Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Figure Skating Competition The figure skating events in 1998 Winter Olympics were held at the White Ring in Nagano. There were no changes in the format or scoring systems from 1994. Professionals were again allowed to compete, although they had to declare that intention and compete in ISU-approved events to do so. Previously, the ISU had been accused of rejecting Western professionals, while allowing Eastern Bloc state-sponsored "amateurs" to compete.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Most of the top competitors by 1998 were now openly professional.
The competitions took place on the following days:
- Pairs: 8–10 February 1998
- Men's singles: 12–14 February 1998
- Ice dance: 13–16 February 1998
- Ladies' singles: 18–20 February 1998<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Exhibition gala: 21 February 1998
Medal summary
Medalists
Medal table
Participating NOCs
Thirty-five nations competed in the figure skating events at Nagano.
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Results
Men
The favourites and top two after the short program were Ilia Kulik and Elvis Stojko, who would skate first and last, respectively. Medal contenders Alexei Yagudin, Todd Eldredge and Philippe Candeloro went in between. Steven Cousins was the other skater in the final draw, but he was not considered to have a realistic chance of making the podium.
Kulik skated a flawless program which included a quad toe loop to open the last session. Yagudin, who was one of several athletes suffering from the flu during these games, fell on his quad attempt and his triple Axel, which took him out of medal contention. Eldredge was skating cleanly until he popped what was to be his second triple Axel, and then he fell again when he tried to complete the jump again in the closing seconds. Candeloro, with the exception of a step out on his triple Axel, skated his program flawlessly to end up second in the free skating. Stojko, who skated last, originally intended to perform a quad toe loop/triple toe loop combination. However, a partial groin tear and the flu prevented him from attempting the combo, so he downgraded his quad to a triple. Despite his injury, he skated a clean program but finished the free skating third, placing second overall behind Kulik.
The countries represented by the podium finishers were the same as in the men's competition at the Lillehammer 1994 games, with Stojko and Candeloro getting their second consecutive silver and bronze medals, respectively. In a noteworthy instance, Stojko had to limp to the podium on sneakers at the medal presentation. He also did not skate at the figure skating gala, although he did take the ice briefly to announce that he would skip the World Championships next month.
Referee:
Assistant Referee:
Judges:
- Template:Flagicon Margaret Worsfold
- Template:Flagicon Vladislav Petukov
- Template:Flagicon Sally Rehorick
- Template:Flagicon Mariana Silvia Chita
- Template:Flagicon Mieko Fujimora
- Template:Flagicon Sviatoslav Babenko
- Template:Flagicon Evgenia Bogdanova
- Template:Flagicon Paula Naughton
- Template:Flagicon Marie-Reine Le Gougne
- Template:Flagicon Zsofia Wagner (substitute)
Ladies
The primary contenders for the gold medal were Americans Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Kwan and Lipinski were in first and second place respectively after the short program. In the free skating, both Lipinski and Kwan skated clean. 6 judges placed Lipinski ahead of Kwan, and three placed Kwan ahead of Lipinski, which meant Lipinski won the gold medal, and Kwan took the silver.
The primary competitors for the bronze medal were Maria Butyrskaya and Irina Slutskaya from Russia, and Chen Lu from China. In the free skating, they all skated well, but had mistakes. The final placements were very close. The 3rd–5th place votes were split unevenly between Chen, Butyrskaya, and Slutskaya. Chen beat Butyrskaya by the tally of 5 judges to 4 and beat Slutskaya 6 judges to 3, giving Chen her second straight bronze medal in the Olympic Games.
