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How It Plays Venue 1998 Golds Critical Moment

Nuts & Bolts Glossary History Schedule

Outlook Looking Back at Nagano Gold Medalists

 
Venues: The Salt Lake Ice Center, built in 1991, will hold more than 15,000 spectators for the figure skating. It also will host the short track speedskating.

1998 Golds: Ilia Kulik of Russia (men's); Tara Lipinski of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (women's); Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev of Russia (pairs); Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov of Russia (ice dancing).

Critical Moment: Considered the most difficult jump to perform, the Axel is sought by skaters and regarded by judges.

KRT

1. Starts off in a forward direction.
2. Leg swings past body in a kicking motion for lift, rotation.
3. Springing into the air, the skater turns 1½ times for a single Axel.
4. Landing is backward.

Nuts & Bolts: There are four divisions in Olympic figure skating: women's and men's singles, pairs and ice dancing. Each is a combination of related basic skills and techniques with differing rules and guidelines.

Rules: The singles and pair events each have two parts, the short program and the free skate. In the short program (which used to be called called the original or technical program), the skaters must execute eight required elements (jumps, spins and footwork sequences); there are mandatory deductions for failures, and skaters are not permitted to retry missed elements or insert extra elements. In the free skate, there are no required elements, and falling or omitting elements counts against the skater only as far as it reduces the overall difficulty of the program, or if it disrupts the program's overall flow.

Skaters get two marks. The technical mark (for required elements or technical merit) is supposed to reflect the difficulty of the program and the clean execution of the elements. The presentation mark is supposed to reflect the choreography, flow and balance of the program, the ability of the skaters to interpret their chosen music and other factors such as making good use of the ice surface, skating with speed, sureness and effortless carriage and unison for pair skaters.

The two marks from each judge are added together and used to assign skaters comparative rankings, called ordinals. (In the case of ties, the technical mark has more weight in the short program, and the presentation mark in the free skate.) If you think of the judges marks for a particular skater as forming a row of the scoring sheet, the ordinals are computed by looking at the columns; each judge's ordinals are assigned independently of the other judges.

Then the ordinals from each judge are combined to determine the overall placements; the skater with the majority of first-place votes places first, etc. There is a complicated procedure for breaking ties and determining placements when no skater has a majority of votes.

The placements from each part of the competition are multiplied by a weighting factor, and then added together to get the final placements in the competition. The factor for the short program is 0.5, and the factor for the free skate is 1.0.

Scoring for ice dancing is similar, except that skaters do two compulsory dances selected from a set that rotates yearly and an original dance to a rhythm that also changes each year as well as a free dance. The weighting factors are .2 for each compulsory dance, .6 for original dance, and 1.0 for the free dance.

History: Figure skating can trace its origins to Jackson Haines, an American who is credited with adding elements of ballet and music to the sport. A master of ballet, Haines found little American interest in his art after the Civil War and moved to Vienna in 1863, and began teaching ballet movements to skaters and setting their figures to music. Haines also was the first to construct a one-piece boot and blade, allowing greater freedom of movement. Still, it was not until the first decade of the 20th century that the "international" style was accepted in the United States.

One of those influenced by Haines was Louis Rubenstein, one of the first to recognize the need for organization in a sport that had largely existed as an informal collection of skating clubs. In the late 1880s, Rubenstein was the force behind the formation of the Amateur Skating Association of Canada, now known as the Canadian Figure Skating Association, as well as the National Amateur Skating Association of the United States and the International Skating Union of America, both of which were forerunners to the United States Figure Skating Association.

While Rubenstein laid the groundwork for a future governing body, it was George H. Browne and Irving Brokaw of Cambridge, Mass., who staged the first U.S. championship in the new international style.

File Photo

Figure skating did not become widely popular in the United States until 13-year-old Sonja Henie (pictured) of Norway started a streak of 10 consecutive world championships in 1927 and won three Olympic gold medals. Henie turned professional in the United States in 1936 and made a number of successful films, which often featured her skating. She is credited with making figure skating the most popular of Winter Olympic events. Only Heine and Katarina Witt of East Germany have won more than one gold in women's figure skating.

The United States has produced a long string of female figure skaters who set new standards for the sport. Tenley Albright of Newton Center, Mass., fell during training two weeks before the 1956 Games and badly cut her ankle. Her father, a surgeon, stitched her up and she won the gold. Carol Heiss won the silver in 1956 and filled Albright's vacated title in 1960.

