Salt Lake 2002 FS (Aus. 7) | Irina Slutskaya (RUS): "politics and sports are inseparable" & Results

Описание: Australian coverage (commentators: Belinda Noonan, Sandy Roberts)
Highlights from the Salt Lake 2002 Ladies/Women's Free Skate (FS), performance(s) shown here marked (^) below:
Rank Name Nation Points SP FS
2 Irina Slutskaya Ирина Слуцкая Russia 3.0 2 2
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“For me, this was a huge blow. I was so angry, I threw my skates and medals around. I was beside myself. Even before my performance, deep down, I understood that a Russian girl wouldn’t be allowed to win at the American home Games. Unfortunately, politics and sports are inseparable,” “But to this day, I still believe I was the best." (Irina in 2024 - https://fs-gossips.com/12805/)
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THE VERDICT; At Last, The Judges Are Able To Explain
By S. Roberts
Feb. 23, 2002
The morning after Sarah Hughes's magic carpet ride from fourth place to gold medal Thursday night, the judges who gave her room to fly allowed a peek into the thinking that produced the all-but-unimaginable outcome.
The nine judges from the women's figure skating championship went about their usual routine today of convening a post-competition meeting with the referee to discuss and debate the results.
Afterward, some issues were still spoken of in hushed voices, like the moment Michelle Kwan's new choreography was brought up as a weak point to her long program, and the repeated questions directed at the Russian and Danish judges in the meeting for placing Hughes fourth in the long program.
Still, it was a civilized debate. No nastiness, as one judge noted in an interview. Most everything about the post competition session was fair game, with many judges willing to explain why Hughes vaulted into first, ahead of second-place Irina Slutskaya of Russia and Kwan, who was left in third.
As improbable as it was, the winning scenario for Hughes was simple enough. Based on a short program that counted for one-third and a long program that was weighted two-thirds, Hughes could finish first only if Kwan, the leader entering the final program, ended in third or lower.
In fact, Kwan would have completed her career with a Games title if she had finished second in the long program, as long as Slutskaya and Sasha Cohen stayed tucked behind her. At the end of the night, Kwan did not have a single first-place ordinal in the long program, but was one second-place vote short of taking the gold by default. Anyone could have changed the outcome, including the United States judge, Joe Inman.
''That's what I've been told, but I don't even think about that,'' said Inman, who ranked Hughes first, followed by Slutskaya and Kwan. ''I'm judging the free skating. If I thought about anything else, that's wrong. This is what she deserves for this certain performance. I don't know what the other judges are doing. But I knew what I had to do. I knew why I did what I did.
''Michelle and Irina both had problems connecting steps. Irina was better in the spins. Irina was better in the jumps. That's what did it for me between Irina and Michelle.''
Other judges were less analytical about their placement. Deborah Islam, the judge from Canada, placed Kwan second and Slutskaya third, but said the differences were hard to discern. ''I thought there was no question from my point of view who was in first place -- Sarah Hughes,'' Islam said. ''Sarah was the performance of the evening for me, technically and on the second mark as well. Michelle and Irina, you could have gone either way. I had them separated by one-tenth of a point.''
Along with a two-footed landing on a jump combination, Kwan's indelicate fall on a triple flip plunged her into third in the opinion of several judges. In the past, Kwan has been able to smooth over her glitches with her expressive skating and on-ice beauty. Both qualities were lacking, according to some of the judges.
''Over all, she was very slow,'' the Italian judge, Paolo Pizzocari, said of Kwan. ''She was not so much fresh as she was in the past.''
Even so, Pizzocari made one of the more interesting decisions of the night. Although Slutskaya did not fall during her long program, she stumbled through two jumps and lost her musicality in her panic to perform, and Pizzocari put her in fourth. He gave third place to Cohen.
''Sasha Cohen missed a triple-triple combination, but still she made all the other jumps,'' Pizzocari said. ''Some of her landings were stiff, but in any case, she had a wonderful flow throughout the ice. She brings life in her skating. I especially loved the extension of her arms and free leg and the spirals are wonderful.
''Slutskaya, her jumps are high. But last night, she was a little bit afraid. She was not so fluid. Sometimes, in the landing of a jump, she was stiff. I found she had few connecting steps. So the whole program, compared to the other three American skaters, she was slower in using her music. But what can I say? I was sure about first place, but I had to think about the next three.''
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thanks to Kim!