd like Michelle.
@@twebster9498 I agree. Kwan had a passion on the ice. She felt the music and reached everyone in the audience, emotionally. Yamaguchi in my opinion didn’t skate with the feeling or passion that Kwan did.
@@dashoverton1963 Yamaguchi had sharper moves and had more speed. She also had little set up to her jumps and much stronger than Kwan technically. Kwan had a nice look on the ice but Kristi had more command of the ice IMO.
Kwan had incredible artistry, but she/her long-time coach Frank Carroll should have pushed her technical limits to incl a triple triple combo jump.
It came back to haunt Michelle at Nagano in 98 watching Tara skate off w the Gold.
Remember Tara's TWO triple triples won her the Gold 🥇
But Tara couldn't touch Michelle artistically.
Michelle should have realized the sport was heading towards a jumping contest direction.
Let's face it, Lipinski peaked at exactly the right time 97-98 and left the sport to earn her millions off the ice.
NBC has renewed her contract for next two Winter Olympics
No one brought me close to tears like Michelle Kwan. Kristi Yamaguchi was my 2nd favorite, and 1st during her time period.
Did you see her mother? Wow... She just looked completely devastated... She essentially had 1 fall, but I mean, a difficult triple triple and a 2nd triple Lutz... plus great artistry... nothing to scoff at!
Keep in mind people...Kristi skated FIRST in that final group and WON the gold...That was all but UNHEARD of back then (usually the first skate is scored low to leave room for the others in the group to have a chance).
It was nice that she landed that triple lutz triple toe combo I think without that could have been alot closer. Plus the fact that her two main rivals Ito and especially Harding had so much room to make up after SPs, gave her more room to breath.
Midori Ito is fun to watch and exciting of all the ladies.
Excellent!
I tear up every time I watch her skate
Her marks were well deserved. Glad to see there were no 5.5 or 5.6’s for technical merit for tha fall on the 3 loop.
Incrível, ela foi brilhante na apresentação ❤️
Happy Birthday Kristi.🎂🍰🥳🎉🎊🇺🇲❤️🤍💙
she's way ahead of her time doing triple lutz triple toe combination. that combination was not becoming mainstream in women figure skating until 2010, 18 years later.
I love that she wore this costume only for this event. Her red one that she wore the rest of the competitions didn’t have the Olympic WOW costume
Just imagine that she only started skating to help with her club foot. She is a true skill in the sport.
Which designer costume was prettier-the Vera Wang wedding dress that Nancy wore or the Christian La Croix bullfighter dress on Surya?
6:56 Because she had a hand down on Triple Loop, is that really a fall? Is it considered a miss/fall if only the hand goes down and you don't fall completely on the ice? The hand really broke her fall - in the replay 9:05 - she doesn't fall on the ice - but twists around to stand up.
Kristi, Nancy, Michelle, the best.
To me artistically speaking the difference between Yamaguchi/Kwan versus Baul/Cohen/Bobek is that the former are not actually naturally dramatic and artistic skaters. They are good “students” and with the tutelage of their coaches, as well as their detailed observation and hard work, they “honed” their beautiful routines. For Yamaguchi, she did get a point, after her amateur career to grow into a natural artist. Her Madame Butterfly routine at the Gold Championships in 1994 was her very best, while the last half of Kwan’s Tosca routine at the 2005 World Championships was her showing real emotional and dramatic artistry. For Baul, Bobek and Cohen, artistry felt natural and intrinsic. They skated with rhythm, drama, and flair that were uniquely theirs, not taught.
Kristi's dress and presentation was the stand out and she hit a very difficult triple lutz, triple toe combo, and a triple lutz in the last 30 seconds. Ito doubled her lutz, didn't do a triple triple and only did the triple loop and a foward leaning double axel in the second half of the program. But Midori hd a glorious triple axel but she was fourth going into the long and someone else needed to knock Kristi off the top for her to prevail. Kristi had superior spins, foot work, lay back, spiral to Midori's somewhat strained and low spiral and Midori was lacking in great foot work and a marginal lay back. At times Midor was at times hard to watch her artistry was just ok, clunky choreography and a horrid costume and no line. Nancy had a gorgeous dress though a bit of Stars on Ice dress that didn't fit the ice queen look and had a bad night in all.