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Peggy Fleming (pictured), wearing costumes sewn by her mother, won at Grenoble in 1968 while Dorothy Hamill captured the gold in 1976 in Innsbruck and ushered in a new hairstyle. At Lake Placid in 1980, Linda Fratianne had to settle for the silver medal behind East Germany's Anett Poetzsch, and four years later, Rosalynn Sumners, the 1983 world champion, finished second to the glamorous Witt, who won both the short and free programs.

In Calgary in 1988, Witt held off American Debi Thomas, known for her treacherous triple Salchow/double toe loop combination, in one of the most eagerly anticipated confrontations in Olympic history. Both Witt and Thomas skated to Bizet's "Carmen," but Witt's rendition left the Saddledome crowd unmoved and the judges had allowed plenty of room for Thomas, who skated last. Twenty seconds into her program, however, Thomas two-footed a landing on a triple-triple combination and began to unravel. Her performance was enough to drop her to third place behind Canada's Liz Manley.

Albertville's competition had been billed as a showdown between the athleticism of Japan's Midori Ito vs. the atistry of Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States. Ito was the favorite but fell while trying a triple Lutz during her short program. Yamaguchi had a near-perfect short program and raised the prospect of a sweep by the Americans, as they had at the 1991 World Championships. In the long program, though, all six of the top competitors fell. Ito fell attempting an early triple Axel, but landed her second try. Yamaguchi made two mistakes, falling on a triple loop and scaling down a planned triple Salchow. Both Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding had shaky programs, too, allowing Ito back into the medal picture. In the end, it was Yamaguchi with gold, Ito with silver and Kerrigan with bronze. Harding finished fourth.

The men's category has provided quite a few multiple winners, including Gillis Grafstroem of Sweden (1920, 1924 and 1928), Karl Schaefer of

KRT Photo

Austria (1932 and 1936) and Dick Button (pictured) of the United States (1948 and 1952). Button's gold medal in 1948 at St. Moritz kicked off an era of American dominance in the men's competition that lasted until 1961, when a plane carrying the U.S. team to the world championships in Prague crashed near Brussles, killing all 73 aboard.

Button, who initiated a number of jumps with his athletic style (double Axel, triple loop, Button camel and three consecutive double toe loops), was succeeded in 1956 by Hayes Alan Jenkins and in 1960 by Hayes Alan's brother, David Jenkins. The United States swept all three medals in 1956, with David Jenkins earning a bronze and Ronald Robertson taking the silver.

In the aftermath of the '61 plane crash, no American male won Olympic gold and only one placed as high as second. That dry spell ended in 1984, when Scott Hamilton fought off an ear infection to win. Four years later, in Calgary, Brian Boitano skated flawlessly, a rarity for the Olympics. Canada's Kurt Browning entered the Albertville Games as three-time world champion, but a back injury opened the door for his longtime rival, Viktor Petrenko of the Unified team. Paul Wylie, thought by many to be the third best American in Albertville, won the silver medal.

Soviets have dominated the pairs and ice dancing events in recent Games. No Soviet had ever won a figure skating medal until Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov finished first in the pairs at Innsbruck in 1964. They went on to win again in 1968, then turned the crown over to Irina Rodnina, who won in 1972, 1976 and 1980, although with different partners. Yelena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev extended the Soviets' winning streak in pairs to six with a gold in Sarajevo, beating Kitty and Peter Carruthers of the United States, whose silver medal was America's first pairs medal since the Carruthers' coach Ron Ludington and his wife Nancy earned a bronze in 1960. The Soviets won their seventh consecutive pairs gold in Calgary, where Yekaterina Gordeyeva, only 16, and her partner, Sergei Grinkov, easily defeated Valova and Vasiliev, the defending champs. In Albertville, the innovative lifts, spins and death spirals and elegant style of Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev beat out another former pair from the Unified team, Yelena Bechke and Denis Petrov.

Ice dancing, which relies on precise footwork, coordination and creative flair, was added to the Winter Olympics in 1976, but was brought to life in Sarajevo by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean of Great Britain, whose interpretation of Ravel's "Balero" on Valentine's Day, 1984, was so inspired that all nine judges rewarded them with perfect 6.0s for artistic impression. Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin won for the Soviet Union in 1988, and the Unified Team's Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko won the gold in Albertville in a performance that ended with a classic mid-ice kiss.

