Although I liked Orser's skating in general, two things always bothered me. His hands were distracting, gesturing wildly everywhere all the time. Also, his toes were never pointed. As someone who is ballet-trained, this was a detail that took away from his "line". Compare Orser's free leg on landings or in camel spins with that of Boitano. Orser's goes downward, while Boitano's free foot is nicely pointed up. (Interestingly, Orser, as Yuna Kim's coach, never corrected this flaw in Yuna's skating, either! She is fabulous, but that un-pointed free foot is her only flaw!) Orser's Olympic programs were nice, choreographically,-- but nothing I would consider "special". On the other hand, Boitano's two Olympic programs each told a wonderful story, very unique. This is why I have always wondered why the scores were so close. Boitano's two programs and his Free Skate performance were just better. How could the judging have been that close when Orser stepped out of his flip and only did a double axel at the end? It just doesn't make sense to me. Even though the correct skater ultimately won, it made judging really suspect for me!
How could the judging have been that close? It's because the fix was in for Orser to win no matter how he skated. The "broken tie" situation is nonsense. Boitano crushed Orser technically with two triple Axels, two triple flips, and a triple-triple combination, all of which Orser didn't do. In addition, Boitano had his trademark 'Tano lutz, huge death drop and split jumps, as well as spread eagle, which were signature elements for him, making his program unique, not to mention more sophisticated choreography. Orser not only fell out of the triple flip, but downgraded his second triple Axel to a double, had no second triple flip, and two-footed his last triple, along with a sort of childish choreography. His scores shouldn't have been anywhere near Boitano's. The reason for that is there was a cheating scheme in place to get Orser the gold. Check out the YT video titled Brian Boitano Interview 2016. At the 17:20 mark or so, his coach, Linda Leaver, tells how the Russian judge from the men's LP at those Olympics approached her and Boitano 15 years later. He told them that the fix was in for Orser to win and be the "feel good" story of the Games as the first Canadian man to win figure skating gold, and on home ice in Canada. He told them that after seeing Boitano's flawless performance, he couldn't go through with the scheme and had to vote his conscience. He had to do the right thing and give Boitano his proper marks. It was the Russian's marks that broke the "tie" and gave Boitano his rightful gold. After the Olympics, the Russian said he was fired from the Russian Skating Federation, but never regretted doing the right thing in 1988. THAT'S why the scores were so absurdly close. Your suspicions, and those of many other people, were correct!
If Brian Orser had not stepped out of the 3Flip and done the second 3Axel he would have won. It all comes down to who has the best night that night. Both skated superbly that night but I (a skater who knows the sport) had expected all week that Orser would win. What a lot of people don't really realize about him is that Brian Orser is like facing down a Great White Shark as a competitor. He was always technically perfect plus he had artistry in abundance. He knew how good he was. He is still one of the fiercest competitors in any sport I have ever seen. The man is/was simply one of the best male skaters ever. Brian Boitano had a great (better) skate that night. That's just how things go when you're in such a sport.
@@titanrodickable It wasn't just about stepping out of the flip and downgrading the second triple Axel to a double for Orser. He also two-footed his last triple. Boitano crushed him technically with two triple Axels, two triple flips, and a triple-triple combination, all of which Orser didn't do. In addition, Boitano had his classic 'Tano lutz, huge split jumps and death drop, as well as spread eagle that were all signature elements that made his program unique, not to mention more sophisticated choreography. I was always baffled by the "broken tie" situation because there should have been a wider margin between their scores with Boitano much further ahead. It turns out the "tie" was the result of a cheating scheme for Orser to win no matter how he skated. In a video titled, Brian Boitano Interview 2016, at the 17:20 mark, his coach, Linda Leaver, tells how the Russian judge from the men's LP that night approached her and Boitano 15 years later and admitted that the fix was in for Orser. He was to be the "feel good story" of the Games as the first Canadian man to win gold, and on home ice in Canada. After seeing Boitano's flawless program, however, the Russian said he couldn't go through with it and had to vote his conscience. He had to give Boitano the marks he deserved. It was the Russian's marks that broke the "tie" and gave Boitano his rightful gold. After the Olympics, the Russian said he was fired from the Russian Skating Federation, but he never regretted doing the right thing back in 1988.
I didn't like Orser's hands always fingers pointing up ,,,, flat hands made better lines for me. There was something more athletic and masculine about Boitano's performance. I liked his military style costume more as well.
It's so interesting Boitano remembers every single second of his routine yet for Orser it's a blur...
the battle of a life time...I remember that...was so nervous...for both.
I was babysitting children in a Santa Clara CA hotel. I was praying, sweating, crying too nervous to watch, yet I HAD to!!!! Marvelous!
30th anniversary of the Battle of the Brians. That was the 1988 Olympics.