Where did she land this triple triple combo??
it was the opening jump combo--triple lutz-triple toe loop jump.@@LennonTheBunny
Ito did a 3 axel after 3 minutes. No one else did that. Ito always had excellent programs and drew the biggest ovations. Ito's jumps had power and flow which Yamaguchi's jumps lacked .They both completed 5 triples but Yamaguchi had a 3/3 and Ito a 3 axel.
@@GaryGarlic ito also lacked a triple lutz which is harder jump. Ito had a gorgeous triple loop( Kristi fell on hers) and Ito had a good triple salchow and Kristi did a double Ito had charisma but Kristi much more refined and much better choreography. Ito had great audience support no doubt but it was also because she was always on the edge of either greatness or somewhat unfortunate outcomes with big falls ( recall her short, the camera pot fall a few years earlier).
Strangely neither the Japanese nor American press played up the Ito-Yamaguchi Japanese heritage into a rivalry.
Today's attention-starved press would jump on it.
I would have given Ito 1st in the LP. A 3 axel after 3 minutes was something only 1 man achieved at these games. Ito also did toe and edge jumps with perfect flow. Kristi did 3 different toe jumps. I thought Ito had a wonderfully choreographed program too! The GBR judge gave Ito 5.6/5.5 which was criminal.
What amazes me are the scores she got even though she fell. So if she hadn't, those would probably have been all 6's
OMG! DIDNT REALIZE which Olympics this was, til I saw Tonya Harding! The most controversial Ladies Fig Skatng event--ever! Hahaha. Wow!
No, that was 2 years later in Lillehammer, Norway.
Artistically, Caryn Kadavy skated this program (same music) better at the 1987 Worlds.
I've never understood why she was so bad at salchows.......
Clubbed foot.
Was Kristi the first woman to do triple lutz + triple toe?
Everyone else took a fall at this event as well: Kerrigan, Harding, Ito, and the black one. Kristi, though, kept her ass off the ice. Good upper body strength as well. She could have been a dominatrix had this whole skating thing not worked out so well
And "the black one"???
After rewatching Kristi’s long program, I was not impressed nor she should have been awarded the gold. She made such two major error and should have been penalized for it! That’s all!
I LIKE MIDORI'S JUMPS AND SOME SPINS! BUT I ALWAYS FELT! THAT I WAS WATCHING A BOY IN A DRESS! I'M SORRY! BUT SHE'S NOT THE MOST FEMININE! GIRL ON ICE! I HATE TO SAY THIS, BUT SHE'S QUITE "BUTCH". SORRY BUT JUST AN OBSERVANCE! WHERE SURAYA IS A STRONG JUMPER! BUT STILL HAS QUITE A BIT OF FEMININE FLAVOR! TOO HER SKATING!
2 big mistakes. Deserved 5.6 and 5.7
I always pictured Tonya as a MAGA supporter.
Trump would luv her.
Since she had difficulties with the Salchow, I've always wondered why she never did a flip-double toe in combo and add another flip later in the program
She already had two 3Ts and two 3Lzs in the program planned, so she could not repeat any more triple jumps. Because both Ito and Harding had 3As in their programs, she had to try the 3S in order to stay close in Technical to them and hoped her edge in Artistic will edge them out for the win should all of them skated clean.
So many pioneers in the world of skating are in this video. Such inspiring people.
Yamaguchi and Ito's technical ability are still the benchmark in women's figure skating today.
'cept Kristi had trouble with the triple salchow.
She's only landed it once in competition, the 92 U.S. Nationals in the LP.
If ur talking about technical ability alone, Tonya's up there with Midori imo.
@@shihlin1 I'm on the fence about putting Harding in the same category because although she could jump high and do 3A, her technique was generally quite sloppy-which is why she couldn't do 3-3 and had only landed 3A thrice in competitions.