Tara Lipinski (gold), Michelle Kwan (silver) and Chen Lu (bronze) were the World Champions in 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. Lipinski also became the youngest competitor in Winter Olympics history to earn a gold medal in an individual event.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
While not a medal winner, France's injured Surya Bonaly, who placed 10th, completed an (illegal) backflip during her long program, making her the fourth person and only woman to ever land a backflip in competition. She is the only person to land on one foot and to do a split mid-air (now colloquially referred to as a 'Bonaly'). She performed the unorthodox maneuver as a result of a previous fall and poor program due to an injured foot, however given the illegal nature of the move, her backflip was not considered when grading her technical merit. Youtube video
| Rank in FS | Skater | Judge (Australia) | Judge (Hungary) | Judge (Austria) | Judge (Germany) | Judge (United States) | Judge (Russia) | Judge (Ukraine) | Judge (Poland) | Judge (France) | Average |
| 1 | Tara Lipinski | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.3 |
| 2 | Michelle Kwan | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1.7 |
| 3 | Chen Lu | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.8 |
| 4 | Maria Butyrskaya | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4.0 |
| 5 | Irina Slutskaya | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4.2 |
FS=Free Skating Template:Hidden end
| Final Rank | Skater | Rank in SP | Rank in FS | Total Score |
| 1 | Tara Lipinski | 2 | 1 | 2.0 ( 2 * 0.5 + 1 = 2.0 ) |
| 2 | Michelle Kwan | 1 | 2 | 2.5 ( 1 * 0.5 + 2 = 2.5 ) |
| 3 | Chen Lu | 4 | 3 | 5.0 ( 4 * 0.5 + 3 = 5.0 ) |
| 4 | Maria Butyrskaya | 3 | 4 | 5.5 ( 3 * 0.5 + 4 = 5.5 ) |
| 5 | Irina Slutskaya | 5 | 5 | 7.5 ( 5 * 0.5 + 5 = 7.5 ) |
SP=Short Program, FS=Free Skating Template:Hidden end
Referee:
Assistant Referee:
Judges:
- Template:Flagicon Frank A. Parsons
- Template:Flagicon Judit Furst-Tombor
- Template:Flagicon Karin Ehrhardt
- Template:Flagicon Jan Hoffmann
- Template:Flagicon Susan A. Johnson
- Template:Flagicon Anatoli Bogatyrev
- Template:Flagicon Alfred Korytek
- Template:Flagicon Maria Miller
- Template:Flagicon Anne Hardy Thomas
- Template:Flagicon Liliana Strechova (substitute)
Pairs
Artur Dmitriev of Russia won his second Olympic gold here. He had previously won in 1992 with a different partner. He was the first man to win the Olympics more than once with different partners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first woman to do so was Russian skater Irina Rodnina, who won three Olympics with two different partners.
Full results
Referee:
Assistant Referee:
Judges:
- Template:Flagicon Yang Jiasheng
- Template:Flagicon John Greenwood
- Template:Flagicon Heinz-Ulrich Walther
- Template:Flagicon Anna Sierocka
- Template:Flagicon Roger A. Glenn
- Template:Flagicon Olga Záková
- Template:Flagicon Donald McKnight
- Template:Flagicon Marina Sanaya
- Template:Flagicon Alfred Korytek
- Template:Flagicon Marie-Reine Le Gougne (substitute)
Ice dance
Grishuk and Platov became the first pair ever to repeat as champions in Olympic Ice Dance. They won 21 straight events before they won in Nagano.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The judging was marred by accusations that the Europeans colluded in "bloc voting" (where judges tend to favor skaters from their regions), so that the dance teams representing their countries would take the medals, while keeping the Canadians off the podium.<ref>Canadians dig for gold on ice: Bourne and Kraatz will battle opponents and judges in Nagano Template:Webarchive, Steve Milton, 7 February 1998</ref><ref>Skating federation to investigate judging Template:Webarchive, sportsillustrated.cnn.com, 12 February 2002</ref>
Full results
Referee:
Assistant Referee:
Judges:
- Template:Flagicon Jean Senft
- Template:Flagicon Halina Gordon-Półtorak
- Template:Flagicon Eugenia Gasiorowska
- Template:Flagicon Yuri Balkov
- Template:Flagicon Ulf Denzer
- Template:Flagicon Jarmila Portová
- Template:Flagicon Alla Shekhovtsova
- Template:Flagicon Walter Zuccaro
- Template:Flagicon Jean-Bernard Hamel
- Template:Flagicon Robert J. Horen (substitute)
References
External links
- 1998 Winter Olympics at Skate Canada Template:Webarchive
- 1998 Winter Olympics at Ice Skating International
- Judges Scoring of Ladies Free Skating-all skaters
Men
- "THE XVIII WINTER GAMES: FIGURE SKATING; Kulik of Russia Rides His Quad to Figure-Skating Gold", The New York Times
- "Stojko wins silver for second time", Los Angeles Times
Ladies
- Kwan Lipinski Short program, The Washington Post
- Lipinski wins, Sports Illustrated
Pair
- Dmitriev Kazakova, The New York Times
- "Gold and Silver go to Russia", The New York Times
Dance
- "Grishuk and Platov win again!", Los Angeles Times
Template:Events at the 1998 Winter Olympics {{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} Template:1997–98 in figure skating