Tonya vs. Kristi-Longer Version
Louis Epstein
: At the 1992 US Nationals, Tonya tried her Triple-Axel jump in the Short
: Program and fell, losing her Championship to Kristi. She was second and
: Nancy Kerrigan was the Bronze Medalist again.
Uh...no.Nancy Kerrigan's 1989-93 Nationals finishes were 5-4-3-2-1.
Tonya fell to *bronze* in 1992.
: Kristi would win her second World Championship in her last Amateur
: Competition. She is the last American women to have won more than one
: World Championship***.
: ***American skater Linda Fratianne won the World Championships in 1977
: and 1979.
And before that,Albright won two,Fleming three,and Heiss five.
mary
start from the US Nationals, 1991.
Kristi Yamaguchi was heavily favored to win, as Jill Trenary had pulled
out due to injury and Kristi had been the been second at the Nationals to
Jill for the last two years. But Tonya Harding pulled a surprise victory
by skating, what I think, was the skate of her life. She did a
Triple-Axel in her Free Skate-high, fast and landed cleanly, making the
crowd go wild. They realized she had made history by becoming only the
second women after Midori Ito and the first American women to land this
jump in competition. The rest of the program she was “on”, a very
exciting program to watch. (second only in my favorite programs to Chen
Lu’s Free Skate at the 1995 Worlds. She stole the show and won the
Gold Medal.
Kristi was very disappointed but managed to cover her feelings well. She
did cry, but she became quietly determined to improve her technical
skills-her artistry was already great-and worked hard in the weeks
leading up to the Worlds.
Tonya, on the other hand, took a week off of practice against her coach’s
advice. She might have taken it for granted that she didn’t need to train
as hard as the other girls, that the World Gold Medal was hers, that her
natural ability was all she needed.
At the 1991 Worlds, Tonya had skated before Kristi. She did her
Triple-Axel again, bringing the crowd to its feet. But she had made a
few mistakes, leaving the door slightly open for Kristi. Then Kristi
skated beautifully. She did not do a Triple-Axel, (she did not have one
planned), but her technical precision and artistry got her high marks.
In fact, the Italian judge gave her a 6.0 for the Artistry mark.
As Tonya watched Kristi skate, her World Championship hopes slipped
away. If she had practiced harder before the Worlds, and had skated a
clean program, the Championship could have been hers. Nancy Kerrigan
managed to skate well enough to end up with the Bronze, and the US had
all three Medalists that year, causing a delay in the medal ceremony as
they had to go looking for three American flags. It was also the first
time these three skaters had won medals at the Worlds.*
Tonya would win the Skate America competition that fall with Kristi
winning the Silver, but in 1992 Kristi pulled of a triple victory-US
Nationals, Olympic and Worlds.
At the 1992 US Nationals, Tonya tried her Triple-Axel jump in the Short
Program and fell, losing her Championship to Kristi. She was second and
Nancy Kerrigan was the Bronze Medalist again. The three of them went to
the Olympics that year.
At the 1992 Winter Olympics, in the Ladie’s Short Program, only one
triple jump was allowed. They could try this jump in a combination if
they wanted to- a Triple-Double or Double-Triple. This was to the
disadvantage of Tonya and Midori Ito, who were known for their
athleticism and needed the extra triple jumps to compete with skater who
had superior artistry, like Kristi. They were the only two women in
figure skating who have done the Triple-Axel in competition.
Tonya attempted her Triple-Axel jump in her Short Program, even though
she had been advised not to-it was a gamble she had lost in the
Nationals- but she did anyway and fell, ending up in sixth place. Midori
Ito didn’t attempt a Triple-Axel in her Short Program but surprisingly
fell on a Triple-Lutz, an easier jump, and was in fourth place.**
To music from “Strauss” Kristi did a Triple-Lutz-Double Toe and a
Double-Axel. She ended up in first place after the Short Program. Nancy
was in second place with the same combination and her Double-Axel, from
the shoot-the-duck position.