Ito however, could land 3A consistently *and* do all sorts of 3-3, which includes 3T-3T, 3F-3T, 3Lu-3T and even 3A-3T.
The reason I gave Yamaguchi a slight edge over Harding is because not only could she do 3Lu-3T, she had better footwork and more difficult entrance to jumps (e.g. the intricate footwork into 3F, split jump right into 3T, backbend into 3Lo), which made her a more complete skater than Harding technically.
And Yamaguchi actually also landed her salchow in 1991 Skate America and 1989 Worlds.
@@kev79781992 proved to be the start of Harding's downfall.
After a great season in 91, the year after, she got back together with her creep of a husband Jeff Gilooly.
The rest, they say, is history.
Tonya also started slackening off in her practices. This is all well documented in various clips on YT.
Kristi, on other hand, had a great work ethic.
You prob know she followed her long-time coach up to Canada just so she could continue to train under her tutelage.
Kristi knew she wasn't the best jumper out there, so she put a lot of effort into her practices.
Whatever edge Tonya had, she wasted away surrounding herself with negative people like her ex husband and a continuous change of coaching personnel. Not good.
@@kev7978 Yamaguchi was lucky she did not skate today though. She would be hammered for her flutz, while back then nobody gave a shit, as proven by nobody caring about the flutzes of Hughes which were even worse.
LIES!
I've been watching and watching over again other Gold medal performances. Lipinski, Baiul and Witt. The one thing that REALLY stands out is Kristi's artistic skills going into her jumps. No long glides into her jumps with no artistry like the other ladies. Every moment of her skating is beautifully choreographed including the preparation into her jumps. It is so beautiful to watch. Seamless in it's preparation. That is why I feel she is head and shoulders above the others. Her skating is mesmerizing with no lapses in the flow of her programs. Most skaters give token nod to the entrance into a jump. Not Kristi. She is absolutely amazing. The most beautiful skater I've seen.
She is an absolute goddess!
***** Yes. She absolutely is. Nice to know someone else knows this. Lots of Michelle Kwan fans out there who don't think so. Poor tragic souls. ; )
I wouldn't necessarily think that. Maybe it's a generation gap/age difference?
***** Naw. It's like with many fans - rabid devotion to their heroine. It's completely understandable. Read the other comments. This is a Kristi performance, yet posters bring Michelle Kwan into the discussion and compare Kristi unfavorably. Kwan is awesome, but why post on this video that she is a superior skater to Kristi? I DON'T understand that. Seems to me it would be better time spent posting nice things about Michelle on one of her youtube clips. However, that being said, no one can convince me that ANY skater is better than Kristi. I am one of her rabid fans. ; )
And so am I! :)
I'm glad Kristi Yamaguchi won, because she is one of my all time favorites, she comes from CA, where I live, she deserves it, her rhythm was on point!
And she still lives near where she grew up, literally miles away.
I hadn't seen this since it aired in 1992. It was nice to revisit it again.
This is one of my favorite skating routines of all time. Love the choreography, love the timing, love the song (Malaguena).
i think the medals were decided right in 92. midori was great, but she only finished 4th in the short. kristie had a lot going for her, the big jumps, the nice stroking technique, the good artistry. she was best in class on those two nights
Her jumps were big, especially when compared to today's skaters. In comparison to Tonya and Midori sure, but they were exceptions. Not the rule.
I agree. She was the only one during the Albertville olympics who hit the triple Lutz triple Toe Loop, so ironic given that she was considered the artist between her and Midori. No one else would replicate this combination until 18 years later when Kim Yuna did it in 2010.
@@quiddy Kristi could skate this program at US nationals this year with a 3 jump combo and a double axel-triple toe and win the title
I definitely think she never got enough credit for her jumps....she was painted as the artistic skater when really she was both....not only was her 3L3T not replicated until 18 years later but it is still standard triple triple combination today
@@katherine4117 also people forget that out of all the skaters, Midori included, Kristi had the least amount of dead space and jump preparation in between her jumps. She didnt broadcast her jumps like everyone else, notably her entrance to the triple Flip. Someone did a survey on jump prep time of all the Olympic medalists from 1988-2006, ans their jumps and Kristi ranked at the top with least amount of prep time followed by Midori Ito. Of course Midori outscored everyone in the jump height and distance traveled department.
