She should've won silver or bronze. This was the the most technically difficult program of the competition and she had the audience in her hand. No one could match her jumps, Not to mention she did a 3-3 in the second half of her program. Most women were doing the difficult combinations in the beginning of their programs back then.
@@thessabelcher572 I agree completely but she wasn't the best at compulsory figures & that's what held her back. If they didn't have figures back then, she would've always been in medal contention. Even to this day, no one gets the height, distance and amplitude her jumps had.
Midori Ito was way ahead oh her time in terms of technical abilities. Even the ladies today still can't do some of the stuff she did back then. Incredible. Her jumps had so much height and power on them!
The judges should have known there wasn't going to be anyone after Midori that had the arsenal to out-perform her technically. This performance was the single greatest technical accomplishment in ladies skating to this point. It should have had 6.0's across the board for technical merit and won the long program.
I just watched Elizabeth Manley's 1988 Calgary skate to compare it to Midori's skate above. Liz received for technical merit five 5.9 two 5.8 and two 5.7. For Midori's skate above she received seven 5.9 and two 5.8. I am a Canadian and was very proud of Liz that night bringing home a silver medal. But after watching both skate's now I see how much technically superior Midori's skate was over Liz's skate. Midori's speed is faster, jumps higher and more technically difficult. There was no way that based upon how Midori was scored, Liz deserved five 5.9's. I am not a judge and don't know how they scored under their 6 point system but for 5 judges to give Liz equal technical marks to Midori's top skate marks is just wrong. It is too bad Midori had to skate under that scoring system. I am still proud of what Liz Manley did that night, but have come to realize how technically superior Midori was to every skater that night. And as 1989 and 1990 showed, Midori's technical skills grew far beyond those of all other female skaters (equal to the male skaters in many ways) as Scott Hamilton and Toller Cranston so aptly described in her 1990 Worlds long program. Watch the U.S. and Canadian versions of her 1990 world's skate.
@eren mori this free skate was the best at the calgary olympics. I read that Christopher Dean, who was doing the Calgary olympics australian tv color commentary said that midori's skating was the artistry. He also predicted that Midori would be the 1st woman to land a triple axel in competition. She was the only one to do a flying sit-spin at Calgary. Peggy Fleming loved her lay back at the beginning of her skate. Her spins improved from 1988 and if you watch the Canadian version of Midori's 1990 worlds LP, Toller could not praise her enough. He said her 1990 world's skate was beyond 6.0. The triple axel may have been Tonya's "signature jump", but I think it was more Midoris. And Midori was the one who pushed ladies figure skating forward to a more technical requirement. Watch her 1989 world's exhibition skate. At the end of it Scott Hamilton says "witnessing the birth of a new age in figure skating."
For me Midori Ito is definitely the best female free skater of all time. She revolutionized the sport of women's figure skating, she was the first woman to have complete mastery of all the triple jumps and her atheleticsm was unequaled. It's too bad that the judges were constantly cheating and she never got the recognition she deserved(especially in the 88' Olympics). Even with all the bias against her ,she still left an indelible mark on figure skating that will never be forgotten.
@@thangvuong9196 The competiton is made up of 3 parts, she got very high technical marks and rightly so in the SP & FP, despite her unaesthetic leg wrap which would also detract from her artistic mark. She won the following year, messed up in the figures in 1990 but also won the SP and FP to come second, then actually messed up her jumping in 1992 by mistiming her 3LZ and jumping out of the rink. You can’t change something that happened 35 years ago.
Midori would be competitive with a skate like this even now, 26 years later, just wow! that triple-triple toe and double axel - half loop - triple salchow were top notch. and the height of the lutz, at a time when nobody else was doing that, was enormous
This free programme is a bomb - and don't say she was just "technical" with a lack of artistic impression. You couldn't be more wrong. Every jump fits to the rhythm of the music score, no movement or step off beat, great transitions. Simply perfect on both sets of marks!
She may not have had the refinement and/or polish of some of the more mature skaters but, you are correct: the choreographic construction of the program is superb.
I'm a great believer in mastering the basics of anything you set out to do and do well, but Midori Ito was the greatest single argument for eliminating school figures. The fact that she earned 5.9s from 7 of 9 judges here on the technical score tells me she pretty much had the fundamentals down cold. She went on to earn 6.0s for the artistic as well as the technical marks later in her career. So far ahead of her time; such a joy to watch.
Such a pleasure seeing this routine after so many years 👍 Midori Ito was way ahead of her time - this skate would still be very competitive even by today’s standards..bravo Midori 👏👏
5.8 for this program is an injustice. this program was technically light years out of the field and should have been placed 1st in the long. how witt placed above this is beyond me.
