| The Russians turned up in the end 25.02.2002 The Russian Team has been threatening to boycott the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Games, however they turned up in the end. The Russians have been complaining all the time. They didn't like the judging in figure skating, women's aerials and hockey. They couldn't believe that Lazutina and Danilova were taking forbidden medicines. US and Russia, the both sides of the conflict have been accusing each other and I don't know who's the one to blame for the whole situation. I just think that it's really a shame that the Olympic Spirit took a month off and the Games were like a cold war. Gala concludes figure skating at 2002 Olympics. The Salt Lake City Olympics have ended with a gala. Normally it's not included in the Games, however NBC demanded it when signing a contract with IOC. This was a very positive ending to somewhat negative competition plagued by scandals. It was a pleasure to see all the competitors smiling and having fun, regardless of what were their feelings about the judging. MIchelle Kwan, wearing a golden dress, gave an emotional performance to "Fields of Gold". Gold was the medal she was hoping for nevertheless she had to settle for bronze. The audience was right behind her and when she finished, the tears came down again. Sarah Hughes finished the exhibition with a tribute to the victims of 11th September. This was a figure skating gala and most of the people watching it were surely aware of what happened 9/11 so it would be nice if the issue of 9/11 would be not raised again anymore... Nevertheless the most emotional moment of the gala came when Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze together with Jamie Sale and David Pelletier skated together at the end, doing a double death spiral. This was a very heartwarming finish to the scandal surrounding the pairs competition. Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze together with Jamie Sale/David Pelletier perform a death spiral during the 2002 Olympics Gala. Photo @ Associated Press Russian Federation wants a second gold medal to be awarded to Irina Slutskaya Both pairs and ladies results were very controversial. Russian officials think that after Sale nad Pelletier were awarded gold medals, Slutskaya deserves the same. There was a 5:4 split in the free, however it's all about the short programme. Slutskaya was clearly the best, having the best steps, spins and perfectly executed jumps. Nevertheless she was place 2nd behind Kwan, who didn't have the same quality and underrotated her triple flip, again on a 5:4 split. If Slutskaya had been first in the short and second in the free (behind Hughes), she would have won the entire competition. The ISU rejected the Russian protest. The Russians feel that they have been treated very badly thorughout the Games and probably won't take part in the closing ceremonies. Sarah Hughes suprisingly wins in a contoversial ladies event The battle for gold was from the begining between Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya. Nobody could predict that Sarah Hughes will jump from fourth to win the gold. The young American nailed all the jumps she planned to do. She did triple salchow-triple loop as well as triple toeloop-triple loop and jumpwise she was clearly the best. Michelle Kwan even without such a difficult jumps could be easily first because of her wonderful persentation. However this time everybody could notice that Sheherazade, choreographed by Sarah Kawahara lacked choreography. Michelle Kwan's dreams of gold burst like a bubble when she fell on a triple flip, doing the same mistake as in the short, but this time not being able to hold it. Michelle did a perfect triple toe-triple toe combination in the warmup however when it counted, she double footed the first part of the combination and just got a double toe on the end of it. When Irina Slutskaya saw that Michelle Kwan made mistakes, she knew that she didn't have to risk and go for difficult combinations. She seemed to forget what Hughes did. Slutskaya was clean however she hasn't nailed any triple-triple combinations and was placed second on the free, pushing Kwan to third and enabling Hughes to win the gold. Hughes won in a 5:4 split. One judge had her fourth, two had her third. The decision was controversial. While many people think that Hughes outskated everyone, some including myself think that Slutskaya should have beaten her as she had higher jumps, better steps and spins and better presentation. Figure skating is a subjective sport and I guess that always somebody will think that the result was wrong. Nevertheless Hughes won and again Michelle Kwan lost her medal to a teenager who wasn't so mature but had the difficult jumps Kwan lacks. Irina Slutskaya has broken in to tears when she discovered that she lost. She thought that she was hurt by the judges who put her down on a presentation mark, she's been working hard on. After losing the battle for gold Michelle Kwan proved that being coachless didn't do well for her. The result was a real shocker for everyone and next month both Slustkaya and Kwan will have an opportunity to fight back at the World Figure Skating Championships in Nagano. Tatyana Malinina had to withdraw after the short program due to ilness Tatyana Malinina of Uzbekistan had to withdraw after the short program due to flu. She skated a clean program doing triple lutz-double toe, a triple flip and a double axel. Her presentation also improved as she has been working with Rostislav Sinistyn from Kirov ballet. I believe that she has been really undermarked, being placed 13th. Nevertheless she still had a chance to move up into the top ten. But it wasn't to be. Tatyana said that she could hardly breathe after finishing her short programme and that she wouldn't make it through the long. It's such a shame because Malinina plans to turn pro after this season and it were her last Olympic Games. Her fantastic form exploded suddenly at the Nagano Olympics four years ago where she placed 8th. |
| 2002 OLYMPICS - NEWS ARCHIVES |
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| Kwan loses the chance for gold after falling down on the triple flip. Photo @ Associated Press |
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| Sarah Hughes performs the free program which took her to the gold medal. Photo @ Associated Press |
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