You're comparing apples to oranges. Marks were given based on only on the skater's performance, but that skater's performance relative to the other skaters in the same competition. Kristi was hands above every other skater the field in 1992, which was why the judges awarded her 5.9s for AI, despite the fall on the triple loop. She was awarded high TM marks for being the only skater to land the 3Lutz/3Toe, a combination only matched by Midori Ito at the time.
i am a huge mcihelle fan, but this is kristie's video. have some respect, people!
Im a huge Kristi fan...........great triple lutz/triple toe. I didnt see that again with the US ladies until 2010 and after,
Quite sad that the US women are not progressing in Figure Skating. There should be NO doubles done in any competition at this point. Instead, the US Women have a 26 yr old and a 23 yr. old who can't compete for a medal next month. SAD
Mirai was a contender she just didn't perform well enough at the singles event.
Wow, I never realized Yamaguchi did a Triple Lutz-Triple Toeloop in this routine! I feel like they should have a bigger deal of this now, isn't that worth way more points and more difficult than a triple axel?
absolutely not, the triple axel was the hardest and most rewarding jump back then
In the modern scoring system this combination is more valuable than triple axel, but triple axel instead double axel is a really big difference in program
@@sorciere12 yea the triple lutz triple toe had more points than a triple axel. Just look what happened to Mao Asada who hit two triple axels at her Olympics ( one a quarter under rotated ) but still lost to Yuna.
@@rolandgreen7484 she certainly did
For her to have such command of the 3lu-3to combo she was truly great
Midori probably should have won the LP with that late triple axel, but since Kristi already had the gold wrapped up they gave Kristi the long as an extra prize.
You have to look at what you just said. Chen, Kwan and Cohen came after Yamaguchi. Choreography made tremendous advancement since 1992. This program, choreographed by Sandra Bezic (who also did Chen's 1996-1998 programs), was considered a masterpiece...at the time. If you compared Yamaguchi to the other skaters in the field, then she was the most artistic one out there. But yes, those who followed were more artistic than she was.
Kristi wasn‘t THE favorite going into Albertville as it was always whether Midori would land her vaunted triple axel. The pressure and expectation got to Midori and she caved, but still managed to throw one in at the last minute and won the Silver.
Yamaguchi was extremely lucky to win Gold despite falling on her Triple Loop in her LP. At Nagano, Michelle Kwan didn't fall and still came in second.
I think you've overstated your case. I wouldn't say Yamaguchi was extremely lucky to win. She actually deserved very clearly to win. And also, I don't mean to nitpick, but it isn't correct to say she fell in her LP. She didn't fall. She stumbled and put her hand down on the ice to brace herself from falling, but she didn't actually fall and she never broke her flow.
@@damianop100Yeah, but Scott Hamilton noted that touch down on ice counted as a deduction and the judges left enough room in case Midori landed her triple axel.
They never broke down how close the scores were between Yamaguchi and Ito like they do now.
Even the following Olympics they analyzed the scoring between Kerrigan and Baiul to death, but not in Albertville.
I think it was the short program that cost Ito the Gold.
@@shihlin1 Over and above any debate about final scores and placements, there was something about Yamaguchi which put her above the others. I'm not saying Ito wasn't good, she was one of the best in the world at the time. It's just that Yamaguchi had such a style and grace that is incomparable. It simply cannot be denied. Even to this day she stands out from many who went before and have come after. When you watch Yamaguchi you're transported. It's something very special and rare.
I like Kristi, but Midori is my all time favorite. I wish Midori would have won.
Midori is a doll. So cute and dynamic.
I couldn't agree more.
You are the bast ,kristi,
great speed!