Witt was favoured to win and was told by the German Federation that she wouldn't skate again if she didn't win gold. So corrupt the whole business. And Liz Manley was far superior to Witt as well.
@@skatefan9495 Midori had not yet introduced the triple axel into ladies skating at this point. Based upon what the ladies were doing technically at this point, this was a 6.0 technical skate or at least 5.9 across. That would have given Liz the gold and probably would have put Midori on the podium with a bronze, especially if Debi was properly scored for her error filled LP.
Never again an athlete has made such a great impact on this sport like she did. From that time till 200 hundred years forward the people will still remember Midori Ito.
Federico M. great comment. If you watch Midori's 1989 World's exhibition skate, Scott Hamilton at the end of her skate said "witnessing the birth of a new age in figure skating". Midori single handed moved ladies skating to new heights forcing all the other ladies competing against her to "up their game".
I remember this night well. All the ladies has been falling and Midori came out and hit 7 triples and was just amazing. It was so exciting and she was adorable. The music was lovely and even though she could have improved on the artistry, it was memorable for sure. Fantastic
I recently came across this article from the The Herald Scotland, August 16, 1992, an exerpt from it. "Midori Ito of Japan has reclaimed figure skating and is transforming a sport where elegance once ruled. Like ice dancing, figure skating is a mix of ballet, gymnastics and showmanship but a new athleticism has been introduced to the sport. In 1988 Little Ito, as she's affectionately known, became the first woman to perform one of the trickiest of all skating manoeuvres -- a triple Axel (named after Axel Paulsen, a Norwegian skater at the turn of the century). ''She's the only woman I've seen who can compete with the top men. Her jumping ability is incredible,'' says Canadian gold medallist Kurt Browning. Midori Ito ''is in the vanguard of a new breed of athletes poised to turn the sport into acrobatics,'' reported The New York Times recently."
Under the current system, she would have won by a mile.... katarina witt only did 4 triples and 2 double axels and they were the easiest triples ( toe and sal )... midori did 7 triples which include a triple-triple, a triple lutz and a triple flip, and also 2 double axels.... how did she not win the long program
I remember watching this with friends my senior year in college. By the end we were screaming--who is this tiny girl out of nowhere with the killer jumps. Nailed every single one!
One of the greatest free skates in Olympic history, if not THE best! A legend, an icon, and a woman who revolutionized the sport!!!! I miss her so much.
Here we are 26 years later! I just finished watching the 2014 Ladies LP in Sochi and you know while the top ladies were very good none of them moved me like Midori all those years ago. This one I will always remember, the ones an hour ago I could forget by tomorrow. Happy for Kostner though, she has battled long and hard to get an Olympic medal.
The scoring of this event is ridiculous. It is obvious from the fan's reaction and from the profound effect that Midori's performance had on me with such incredible tech content and great depth of emotion with such incredible skating skills as well that she should have won the freeskate. She should have won the SP also. These are two truly memorable Olympic performances and, excluding figures which I don't even get to see which makes me not care about it, I think Midori should have won the gold at this Olympics. I know figures were part of the competition but I think she still should have won the skating portion.
Midori's free skate was definitely the best performance of all of the women at the 1988 Winter Olympics! It is a shame that political bias and favourites played a huge part in the judging. 😞
Midori became a better overall skater by the Albertville Olympics in 92, but she was a mental and emotional wreck bc of the high expectations placed upon her and her own inner pressure. She didn’t have the freedom and fluidity that she has here. Too bad cuz she was the most technical proficient skater we had up until 1992. Yes, even with Tonya included Midori was the BEST !
Ito placing behind Witt in the long programme has to be one of the most ridiculous examples of biased judging in figure skating history. I would even put her ahead of Manley.
It was pretty obviously done because the judges figured out that if Ito had finished 2nd in long program with Witt 3rd, Manley would have won gold with Witt losing the gold and winning silver.
As a german: YES! Its a shame that Witt won with such a performance. 6.0 for Midori would have been well deserved! Tis moment after the second salchow at the end of program when she activates the turbo into two spreaded jumps into huuuuge double axel. LEGEND!
If Midori hadn't been screwed by the compulsory school figures, she arguably could’ve captured Gold at these Olympics. Liz Manley won the LP, but even she didn't jump like this. Both got screwed by the school figures. As usual, others’ misfortunes turned to Katarina Witt’s gain and she made off with the Gold. Witt was NOT the winner in my book.
One Midori Ito jump exceeded the entire technical components of Katarina Witt's program, yet Witt easily finished ahead of Ito in the free skate. Figure Skating has been, still is, and will always be the most corrupt "sport" in the history of the Olympic Games.