Glossary: Terms common in figure skating:

Axel: One of the most difficult jumps and the only one taken from a forward position. The skater glides forward on one foot, takes off from the forward outside edge and lands on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. A single Axel consists of 1½ revolutions, a double is 2½ revolutions, and a triple is 3½ revolutions. Named for Axel Paulsen, its inventor.

U.S. Outlook: Women — American Michelle Kwan resumes pursuit of Olympic gold without longtime coach Frank Carroll, with whom she split last year. Kwan won silver at Nagano behind Tara Lipinski. Her challengers are expected to include Russians Irina Slutskaya and Maria Butyrskaya, and Americans Sasha Cohen and Sara Hughes.

Men — Russians Yevgeny Plushchenko and Alexei Yagudin are favorites and have dominated since 1998. Yagudin won three world championships in a row before Plushchenko grabbed the title from him last year. American hopes are Todd Eldridge and Timothy Goebel.

Pairs — Soviet Union or Russian skaters have won the past 10 Olympic gold medals in pairs. Anton Sikharulidze and Yelena Berezhnaya hope to keep the streak going. Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada are medal threats with American hopes riding on John Zimmerman and Kyoko Ina.

Ice dancing — Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France, 2000 world champions, are favored. Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz might have beat them in the Grand Prix final, but there’s no hometown advantage in Salt Lake City.

Looking Back at Nagano: Women’s figure skating witnessed a record-setting performance in 1998. America’s 15-year-old Tara Lipinski edged the mature veteran, Michelle Kwan, to win the gold medal and become the youngest gold medalist in an individual event. Lipinski upset Kwan by a margin of .5 factored places.

In men’s action, another young competitor took the gold medal home to Russia. Twenty-year-old Ilya Kulik easily defeated Canada’s Elvis Stojko, the reigning world champion. After nailing his short program, Kulik went on to open his free skate with a quadruple toe loop and finished with eight perfect triples.

Medalists:

Women's Singles Men's Singles Pairs Ice Dancing

Men
Year	Medal	Athlete, Country
1998	Gold Silver Bronze	Tara Lipinski, U.S. Michelle Kwan, U.S. Lu Chen, China
1994	Gold Silver Bronze	Oksana Baiul, Ukraine Nancy Kerrigan, U.S. Lu Chen, China
1992	Gold Silver Bronze	Kristi Yamaguchi, U.S. Midori Ito, Japan Nancy Kerrigan, U.S.A.
1988	Gold Silver Bronze	Katarina Witt, East Germany Elizabeth Manley, Canada Debi Thomas, U.S.
1984	Gold Silver Bronze	Katarina Witt, East Germany Rosalynn Sumners, U.S. Kira Ivanova, Soviet Union
1980	Gold Silver Bronze	Anett Potzsch, East Germany Linda Fratianne, U.S. Dagmar Lurz, West Germany
1976	Gold Silver Bronze	Dorothy Hamill, U.S. Dianne de Leuuw, Netherlands Christine Errath, East Germany
1972	Gold Silver Bronze	Beatrix Schuba, Austria Karen Magnussen, Canada Janet Lynn, U.S.
1968	Gold Silver Bronze	Peggy Fleming, U.S. Gabriele Seyfert, East Germany Hana Maskova, Czechoslovakia
1964	Gold Silver Bronze	Sjaukje Dijkstra, Netherlands Regine Heitzer, Austria Petra Burka, Canada
1960	Gold Silver Bronze	Carol Heiss, U.S. Sjaukje Dijkstra, Netherlands Barbara Roles, U.S.
1956	Gold Silver Bronze	Tenley Albright, U.S. Carol Heiss, U.S. Ingrid Wendl, Austria
1952	Gold Silver Bronze	Jeannette Altwegg, Great Britain Tenley Albright, U.S Jacqueline du Bief, France
1948	Gold Silver Bronze	Barbara Ann Scott, Canada Eva Pawlik, Austria Jeannette Altwegg, Great Britain
1936	Gold Silver Bronze	Sonja Henie, Norway Cecilia Colledge, Great Britain Vivi-Anne Hulten, Sweden
1932	Gold Silver Bronze	Sonia Henie, Norway Fritzi Burger, Austria Maribel Y. Vinson, U.S.
1928	Gold Silver Bronze	Sonia Henie, Norway Fritzi Burger, Austria Beatrix Loughran, U.S.
1924	Gold Silver Bronze	Herma Planck-Szabo, Austria Beatrix Loughron, U.S. Ethel Muckelt, Great Britain
1920	Gold Silver Bronze	Magda Julin-Mauroy, Sweden Svea Noren, Sweden Theresa Weld, U.S.
1908	Gold Silver Bronze	Madge Syers, Great Britain Elsa Rendschmidt, Germany Dorothy Greenhough-Smith, Great Britain