Wtf did midori ito literally jumped a triple axel during the warm up session??? and ofcourse kristi was phenomenal as usual #queens
Yep, and Tonya too. In the free program they fell in the 3 Axel, but Ito repeated it at the end and she landed it making history
Yamaguchi was REALLY lucky Midori F--- up her SP, otherwise there is no way Kristi would get the Gold. Sometimes an Olympian does need some luck to win a Gold medal. If you look carefully, Yamaguchi just didn't have enough speed going into the triple loop jump, the jump she fell down on. Even tho Midori did land the triple axel in her LP, it wasn't enough to overcome her disastrous SP.
Yamaguchi was VERY lucky at these games. The media messed Midori up and Bonaly tried to backflip slice Midori so obviously Midori was shaken up. Then her team decided to abandon the axel in the SP which i think was the wrong move. Yamaguchi had zero pressure and Ito had a mountain of it. It's ok Midori didn't win because her accomplishments far outweigh an Olympic gold just like with Michelle.
@@GaryGarlic Yamaguchi still put pressure on herself, but nothing like what the Japanese press did to Midori.
Which makes Yuzuru Hanyu stand out how he's dealt with the pressure successfully.
@@shihlin1 Also Yamaguchi had Harding in the US to absorb some of the stress level, the Kerrigan when she hit her excellent SP. Ito had noone else in medal contention. she was the one expected to win gold for Japan.
I like what Scott Hamilton said in his commentary in the ladies SP any team should NEVER change a skater's routine at the last minute.
He said skaters are creatures of habit and they like everything repetitive when it comes to their skating.
Changing anything at the last minute can throw a skater off.
Ito's team should have kept the triple axel in her SP and not replace w another triple jump at last minute.
But considering how messed up mentally Midori was at these games it prob wouldn't have made a difference
@@shihlin1 Hardings team did the opposite. they should have taken the triple axel out of her SP. Although she did a decent triple axel and came somewhat close to landing it in the SP, she could have landed a clean lutz and been top 3, then attempt the triple axel in the LP. However she was so jet lagged and not training as well at that point that Im not sure even THAT would have made all that huge a difference. Basically Yamaguchi was able to let Ito and Harding take alot of the brunt and she was able to sneak in there, skate consistent like she usually did, land her triple triple, and skate well enough to win gold- excellent strategy.
@courtneysk8s Yamaguchi did have a nice layback spin. I particularly like the one she did in her '92 short program with the catch-foot position at the end. She was a superb all-around skater.
It's so weird that CBS did the olympics in the 90s
I was happy Kristi won (since I'm from the US,& of course you're going to be happy when the medal goes to the person from your country), but I remember at the time being surprised Midori Ito didn't. I can't quite recall all the technicalities, but I know Ito just threw in a triple axel at the last moment in her LP, & back in the 90s, it seemed like it was all about the triple axel, like seriously, it seemed as though if you did a triple axel you could skate around on your butt the whole rest of the time for all the judges cared & still win,lol
The big hype was that it was the first 3A done by a woman in the Olympics and very late into the program to boot.
Midori had a bad short program. Midori actually won the long, but she needed someone to beat Kristi. Midori skated last and no one defeated Kristi so all Midori could do was finish in second place.
@@jjh2456 I just checked, and you're mistaken about Midori's winning the long. She placed 2nd in the long and with her 4th in the short she tied Nancy (2nd short, 3rd long). Since the placement in the long was the tie-breaker, Midori got the silver and Nancy the bronze.
@@matthough3590 I feel like Midori deserved to win the long. I mean, that 3 axel was enormous and her program was beautiful. But when you have (GBR) giving her 5.6 and 5.5 and the other judges giving her 5.7s for artistry she was never going to win the long.
@@GaryGarlic That 3A from Midori was huge, but Kristi did a 3Lz-3T, also extremely unusual at that time and something Midori didn't do. Both ladies doubled a jump (Midori the lutz and Kristi the salcow) and each fell once, so I'd say the content was about equal. The artistic mark was the clincher, and Kristi's smoothness and flow trumped Midori's power that particular night.
Her layback was even better as a pro. Watch her layback at the 97 Ultimate Four. Simply stunning.