She did all that and 2 judges had the gall to give her a 5.8 for technical merit! As if 7 perfectly executed triples, a flying sitspin, a beautiful layback and speed across the ice were going to bested by anybody else that night. As a group, figure skating judges are the most corrupt people in sports. That hadn’t changed with the new scoring system.
The poor judges just didn't know how to handle her. If Midori had come along a decade later, she'd be a multiple gold medalist. I do believe she had a profound impact, along with Janet Lynn, on the figures being eliminated.
In the end, Midori is more legendary than the winner here, Katarina Witt. Her jumping ability remains unparalleled, IMO. The absence of a medal here shows that the best skater doesn't always win.
@@valmacclinchy her placements in both the short and the long were still criminal, figures aside. she should've outright won both portions or at least placed top 3 in the short, and this program was the very best of the night in my opinion. figures had nothing to do with her placements in the SP and LP
Some think Ito should've been second in the LP to Manley but I personally thought she should've been first. The choreography is incredible (spread eagle into a triple loop, ina bauer into a triple triple combination, russian splits into triple salchow, two split leaps off of one foot into a double axel and then straight into her scratch spin), the spins are fast and centred, edges are incredibly strong, and she skates with such charm, charisma, and power. No one came close to her here.
I do notice though you always complain about the times Ito was undermarked on her videos but you dont even acknowledge the many times she was also OVERmarked like her fucking joke marks for her shitty 2 triple skate with ghastly and boring artistry to go with it at the 96 worlds for which she got comical 5.6s and a completely unmerited 7th place finish. Or the short program at the 92 Olympics where she was held up to be 4th, and should probably been below both Harding (who fell but on a much harder jump combination) and Sato. That is biased, only pointing out when she is undermarked but never when she is overmarked just because you like her.
I will wait for the sheriff to come and get me. ;) An argument can be made for Ito to be placed ahead of Harding at the 1992 Olympic SP since Harding didn't do a double toe-loop after her failed triple axel and her sit spin positions were not low enough. If Sato skated clean (I haven't seen her 92 Olympic SP) then she likely should've placed quite a bit higher (ahead of Hubert, Harding, Ito, and Bonaly) since her basics and technical elements were amazingly strong and sound. Her lower marks and ranking was likely due to lack of reputation, much like why Midori was undermarked in 1988.
So many people loved to hate Midori, but looking at her skating after so many years, the only reproach that can be made concerns her posture. Otherwise, she was great. And she was miles ahead of her time
Holy Smoke. I counted 7 clean triples. Am I right in saying she's the first girl to complete 7 triples at a major international competition? And her 2a+3s seq was so ahead of time. She could have won a gold medal at any major competition today.
Yep. Before watching this I would never have guessed anybody did seven triple jumps in 1988. And the triple axels she did years later still stand the test of time... She was truly in a class of her own.
no one skated with her speed…her flow in and out of jumps…the speed of her spins. and she did every type of triple. katarina witt only did the triple toe and the triple salchow. this whole "artistic" side of skating. is it a sport or a tap recital?
I know she never was, but Witt should have been ashamed to accept the gold medal given Midori's performane. I mean ,seriously, what kind of argument can Witt makes that doesn't make her look foolish? "Yeah, Midori is ten times more athletic than me, has more speed, and just didn't just dance around the rink for a minutel like I did, but hey, I can carve our pretty pictures and shapes on the ice! That makes me better!" Please. Judges were so misogynistic back then in how they viewed what women should be doing for "artistry". In that era they could never absorb the possibility that athleticism could be artistic just in itself. Even Kwan's coach admitted in an interview that when he turned Kwan into a more seductive skater, it turned her career around. If memory serves, Michelle wasn't even 18 when she started to go in that direction with her "artistry". Talk about creepy. One shouldn't need to get turned on in order to feel that one's artistry is better. I'm all for taking artistic risk, and you can't blame Kwan or her coach for doing what she had to do in order to win, but still, figure skating's monolithic views of female skating was pathetic.
RedNekLvr22 I thoroughly agree with your comments from three years ago - how Witt won the Olympic Gold in 1988 defies belief as she didn't do much at all in the long programme. Midori has outperformed Witt by a long shot, however back in this era the Compulsory figures still counted towards your overall score. I have previously done Roller (Figures & Dance) as well as Ice Skating (Figures & Freestyle) and yes the compulsory figures are necessary to learn control of edges in both directions on both feet, inside and outside included. But when you see performances of this ilk it does make you wonder as to why such a fantastic performance misses out in the medal tally.
@@Brissieskater1 Having compulsories as part of your score is like requiring a pianist to play a set of scales as part of their recital. If you have a mastery of the "basics", it will show up in your performance. You don't need a whole extra competitive category for it. It just prevents someone from working on their craft in a ways that push the sport forward due to having to waste time on those pretty pictures in the ice.