In the Free Program, Kristi skated another almost flawless program,
opening up with a beautiful Triple-Lutz-Triple Toe. Among the jumps she
completed was a Triple Flip, Triple Lutz and Double Axel. She only made
two mistakes: A hand down on a Triple- Loop and she doubled her
Triple-Salchow. It left the door open slightly for Nancy and Surya
Bonaly, who were in Second and Third Place. But they had not skated
without mistakes and Kristi won the Gold. Midori fell on her first
Triple-Axel but then near the end of her program completed a successful
Triple-Axel and moved up to second place overall.
Tonya's Free Program started off with a Triple-Lutz, then she fell on
her Triple-Axel again. Her Triple-Triple Combination ended up a
Triple-Double, and from then on she did a lackluster program, ending with
a Double-Axel. She was fourth place overall.
At the 1992 World Championships, Tonya had changed her music from ZZ Top
to Sinatra and had fired her coach and rehired a former coach, Diane
Rawlinson. She did not attempt the Triple-Axel in her Short Program.
She skated very carefully- too carefully and safe for what she was
capable of- and didn’t even attempt a jump till near the end of her
routine. She ended up in fourth place after the Short Program, with
Kristi in first place.
In the Free Skate, Kristi skated a great program with one mistake: She
attempted a Triple-Axel for the first time in competition near the end of
her program but she fell. She received high marks anyway because of her
overall performance.
Tonya skated last. She completed only two triple jumps, and doubled out
of four others. For the fifth time in 1992 she attempted the
Triple-Axel, and for the fifth time she fell. She ended up in sixth
place.
Kristi would win her second World Championship in her last Amateur
Competition. She is the last American women to have won more than one
World Championship***. Then she turned Professional and is enjoying a
very successful career. Tonya stayed amateur for two more years, her
last competition being the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Kristi was a champion because not only did she have talent but she had a
good work ethic and knew what she had to do to win. She worked on her
weak points as best as she could, played fair with people, and acted like
a decent athlete should.
*Midori Ito, the 1989 World Champion, was suppose to challenge Kristi
for the Gold Medal at the 1991 Championships. But she fell out of the
ice rink almost into the Cameraman's lap during her program. She jumped
right back into the arena and continued her program, ending up in fourth
place.
**Eight out of nine judges voted for Midori over Tonya in the Short
Program at the 1992 Winter Olympics. They had both fallen on their first
jump, but Tonya had attempted a more difficult jump and normally should
have been placed higher than Midori. Scott Hamilton, the commentator,
speculated that because Tonya had arrived late at the Olympics and didn’t
practice in front of the judges for the week before the start of the
competition, as Midori and the others did, the judges weren’t familiar
with her program and weren’t sure how to rate it. This is another
example of Tonya not playing by the same rules as the others, to her own
disadvantage.
Charles Newman
: *Midori Ito, the 1989 World Champion, was suppose to challenge Kristi :
for the Gold Medal at the 1991 Championships. But she fell out of the :
ice rink almost into the Cameraman's lap during her program. She jumped :
right back into the arena and continued her program, ending up in fourth :
place.
I saw that one in an ad for one of Sports Illustrated's "Sports Blooper"
tapes. KA-BONG!!! Apparently Sports Illustrated considered that funny enough
to put on one of their tapes. Wish I had bought that one. She crashed right
THROUGH and KNOCK OVER one of the walls lining the circumference of the rink.
Kaiju
>
> mary (ska...@cybernex.net) wrote:
>
> : *Midori Ito, the 1989 World Champion, was suppose to challenge Kristi :
> for the Gold Medal at the 1991 Championships. But she fell out of the :
> ice rink almost into the Cameraman's lap during her program. She jumped :
> right back into the arena and continued her program, ending up in fourth :
> place.
>
> tapes. KA-BONG!!! Apparently Sports Illustrated considered that funny enough
> to put on one of their tapes. Wish I had bought that one. She crashed right
> THROUGH and KNOCK OVER one of the walls lining the circumference of the rink.
Oh, Chuckie. You are incorrigible!