I'd give her 6.0 just for being the cutest. Kristi was my favorite before Yuna came along. they both have the sweet shy temperament. Kristi didn't have Yuna's technical prowess but she was always strong artistically, very beautiful skater. Ito and Harding were strong on the technical aspect but their skating were just not beautiful to watch.
figure skating feels/looks so much better then. Not saying nows figure skaters arent great as well
Under the scoring system of 1992, Kristi clearly won the olympics. I, personally, thought that perhaps Midori could have won the long.
Don't forget that Midori wasn't flawless in the free skate either. She too had a fall. And even if she won the free skate she wouldn't have won gold anyways. SHE FELL IN THE SHORT PROGRAM and was in 4th. In the 6.0 system Kristi would have needed to place 3rd in this portion. Also artistry is weighted the same in the 6.0 system and actually the tiebreaker when there is a tie.
This scenario is what happened in 2002. The front runner from the sp got 3rd in the FS; While 4th runner in SP won the FS.
Compared to how the other skaters performed that night, yes, Kristi deserved the Gold. When Michelle competed, there were others who skated equally or better than she (98 - Lipinski, 02 - Hughes, Slutskaya, Cohen, Suguri). You can't compare Yamaguchi's competition with Kwan's.
Yup...same looking fall, and then she cowered away from doing a triple salchow, but she was still given gold. Kwan was held to a ridiculous standard where a slight scratch on a triple landing was enough to take away a medal; imo she won both Olympics she competed in.
When was a slight scratch on a triple landing enough to take a medal from Kwan. She won silver at the 99 Worlds (IMO a huge gift) with a fall and shaky landing in the short, and with a stumble, singled jump, and a couple shaky landings in the long. She was atleast the judges favorite Kristi was, if not more.
What was the music she skated to?
"Malaguena," a lovely piece that was the 6th movement in Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona's "Suite Andalucia," then made into a standalone song by him.
Adore Kristi but Malagueña belongs to Sasha... Maybe my favorite SP ever.
You forgot to mention Sarah Hughes in your comment.
Hardly. Kwan did the same thing in every program. Sometimes less is more. This is still head and shoulders above anything that's come since. Watch her hands throughout, not her flailing arms like all the others. Watch her lack of preparation into almost every jump. Sometimes people who post here are completely ridiculous.
Kwan did falter just as much as this in 2002 and overall performed weaker as I said. So you would not be correct. In 98 she did skate cleaner than Kristi did here, but she could have used the triple lutz-triple toe Kristi had here, if she had done that no way Tara would have beaten her.
Don't get upset with me but imo Ito skated better that night; I'm talking about that night. Ito deserved gold had she not faltered in the sp. Again, it's just my opinion.
Don't mean to attack Krisiti (she was amazing), just trying to say was that Kwan didn't falter to this level at her Olympics. Kwan skated awesome back to back; Again, imo Kwan won both olympics...it's just my opinion (TL or SH were cute and one shot wonders, but never the whole package to me). Kwan's world titles/medals? Again, just my opinion, but Chen Lu should have beat Kwan in 96 and I never thought she skated well in 99 (Maria rocked that year); agreed, Kwan probably was over-scored.
Save your pity for Michelle Kwan....she soaks it up and relishes it...actually I spend very little time on her videos because I've said what needed to be said and I am absolutely not alone in my thoughts about the reeking kwanera....she's been reduced to Fox interviews for her fixes...at least that was that last one...a little photo spread in People for her necessary wedding...interesting in who isn't there in photos....but not to worry...as long as there's a camera and mic...kwan will come!
First to skate and her first element was a triple triple....hmmm.....and her short program scores were actually earned and 5.9s from several judges on artistry and her technical marks were high as well..first to skate and entered the elite club that all athletes train their lives for...first to skate...first to skate...first to skate..gee golly whiz golly guess that draw doesn't 'handicap' a REAL AND TRUE champion!!
Except for Janet Lynn, nobody was ever this artistically advanced. Michelle Kwan never mastered an even remotely passable layback spin. Please don't compare her to Kristi. The intricacy and complete ease of the footwork coupled with the complete lack of telegraphing any jump except for the triple lutz makes her unique in figure skating history. Anybody who saw her as a professional and then on "Dancing with the Stars" where she looked like she was the pro can see how she towered above everybody else artistically. Watch her professional performance to the "fantasie impromptu" by Chopin. Nobody even close.