By the way, what did Jim say and tell about? 6:17 I would hear, "I think that even better than (she)...hope them tray(?) for the evening. Budda shrine ever afternoon at (her) school" ???? :) I can't quite catch him and understand that.
Oh, that's kind of you, Isr asr! I appreciate your help. I get it. Jim has a way with words. The real marks on technical merit were all much better than she expected. That was what he would like to say, wasn't it? Speeking of marks, no doubt I would have given her SIX-O. She really had given a flawless performance. It couldn't be better.
sno, you are welcome. I agree with you that for technical in Calgary, Midori should have received at least one 6.0. no one was doing a triple axel yet. the skate was flawless and the difficulty far above every other skater there. the problem with the old scoring system is what Jim said after Midori's amazing skate waiting for her marks. He said "they (the judges) have to leave room (above Midori's marks) for the five lead skaters still to skate." that was the problem with the old scoring system which had to be replaced. Or they could do what Toller suggested for Midori in Halifax after her skate in his comments, "this is simply beyond 6.0".
what a corruption with the old system! they had exchanged Witt's first place against what? it is scandalous: this woman is triple salchow and triple loop. she finishes first! midori ito makes an I-spin, raises her arms in the air on a double jump (she is 20 years old and announces the new system) an incredible speed and artistic fluidity, makes a triple-triple combination, triple lutz , triple flip with heights and remarkable receptions and she ends up behind Witt! and nobody reacted to the corruption of the sport until the case with Judge Marie-Reine and his colleagues judged bursts in 2002 at the Olympics! what a shame !
Driss Abderrhamane - excellent comments. The old 6 pt system was geared for corruption and the 2002 scandal forced the change in 2005 to 2006 to the current system. But look at the 2014 Sochi games and Yuna Kim being cheated out of the gold by the russian skater. Judging events will always have corruption in it. It is a credit to Midori that she endured it and kept skating so we could enjoy watching her marvelous athleticism and the change she brought to ladies free skating. Look at how much more athletic the 92 albertville ladies free skating was compared to the 88 calgary olympics. All because of Midori who forced the other ladies to try and keep with her. Oh, Midori was only 18 at the Calgary Olympics.
She got jobbed because of those stupid school figures, they took too long to ditch those things, Midori had the best program of the night, better than every girl that made the podium
I am impressed that Kim Yu-Na's return to competitive skating included an much improved leg and foot position in her layback. The free foot is now parallel to the ice and no longer points downward as before. I'd love to see her continue to make improvements on that spin. American women and 3 Swiss women (Biellmann, Krieg and Ruh) dominated this spin, with the Swiss being better at centering, speed and number of revolutions.
Impossible under the rules at the time. Ito could not have mathmatically won bronze. This is why i'm glad we've gotten rid of this old scoring system involving factored placements. Now under code of points, we have people coming back from tenth place to win a medal.
What an incredible athlete and what a lovely presence! The fist pumps on the ice, her smile...is it really a wonder why the crowd was standing for her? She'd get some justice in 1992 with her silver medal. Her free skate there was historic, even with a fall. So interesting to hear things like "she's only 18" from the commentators. The idea that she'd be better off at 22 years old is sadly missing today. But it is good they are raising the minimum age
Why didn’t either of them comment on the Triple tow triple tow combination? That is amazing at the end of the routine. That is so weird. They’re just like
This was the event that lost me as a viewer. She was clearly doing things the other girls just could not. If the NBA had judges Shaq would be the worlds largest security guard instead of a champion. Then again, X games judges wouldn't have let this happen.
This is one of my favorite performances in Olympic figure skating. The comment about the judges "leaving room" for the other skaters technical merit scores was ridiculous. Other than Elizabeth Manley, no one else was going to come close to touching that performance. Did the judges not watch the official practices? Of course they did. And even Manley didn't have the same technical content.
I don't think it was too common for a skater who performed that poorly in the compulsories to have such a high technical score. The judges HAD to leave enough room for the scenario that every skater after her was better. Since she wasn't in the last group, that leaves at LEAST six decimal marks they had to leave ahead for combined score, which means they couldn't score her higher than a 10.4 combined (at most). With 5.9 earned for technical merit, that left a maximum base artistic score of 5.7. I think they decided to pull back on the artistic mark because they would never be able to justify making room on the technical mark. So, 5.7 would be the "weighted" perfect score. Approximately. With that in mind, these scores are fantastic.
Liz really deserved to win the free but Midori should have been second, the british judge, Sally Stapleford marked her second and rightly so, if Midori had been second in the free Liz would have won gold, which I think everyone thinkns should have been the right result that night!