Wonder how many points ahead of Orser BB would have been had it been in the US.
Although I liked Orser's skating in general, two things always bothered me. His hands were distracting, gesturing wildly everywhere all the time. Also, his toes were never pointed. As someone who is ballet-trained, this was a detail that took away from his "line". Compare Orser's free leg on landings or in camel spins with that of Boitano. Orser's goes downward, while Boitano's free foot is nicely pointed up. (Interestingly, Orser, as Yuna Kim's coach, never corrected this flaw in Yuna's skating, either! She is fabulous, but that un-pointed free foot is her only flaw!) Orser's Olympic programs were nice, choreographically,-- but nothing I would consider
"special". On the other hand, Boitano's two Olympic programs each told a wonderful story, very unique. This is why I have always wondered why the scores were so close. Boitano's two programs and his Free Skate performance were just better. How could the judging have been that close when Orser stepped out of his flip and only did a double axel at the end? It just doesn't make sense to me. Even though the correct skater ultimately won, it made judging really suspect for me!
How could the judging have been that close? It's because the fix was in for Orser to win no matter how he skated. The "broken tie" situation is nonsense. Boitano crushed Orser technically with two triple Axels, two triple flips, and a triple-triple combination, all of which Orser didn't do. In addition, Boitano had his trademark 'Tano lutz, huge death drop and split jumps, as well as spread eagle, which were signature elements for him, making his program unique, not to mention more sophisticated choreography.
Orser not only fell out of the triple flip, but downgraded his second triple Axel to a double, had no second triple flip, and two-footed his last triple, along with a sort of childish choreography. His scores shouldn't have been anywhere near Boitano's.
The reason for that is there was a cheating scheme in place to get Orser the gold. Check out the YT video titled Brian Boitano Interview 2016. At the 17:20 mark or so, his coach, Linda Leaver, tells how the Russian judge from the men's LP at those Olympics approached her and Boitano 15 years later. He told them that the fix was in for Orser to win and be the "feel good" story of the Games as the first Canadian man to win figure skating gold, and on home ice in Canada. He told them that after seeing Boitano's flawless performance, he couldn't go through with the scheme and had to vote his conscience. He had to do the right thing and give Boitano his proper marks. It was the Russian's marks that broke the "tie" and gave Boitano his rightful gold. After the Olympics, the Russian said he was fired from the Russian Skating Federation, but never regretted doing the right thing in 1988. THAT'S why the scores were so absurdly close. Your suspicions, and those of many other people, were correct!
Oops! I got here thinking it was about "The Battle of the Brains".
ILP20182!
My wife thought Orser deserved the gold. Interesting to think if that 1/2 second had gone right: who would have won?
If Brian Orser had not stepped out of the 3Flip and done the second 3Axel he would have won. It all comes down to who has the best night that night. Both skated superbly that night but I (a skater who knows the sport) had expected all week that Orser would win. What a lot of people don't really realize about him is that Brian Orser is like facing down a Great White Shark as a competitor. He was always technically perfect plus he had artistry in abundance. He knew how good he was. He is still one of the fiercest competitors in any sport I have ever seen. The man is/was simply one of the best male skaters ever. Brian Boitano had a great (better) skate that night. That's just how things go when you're in such a sport.
@@titanrodickable It wasn't just about stepping out of the flip and downgrading the second triple Axel to a double for Orser. He also two-footed his last triple. Boitano crushed him technically with two triple Axels, two triple flips, and a triple-triple combination, all of which Orser didn't do. In addition, Boitano had his classic 'Tano lutz, huge split jumps and death drop, as well as spread eagle that were all signature elements that made his program unique, not to mention more sophisticated choreography.
I was always baffled by the "broken tie" situation because there should have been a wider margin between their scores with Boitano much further ahead. It turns out the "tie" was the result of a cheating scheme for Orser to win no matter how he skated. In a video titled, Brian Boitano Interview 2016, at the 17:20 mark, his coach, Linda Leaver, tells how the Russian judge from the men's LP that night approached her and Boitano 15 years later and admitted that the fix was in for Orser. He was to be the "feel good story" of the Games as the first Canadian man to win gold, and on home ice in Canada. After seeing Boitano's flawless program, however, the Russian said he couldn't go through with it and had to vote his conscience. He had to give Boitano the marks he deserved. It was the Russian's marks that broke the "tie" and gave Boitano his rightful gold. After the Olympics, the Russian said he was fired from the Russian Skating Federation, but he never regretted doing the right thing back in 1988.
I had no interest in either Brian. I was rooting for Christopher Bowman....so exciting, so beautiful.
I didn't like Orser's hands always fingers pointing up ,,,, flat hands made better lines for me. There was something more athletic and masculine about Boitano's performance. I liked his military style costume more as well.