:) So, if the comparisons aren't in her favor they are bad? All over the tube videos of other skaters are riddled with comparisons to her and the posters typically run down other skaters to make them. Check out the vitriolic anger on the videos of Sarah Hughes and Tara Lipinski. Oh, and slithering her way onto the Olympic Team in 2006 doesn't sound like she 'moved on' when she should have. In any case have a good day and try to chill out a bit. I will move on when I chose to:)-:)
Yamaguchi deserved to win in Albertville, but Ito was clearly the better skater overall. I think Yamaguchi had better nerves, though. All the crazy Japanese pressure clearly got to Ito. To properly evaluate skaters, you have to look at their entire careers, not just the Olympics. And I think Ito's entire amateur career was definitely stronger than Yamaguchi's.
As for Yamaguchi being artistic, I didn't find either her or Kwan to be particularly artistic. They were both kind of like wind-up dolls IMO. They were basically excellent technicians with strong choreography, but their "artistry" seemed to consist mostly of "my choreographer told me to do this" rather than something innate or natural.
Midori was the most exciting skater of all time. Kristi expected Midori to win and was aiming for 1994. I don't understand the constant discussion of Kwan when anybody else skates. Kwan skated like an entitled brat and did not push the sport forward. I think she landed the easiest triple triple once or twice in her entire career. Kristi was killing herself trying to get a triple axel in 1992. Ito and Yama could still win today.
Jonathan Wallach Yes, I think both Ito and Harding were very exciting skaters. Kristi did deserve to win, but she got lucky that nobody else skated cleanly either. I agree that Kwan didn't really push the sport forward, except perhaps for complex connecting moves early in her career. About Ito and Yamaguchi, well, they're too old. LOL. But I think you're saying that their technical content could still win today, and you're probably right.
Jonathan Wallach Why did Kristi not compete in 94? I don't get why she retired.
tigertank06 She didn't compete because she couldn't decide what to wear. ;)
Seriously, she's stated that she didn't compete again in '94 because there would have been big expectations placed on her, whereas in '92 there really weren't.
panettonea However, had she lost in '92, she would have been at Lillehammer. That was her career plan.
Красивая постановка, красивое катание. 6.0 6.0!!!
I'm glad she won, but how do you win when fall and double a triple jump? I guess the field was weak. I will never understand judging in this sport.
Sorry but Kristi fell on her triple loop, and doubled her salchow...
other way around.
Kristi's fall looked so similar to MIchelle's at the 2002 Olympics 10 years later..
Your logic is flawed. People are ranked against who they skate at that night. Kwan was not better than Lipinski in 98 or Hughes in 02. Kristi was better than anyone this night.Anyway Kwan's 2002 performance was definitely not better than Kristi's here. Both had a fall but Kwan two footed a simple triple also, didnt have anything near as hard as Kristi's triple lutz-triple toe, and it was one of her worst choreographed programs ever too. Kristi here would crush Kwan in 2002. 98 maybe not.
You are correct. Kristi was the best those nights & deserved to win. But I wonder if Nancy, Midori & Tonya didn't make mistakes - what the outcome would've been. Had they all, including Kristi not had errors it's a wonder who would have won the gold & what order would have resulted in the other three spots).
Cher Cher Midori Ito had a planned 3A-3T and a 3Lz-3T and a second 3Lz late in her program and 3F-2T, 3L, 3S and a 2A. Nicely choreographed as well (imo). So Midori would have surely taken home the gold if she had skated flawlessly
Michelle more fluid but didn't really have a triple triple and wasn't as mentally tough as Kristi in competition. Michelle also self destructed by bringing her non skating dad to the Olympics. Fired Frank and Lori Nicole before last Olympics. Was bizarre.
The fuck is Witt talking about?
It was just an observation.. why the attitude?