Midori deserved to win the free over Liz Manley. Liz had more polish to her movements but Ito had several more triples, skated with greater speed and power, had more difficult choreography (the way she interconnects all the skills is astonishing), and I also didn't find Ito's music and presentation to be as juvenile, childish, and annoying as Liz's that night.
Ito did actually place 3rd in the long program ahead of Thomas. She was just too far behind after figures and the short program to pass Thomas (and Trenary) overall.
@gk891 If Ito had finished 1st in short and long, she would have ended the competition with 7.4 factored placement points, with Thomas at 6.4, so she would have been 4th. Under this scoring system it was really hard for people to get out from under a low placing in one of the programs. Ito's 10th in the figures basically doomed her.
Midori was in lower 10th place on compulsory figures and finished the 5th overall unfortunately. Nevertheless, I wish she could have won a place on the podium. I still wonder if the judgement (sp: the 4th & fp: the 3rd) was reasonable or not...
sno - I believe that because Midori did not have the reputation at the Calgary Olympics she was judged lower on the artistic side to keep her score down and allow the favored skaters to beat her. I also believe that because Midori was so technically ahead of the other skaters, the judges did not know how to score her artistically. Western standards for artistic judging were used including flirtatious moves on the ice by the women which Midori, a Japanese woman would not do. Christopher Dean, of Torvill and Dean, was doing the coverage of Midori's skate for Australian TV said her skating was the artistry. He also said Midori would be the 1st lady to land a triple axel in competition. How right he was.
>....the judges did not know how to score her artistically. You said it! When the artistic scores were indicated lower, Machiko Yamada, her coach, was sorry for Midori and said to her hugging in the kiss and cry, "It cann't be helped. " Poor Midori :_( But I'm glad to hear that there also existed people who evaluated the artisitic aspects of her performance favorably like Christopher Dean at that time. Thank you for your kind and informative comments.
sno, you are welcome. and thank you for the comment about what Machiko Yamada said to her when the artistic scores came up. did not know that. If you have not already done so, you should watch Midori's 1990 Worlds LP in Halifax. Both the Canadian and US versions. The comments made by both Scott Hamilton (US) and Toller Cranston (Can) about her technical skating are amazing. They also both comment how her artistic side is much improved and Scott Hamilton comments that Midori is judged unfairly on the artistic side.
Absolutely yes! Midori's performance in Halifax is surely one of the best ones. (Why the 2nd there, too ?) I already had watched most of performances on video which she did. So, I also had heard comments by Hamilton, Cranston and Kurt Browning as well. As you may know, she won the title in '84/'85 Skate Canada when she was 15 yrs old. She told them in the interview just after the long program in Calgary that she had so many good memories especially in Canada that she was always happy there, didn't she? th-cam.com/video/PmgW8UKxhg0/w-d-xo.html (the latter)
sno, I have watched Midori's 1984 skate canada long program which was terrific. i think she was the only woman at that time doing the double triple toe jumps. And she was only 15 years old. She did seem to skate very well in Canada. She only came 2nd in Halifax because she was 10th in compulsories. Even though Midori won the LP in Halifax by a mile, Jill Trenary finished 2nd in the LP and won the gold medal as a result. Had Jill finished lower than 2nd in the LP, Midori would have won the gold. You should watch Midori's exhibition skate in the 1990 world's on Canadian TV. Toller Cranston at the end of the exhibition skate pays Midori an amazing compliment about her triple axel jump in Halifax. He says we won't see a jump like that again for 50 years and it was the most amazing jump ever done by a female at a world's competition.
I wonder why they never talk about her free leg being perpendicular to the ice no one else does that she doesn’t do it on every jump but it’s very distracting you know
how the hell did katarina witt place over this with only two different types of triple jumps??? Midori had 5 different types( at that time), and did two triple-triple combos! What a joke.
Had Katarina Witt had been placed 3rd in the free skate, and Ito 2nd where she rightly belonged, Elizabeth Manley would have won the gold medal. Add another item to the long list of incorrect figure skating outcomes. Now with the skaters of today and the system, no one even cares anymore
You have to remember theres 2 scores, and for artistry, Midori then only got the scores she got because of her first mark, Liz trounced her in the second mark, as far as a complete programme goes, Liz was the complete skater on the night
What exactly was so artistic about Manley and so un-artistic about Ito? Manley may have had better posture and polish but Midori expressed her music extremely well and all of her moves (all of which were interconnected so seamlessly) were in sync with the music. Not to mention Liz's music and presentation were annoying beyond belief.
Spike, I read that Christopher Dean, who was doing the Calgary olympics australian tv color commentary said that midori's skating was the artistry. He also predicted that Midori would be the 1st woman to land a triple axel in competition. He was right on both counts.
incredible jumps and high energy , but still lacking artistry in my opinion , her jumping abilities were equal to those of male skaters , but she wasn't a complete skater , otherwise it is a shame she didn't win a medal here .