Men's Singles
Year	Medal	Athlete, Country
1998	Gold Silver Bronze	Ilia Kulik, Russia Elvis Stojko, Canada Philippe Candeloro, France
1994	Gold Silver Bronze	Aleksei Urmanov, Russia Elvis Stojko, Canada Philippe Candeloro, France
1992	Gold Silver Bronze	Viktor Petrenko, Unified Team Paul Wylie, U.S. Petr Barna, Czechoslovakia
1988	Gold Silver Bronze	Brian Boitano, U.S. Brian Orser, Canada Viktor Petrenko, Soviet Union
1984	Gold Silver Bronze	Scott Hamilton, U.S. Brian Orser, Canada Jozef Sabovtchik, Czechoslovakia
1980	Gold Silver Bronze	Robin Cousins, Great Britain Jan Hoffman, East Germany Charles Tickner, U.S.
1976	Gold Silver Bronze	John Curry, Great Britain Vladimir Kovalev, Soviet Union Toller Cranston, Canada
1972	Gold Silver Bronze	Ondrej Nepela, Czechoslovakia Sergei Chetveroukhin, Soviet Union Patrick Pera, France
1968	Gold Silver Bronze	Wolfgang Schwarz, Austria Tim Wood, U.S. Patrick Pera, France
1964	Gold Silver Bronze	Manfred Schnelldorfer, West Germany Alain Calmat, France Scott Alien, U.S.
1960	Gold Silver Bronze	David Jenkins, U.S. Karol Divin, Czechoslovakia Donald Jackson, Canada
1956	Gold Silver Bronze	Hayes Alan Jenkins, U.S. Ronald Robertson, U.S. David Jenkins, U.S.
1952	Gold Silver Bronze	Richard Button, U.S. Helmut Seibt, Austria James Grogan, U.S.
1948	Gold Silver Bronze	Richard Button, U.S. Hans Gerschwiler, Switzerland Edi Rada, Austria
1936	Gold Silver Bronze	Karl Schafer, Austria Ernst Baler, Germany Felix Kaspar, Austria
1932	Gold Silver Bronze	Karl Schafer, Austria Gillis Grafstrom, Sweden Montgomery Wilson, Canada
1928	Gold Silver Bronze	Gillis Grafstrom, Sweden Willy Bockl, Austria Robert van Zeebroeck, Belgium
1924	Gold Silver Bronze	Gillis Grafstrom, Sweden Willy Bockl, Austria Georges Gautschi, Switzerland
1920	Gold Silver Bronze	Gillis Grafstrom, Sweden Andreas Krogh, Norway Martin Stixrud, Norway
1908	Gold Silver Bronze	Ulrich Salchow, Sweden Richard Johansson, Sweden Per Thoren, Sweden

