1997 Skate America | Battle of Teens; Kwan defeats Lipinski

Описание: American coverage (commentators: Terry Gannon, Dick Button, Peggy Fleming)
Selected performances from the ladies/women's event from the 1997 Skate America International. Shown here, marked with (^) and (*) below:
Rank Name Nation TFP SP^ FS*
1 Michelle Kwan United States 1.5 1^ 1*
2 Tara Lipinski United States 3.0 2^ 2*
3 Elena Sokolova Russia 6.0 6 3*
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FIGURE SKATING: SKATE AMERICA; Kwan Wins Battle of Teens With a Fluid Short Program
By Jere Longman
Oct. 25, 1997

The most eagerly anticipated rivalry of this figure-skating season renewed itself tonight as Michelle Kwan defeated Tara Lipinski in the short program at Skate America. It was the first in a series of head-to-head meetings that is expected to culminate with one of the precocious teen-agers wearing an [Winter Games] gold medal around her neck.

Rebounding from an unsatisfying season, Kwan showed the poise and grace that made her the 1996 world champion, receiving marks of 5.9 for presentation from all nine judges and first-place votes from eight of them.

Kwan, 17, appeared wobbly in her warmup, falling on a double axel, but she was composed and fluid during her routine. The short program served as an important confidence builder for Kwan, who stumbled on her combination jump at the 1997 worlds, dropped to fourth place in the short program and could only climb as high as second by winning the long program.

''My warmup was shaky; I knew I had to get going,'' Kwan said. ''I said, 'O.K., Michelle, get it together.' ''

Lipinski, 15, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., won the 1997 world championship last March by defeating Kwan for the third consecutive time. She has become the most dependable of skaters, and tonight she performed with her usual confidence, landing a triple-lutz, double-loop combination that was more difficult than Kwan's triple lutz, double toe. However, Lipinski wobbled slightly on her camel spin. And because she is smaller and two years younger, she does not yet possess Kwan's sophistication.

While Kwan received 5.8's and 5.7's for technical merit, Lipinski received a 5.5 and a pair of 5.6's, which she said was satisfactory, given that it was the beginning of the season and ''we all have to get started.''

''I felt a lot of confidence,'' Lipinski said. ''That's the biggest thing for me the rest of the season.''

It is an axiom in this sport that a competition cannot be won with the short program, but it can be lost. Not wanting to take a chance on an unnerving mistake in the first seconds of the season, both Kwan and Lipinski opened with somewhat deliberate performances.

Instead of successive triple jumps, Kwan chose a triple-lutz, double toe combination, while Lipinski opted for the triple lutz-double loop. Later in the season, Lipinski intends to throw in a triple loop on the end of the combination.

''I just want a clean skate,'' said Richard Callaghan, who coaches Lipinski. ''It's too early in the season to risk a triple-triple.''

The short program, which lasts for two and one-half minutes and counts for one-third of the scoring, consists of eight required elements, including a combination jump, a triple jump, a double axel, spins and step sequences. Saturday's long program, four minutes in duration, will count for two-thirds of the scoring. In skating's complicated scoring system, a skater who finishes among the top three in the short program and wins the long program is declared victorious in the overall competition.

''I want her to do a consistent short program that's artistic and beautiful and grabs people and has no mistakes,'' said Frank Carroll, who coaches Kwan. ''The short program helps open the door. After the door is open, you can walk through in the long. If you mess up the short, you can be in trouble.''

Lipinski's mission for the season is to demonstrate that she has matured artistically since winning the world championship last March. She was stung by criticism that she was a robotic skater who simply went through the motions in a paint-by-the-numbers approach. So she spent considerable time during a spring and summer tour watching such accomplished champions such as Maia Usova of Russia and Oksana Baiul to learn about hand movements and positioning and eye contact with the judges and the audience.
''I love skating and I want to make sure this year that people know it,'' Lipinski said.
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