Does anyone but me thought the way the coach showed affection was gross and disgusting..not to mention hugely inappropriate...I don't care what Japanese culture does but this was a huge international event..and to do that not only in public but on television for the world to see....GROSS
Her coach is like her mother, midpri's parents divorced when she was 10, she moved in with the coach and has lived with her eversince. So her coach is like a mother to her.
I don't understand. Midori's coach, Machiko Yamada, just hugged her a lot and put her arm around her because she adores her and is proud of her. I love this performance and Midori should have won the free skate. Machiko went on to be the coach for Mao Asada when she was young like in 2005, so she has been the coach of two of my favorite skaters. Machiko was also down to earth and taught skaters of all levels and made no pretensions of saying she was the greatest. I heard that she taught her skaters that the most important thing was to be loved by the audience.
私はこの演技を旅行中のオランダのホテルで観ました。
解説者がなにを喋っているのかわからなかったけれど、素晴らしい演技で鳥肌が立ちなぜが泣けてきました。
今でもあの時の感動は忘れられません。
The real champion!!
こんなにお客様を沸かせる選手、見たことないよ。
She should've won silver or bronze. This was the the most technically difficult program of the competition and she had the audience in her hand. No one could match her jumps, Not to mention she did a 3-3 in the second half of her program. Most women were doing the difficult combinations in the beginning of their programs back then.
She definitely deserved a higher placement. But I felt back then, they lifted up certain skaters, and I am not sure why. We may know one day.
@@dewaynewestmoreland3773 and she still has the best triple axel, hands down.
@@dewaynewestmoreland3773 Politics and corruption was so blatant then.
She should have won gold
@@thessabelcher572 I agree completely but she wasn't the best at compulsory figures & that's what held her back. If they didn't have figures back then, she would've always been in medal contention. Even to this day, no one gets the height, distance and amplitude her jumps had.
Midori Ito was way ahead oh her time in terms of technical abilities. Even the ladies today still can't do some of the stuff she did back then. Incredible. Her jumps had so much height and power on them!
30 years later and still a masterpiece
That performance deserved a 6.0 for technical merit.
The judges should have known there wasn't going to be anyone after Midori that had the arsenal to out-perform her technically. This performance was the single greatest technical accomplishment in ladies skating to this point. It should have had 6.0's across the board for technical merit and won the long program.
I just watched Elizabeth Manley's 1988 Calgary skate to compare it to Midori's skate above. Liz received for technical merit five 5.9 two 5.8 and two 5.7. For Midori's skate above she received seven 5.9 and two 5.8. I am a Canadian and was very proud of Liz that night bringing home a silver medal. But after watching both skate's now I see how much technically superior Midori's skate was over Liz's skate. Midori's speed is faster, jumps higher and more technically difficult. There was no way that based upon how Midori was scored, Liz deserved five 5.9's. I am not a judge and don't know how they scored under their 6 point system but for 5 judges to give Liz equal technical marks to Midori's top skate marks is just wrong. It is too bad Midori had to skate under that scoring system. I am still proud of what Liz Manley did that night, but have come to realize how technically superior Midori was to every skater that night. And as 1989 and 1990 showed, Midori's technical skills grew far beyond those of all other female skaters (equal to the male skaters in many ways) as Scott Hamilton and Toller Cranston so aptly described in her 1990 Worlds long program. Watch the U.S. and Canadian versions of her 1990 world's skate.
@eren mori this free skate was the best at the calgary olympics. I read that Christopher Dean, who was doing the Calgary olympics australian tv color commentary said that midori's skating was the artistry. He also predicted that Midori would be the 1st woman to land a triple axel in competition. She was the only one to do a flying sit-spin at Calgary. Peggy Fleming loved her lay back at the beginning of her skate. Her spins improved from 1988 and if you watch the Canadian version of Midori's 1990 worlds LP, Toller could not praise her enough. He said her 1990 world's skate was beyond 6.0. The triple axel may have been Tonya's "signature jump", but I think it was more Midoris. And Midori was the one who pushed ladies figure skating forward to a more technical requirement. Watch her 1989 world's exhibition skate. At the end of it Scott Hamilton says "witnessing the birth of a new age in figure skating."
For me Midori Ito is definitely the best female free skater of all time. She revolutionized the sport of women's figure skating, she was the first woman to have complete mastery of all the triple jumps and her atheleticsm was unequaled. It's too bad that the judges were constantly cheating and she never got the recognition she deserved(especially in the 88' Olympics). Even with all the bias against her ,she still left an indelible mark on figure skating that will never be forgotten.