Pairs
Year	Medal	Athletes, Country
1998	Gold Silver Bronze	Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev, Russia Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, Russia Mandy Wotzel and Ingo Steuer, Germany
1994	Gold Silver Bronze	Ekaterina Gordeeva, Sergei Grinkov, Russia Natalia Michkouteniok, Artur Dmitriev, Russia Isabelle Brasseur, Lloyd Eisler, Canada
1992	Gold Silver Bronze	Natalia Michkouteniok, Artur Dmitriev, Unified Team Elena Betchke, Denis Petrov, Unified Team Isabelle Brasseur, Lloyd Eisler, Canada
1988	Gold Silver Bronze	Ekaterina Gordeeva, Sergei Grinkov, Soviet Union Elena Valova, Oleg Vassiliev, Soviet Union Jill Watson, Peter Oppegard, U.S.
1984	Gold Silver Bronze	Elena Valova, Oleg Vassiliev, Soviet Union Kitty Carruthers, Peter Carruthers, U.S. Larissa Selezneva, Oleg Makorov, Soviet Union
1980	Gold Silver Bronze	Irina Rodnina, Aleksandr Zaitsev, Soviet Union Marina Cherkosova, Sergei Shakrai, Soviet Union Manuela Mager, Uwe Bewersdorff, East Germany
1976	Gold Silver Bronze	Irina Rodnina, Aleksandr Zaitsev, Soviet Union Romy Kermer, Rolf Oesterreich, East Germany Manuela Gross, Uwe Kagelmann, East Germany
1972	Gold Silver Bronze	Irina Rodnina, Aleksei Ulanov, Soviet Union Lyudmila Smirnova, Andrei Suraikin, Soviet Union Manuela Gross, Uwe Kagelmann, East Germany
1968	Gold Silver Bronze	Lyudmila Belousova, Oleg Protopopov, Soviet Union Tatiana Zhuk, Aleksandr Gorelik, Soviet Union Margot Glockshuber, Wolfgang Danne, West Germany
1964	Gold Silver Bronze	Lyudmila Belousova, Oleg Protopopov, Soviet Union Marika Kilius, Hans-Jurgen Baumler, West Germany Debbi Wilkes, Guy Revell, Canada
1960	Gold Silver Bronze	Barbara Wagner, Robert Foul, Canada Marika Kilius, Hans-Jurgen Baumler, West Germany Nancy Ludington, Ronald Ludington, U.S.
1956	Gold Silver Bronze	Elisabeth Schwarz, Kurt Oppelt, Austria Frances Dafoe, Norris Bowden, Canada Marianna Nagy, Laszlo Nagy, Hungary
1952	Gold Silver Bronze	Ria Falk, Foul Falk, West Germany Karol Kennedy, Michael Kennedy, U.S. Marianna Nagy, Laszlo Nagy, Hungary
1948	Gold Silver Bronze	Micheline Lannoy, Pierre Baugniet, Belgium Andrea Kekessy, Ede Kiraly, Hungary Suzanne Morrow, Wallace Diestelmeyer, Canada
1936	Gold Silver Bronze	Maxi Herber, Ernst Baier, Germany Ilse Pausin, Erik Pausin, Austria Emilie Rotter, Laszlo Szollas, Hungary
1932	Gold Silver Bronze	Andree Brunet-Joly, Pierre Brunet, France Beatrix Loughran, Sherwin C. Badger, U.S.	Emilie Rotter, Laszlo Szollas, Hungary
1928	Gold Silver Bronze	Andree Joly, Pierre Brunet, France Lilly Scholz, Otto Kaiser, Austria Melitta Brunner, Ludwig Wrede, Austria
1924	Gold Silver Bronze	Helene Engelmann, Alfred Berger, Austria Ludovika Jakobsson-Eilers, Walter Jakobsson, Finland	Andree Joly, Pierre Brunet, France
1920	Gold Silver Bronze	Ludovika Jakobsson-Eilers, Welter Jakobsson, Finland Alexia Bryn, Yngvar Bryn, Norway Phyllis Johnson, Basil Williams, Great Britain
1908	Gold Silver Bronze	Anna Hubler, Heinrich Burger, Germany Phyllis Johnson, James Johnson, Great Britain Madge Syers, Edgar Syers, Great Britain

Ice Dancing
Year	Medal	Athletes, Country
1998	Gold Silver Bronze	Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov, Russia Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov, Russia 3. Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, France
1994	Gold Silver Bronze	Oksana Grishuk, Evgeny Platov, Russia Maya Usova, Aleksandr Zhulin, Russia Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Great Britain
1992	Gold Silver Bronze	Marina Klimova, Sergei Ponomarenko, Unified Team Isabelle Duchesnay-Dean, Pool Duchesnay, France Maia Usova, Alexander Zhulin, Unified Team
1988	Gold Silver Bronze	Natalie Bestemianova, Andrei Boukine, Soviet Union Marina Klimova, Sergei Ponomarenko, Soviet Union Tracy Wilson, Robert McColl, Canada
1984	Gold Silver Bronze	Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Great Britain Natalie Bestemianova, Andrei Boukine, Soviet Union Marina Klimova, Sergei Ponomarenko, Soviet Union
1980	Gold Silver Bronze	Natalia Linichuk, Gennadi Karponosov, Soviet Union Krisztina Regoeczy, Andras Sallay, Hungary Irina Moiseeva, Andrei Minenkov, Soviet Union
1976	Gold Silver Bronze	Ljudmila Pakhomova, Alexandr Gorshkov, Soviet Union Irina Moiseeva, Andrei Minenkov, Soviet Union Colleen O'Connor, Jimmy Millins, U.S.