Kwan stopped competing in 2005, Despite changing your youtube name, you show up and post something about her to many skating videos which have nothing to do with her. It would be nice to watch skating performances and not have you come on and compare everyone to Michelle. We all know you hate her, you have made that clear, but she's moved on, MAYBE IT'S TIME YOU DO AS WELL! . They have medications for people who are obsessed as it appears you are.
I'm sorry but Kristi's spirals have always been terrible
Did you know Kristi Yamaguchi's father was a dentist? No? The commentators mention it a 1,000 times! Who gives a rat's patootie? She doesn't skate with her teeth!
Well. I wasn’t even aware that Kristi’s father’s a dentist, I had a good friend Tiffany who used to be my roommate, her father was a dentist, and my maternal grandfather was a dentist too. Dentistry’s a very popular profession. Also Joannie Rochette. this well known Canadian figure skater is now a physician. Did you know that before she was a figure skater, Kristi had ‘club feet’ ?
@@annecohen8927 , how did she get her skates over her stumpy clubs?
I feel sorry for you that your life revolves around obsessing over Michelle Kwan. I truly do.
Again, I feel sorry for you that your life revolves around obsessing over Michelle, I truly do, Psychotherapy, and medications have come along way, and work wonders for individuals like you.
Artistry is subjective and less important in sport. Midori Ito was clearly the best skater and deserved the gold more than Kristi Yamaguchi who fell on her ass on a jump Midori Ito could have done perfectly in her sleep.
Artistic marks were inflated. This performance artistically was poor.
agreed but she was probably the best of the medal contenders, and it was the 90s and bezic choreography so it was always going to be inflated ahah
While I wouldn't say that Kristi was un-artistic, I do agree that she's overrated in that regard. She left me cold and her skating kind of struck me a soul-less.
Overrated! Ito was better
she is so stiff in comparison to michelle kwan. but still she had technicality and a bit of artistry just not as much as kwan
Yamaguchi is ten times the skater Kwan is. She also has star quality which Kwan lacks. Michelle is ultimately forgettable while Kristi is stunning with far more artistic and technical skill. She has the gold medal to prove it.
Rex K
Obviously you are Kwan fan. I believe you when you recite all of Kwan's achievements. However I believe Kwan competed longer than Kristi. Kristi skated pairs and I think Kwan competed in three ladies singles to Kristi's one. What you refer to as stiff about Kristi, I see as control and gorgeous posture. I find it hard to believe you question Kristi's artistry or passion. I have seen both Kwan and Kristi skate their Olympic programs and I saw Kwan when she was I believe 14 the year Katarina won her first gold. While every moment of Kristi's performance and her music are etched in my mind, I can't recall the music, her outfit or the fluidity you mention of Michelle. Lovey skater? Of course. Brilliant career? Absolutely. Memorable? Not at all - other than her distracting flared nostrils and funky teeth. Despite those she is still very cute, but not gorgeous in ANY of the many ways Kristi is. Kristi evolved into a sexy and dynamic professional. Michelle sexy? Yeah right. There really is no debate here. I think both ladies are classy and AMAZING athletes. I hope both live long and beautiful, happy lives.
Rex K
This is Kristi's performance. I believe you inspired criticism of Kwan by introducing her into the conversation and belittling Yamaguchi. In the end no one cares about Nationals or longevity in ANY sport. It's Olympic gold or nothing. It's difficult to imagine Kristi forfeiting her medal for Michelle's career, even with her "tiny" jumps. You crack me up. Really. You should do stand up. And I am not your friend.
Rex K
Dude me thinks you may be Cantonese like Michelle. Sorry it hurts your feelings that Kristi, like most Japanese, are generally the most attractive of the various Asian cultures. Giggle. : )
Timothy Griffith way to be racist. what a bafoon
Kristi was a neat, clean skater but lacks passion and dynamism. She checked off all the boxes but no heart. Midori was dynamic, powerful, and full of heart. Nancy was elegant but boring. Tonya was dynamic, exciting but rough around the edges. Surya had the worst
skating skills with little artistry and musicality.
So boring.
Literaly kristi yamaguchi is so overrated