I don’t think they could be accused of cheating with her lack of mastery at figures
@@victoriagill3337 Compare the short and long programs please justify why she was not ranked first in short and long.
@@thangvuong9196 The competiton is made up of 3 parts, she got very high technical marks and rightly so in the SP & FP, despite her unaesthetic leg wrap which would also detract from her artistic mark. She won the following year, messed up in the figures in 1990 but also won the SP and FP to come second, then actually messed up her jumping in 1992 by mistiming her 3LZ and jumping out of the rink. You can’t change something that happened 35 years ago.
技術構成が素晴らしい。
未だに世界一だと思います。
Midori would be competitive with a skate like this even now, 26 years later, just wow! that triple-triple toe and double axel - half loop - triple salchow were top notch. and the height of the lutz, at a time when nobody else was doing that, was enormous
This free programme is a bomb - and don't say she was just "technical" with a lack of artistic impression. You couldn't be more wrong. Every jump fits to the rhythm of the music score, no movement or step off beat, great transitions. Simply perfect on both sets of marks!
She may not have had the refinement and/or polish of some of the more mature skaters but, you are correct: the choreographic construction of the program is superb.
At the end, her excitement, the commentators excitement - moments like that don't happen anymore.
I'm a great believer in mastering the basics of anything you set out to do and do well, but Midori Ito was the greatest single argument for eliminating school figures. The fact that she earned 5.9s from 7 of 9 judges here on the technical score tells me she pretty much had the fundamentals down cold. She went on to earn 6.0s for the artistic as well as the technical marks later in her career. So far ahead of her time; such a joy to watch.
She should have been 1st in the long program.
One for the ages. This program never gets old for me. It is one of the great legendary performances.... without a doubt.
Such a pleasure seeing this routine after so many years 👍 Midori Ito was way ahead of her time - this skate would still be very competitive even by today’s standards..bravo Midori 👏👏
Robbed. Even with her poor figures she should've won a medal by getting 1st in LP and SP.
5.8 for this program is an injustice. this program was technically light years out of the field and should have been placed 1st in the long. how witt placed above this is beyond me.
Witt was favoured to win and was told by the German Federation that she wouldn't skate again if she didn't win gold. So corrupt the whole business. And Liz Manley was far superior to Witt as well.
And the 5.8's came from USA and USSR, LOL! Jeez, even Katarina's East German judge (GDR) gave a Midori a 5.9 for tech.
Agree. I would have given her 6.0 for tech.
@@skatefan9495 Midori had not yet introduced the triple axel into ladies skating at this point. Based upon what the ladies were doing technically at this point, this was a 6.0 technical skate or at least 5.9 across. That would have given Liz the gold and probably would have put Midori on the podium with a bronze, especially if Debi was properly scored for her error filled LP.
Never again an athlete has made such a great impact on this sport like she did. From that time till 200 hundred years forward the people will still remember Midori Ito.
Federico M. great comment. If you watch Midori's 1989 World's exhibition skate, Scott Hamilton at the end of her skate said "witnessing the birth of a new age in figure skating". Midori single handed moved ladies skating to new heights forcing all the other ladies competing against her to "up their game".
I remember this night well. All the ladies has been falling and Midori came out and hit 7 triples and was just amazing. It was so exciting and she was adorable. The music was lovely and even though she could have improved on the artistry, it was memorable for sure. Fantastic
I recently came across this article from the The Herald Scotland, August 16, 1992, an exerpt from it. "Midori Ito of Japan has reclaimed figure skating and is transforming a sport where elegance once ruled. Like ice dancing, figure skating is a mix of ballet,
gymnastics and showmanship but a new athleticism has been introduced to the sport. In 1988 Little Ito, as she's affectionately known, became the first woman to perform one of the trickiest of all skating manoeuvres -- a triple Axel (named after Axel Paulsen, a Norwegian skater at the turn of the century). ''She's the only woman I've seen who can compete with the top men. Her
jumping ability is incredible,'' says Canadian gold medallist Kurt Browning. Midori Ito ''is in the vanguard of a new breed of athletes poised to turn the sport into acrobatics,'' reported The New York Times recently."
Under the current system, she would have won by a mile.... katarina witt only did 4 triples and 2 double axels and they were the easiest triples ( toe and sal )... midori did 7 triples which include a triple-triple, a triple lutz and a triple flip, and also 2 double axels.... how did she not win the long program
I remember watching this with friends my senior year in college. By the end we were screaming--who is this tiny girl out of nowhere with the killer jumps. Nailed every single one!
最後のガッツポーズで協会から叱られたそうだが、
当時にしてこの構成と完成度は、金メダリストのビットを完全に凌駕する異次元さだった
その場にいた観客の熱狂ぶりが、全てを物語っている
What an unforgettable performance!
One of the greatest free skates in Olympic history, if not THE best! A legend, an icon, and a woman who revolutionized the sport!!!! I miss her so much.
Here we are 26 years later! I just finished watching the 2014 Ladies LP in Sochi and you know while the top ladies were very good none of them moved me like Midori all those years ago. This one I will always remember, the ones an hour ago I could forget by tomorrow. Happy for Kostner though, she has battled long and hard to get an Olympic medal.
The scoring of this event is ridiculous. It is obvious from the fan's reaction and from the profound effect that Midori's performance had on me with such incredible tech content and great depth of emotion with such incredible skating skills as well that she should have won the freeskate. She should have won the SP also. These are two truly memorable Olympic performances and, excluding figures which I don't even get to see which makes me not care about it, I think Midori should have won the gold at this Olympics. I know figures were part of the competition but I think she still should have won the skating portion.
She is a legend! I love watch her powerful performances. It's cheer me up.
I remember, I bursted into tears of joy with her :) she was so adorable but underrated with her artistic skating
Midori's free skate was definitely the best performance of all of the women at the 1988 Winter Olympics! It is a shame that political bias and favourites played a huge part in the judging. 😞
It wasn’t mad it was because of the school figures that she wasn’t good at and she ended up starting in 10th Pl. that’s why you bozo
@@wheresbaby7783 Bozo? Really? Name calling tells me what kind of person you are. Do better!
I’ve never watched her skate before, but I’m hooked now.
Justice for Midori! She deserved the gold....the last flight of skaters did not compare! Scoring system was awful!!!!
Legendary!!❤️
Midori became a better overall skater by the Albertville Olympics in 92, but she was a mental and emotional wreck bc of the high expectations placed upon her and her own inner pressure.
She didn’t have the freedom and fluidity that she has here.
Too bad cuz she was the most technical proficient skater we had up until 1992.
Yes, even with Tonya included Midori was the BEST !
I love her coach's glasses: the big lenses and how they are slightly shaded.
Those style of glasses were very popular among the women of that time. My mother had a couple of pairs of them.
THAT WAS A COMPLETE PRIVILEGE WATCHING THAT!!!!
Ito placing behind Witt in the long programme has to be one of the most ridiculous examples of biased judging in figure skating history. I would even put her ahead of Manley.
It was pretty obviously done because the judges figured out that if Ito had finished 2nd in long program with Witt 3rd, Manley would have won gold with Witt losing the gold and winning silver.
As a german: YES! Its a shame that Witt won with such a performance. 6.0 for Midori would have been well deserved! Tis moment after the second salchow at the end of program when she activates the turbo into two spreaded jumps into huuuuge double axel. LEGEND!
If Midori hadn't been screwed by the compulsory school figures, she arguably could’ve captured Gold at these Olympics.
Liz Manley won the LP, but even she didn't jump like this.
Both got screwed by the school figures.
As usual, others’ misfortunes turned to Katarina Witt’s gain and she made off with the Gold.
Witt was NOT the winner in my book.
I agree- should be 6.0 for technical here- she was WAY ahead of her time!
One Midori Ito jump exceeded the entire technical components of Katarina Witt's program, yet Witt easily finished ahead of Ito in the free skate. Figure Skating has been, still is, and will always be the most corrupt "sport" in the history of the Olympic Games.
you forgot boxing
that triple lutz was mile high.
She did all that and 2 judges had the gall to give her a 5.8 for technical merit! As if 7 perfectly executed triples, a flying sitspin, a beautiful layback and speed across the ice were going to bested by anybody else that night. As a group, figure skating judges are the most corrupt people in sports. That hadn’t changed with the new scoring system.
The poor judges just didn't know how to handle her. If Midori had come along a decade later, she'd be a multiple gold medalist. I do believe she had a profound impact, along with Janet Lynn, on the figures being eliminated.
Her smile after she landed that first jump is one of my favorite Olympic moments.
In the end, Midori is more legendary than the winner here, Katarina Witt. Her jumping ability remains unparalleled, IMO. The absence of a medal here shows that the best skater doesn't always win.
I understand your point, but her figure scores pulled her down. Unfortunately that was the situation..
@@valmacclinchy her placements in both the short and the long were still criminal, figures aside. she should've outright won both portions or at least placed top 3 in the short, and this program was the very best of the night in my opinion. figures had nothing to do with her placements in the SP and LP
Some think Ito should've been second in the LP to Manley but I personally thought she should've been first. The choreography is incredible (spread eagle into a triple loop, ina bauer into a triple triple combination, russian splits into triple salchow, two split leaps off of one foot into a double axel and then straight into her scratch spin), the spins are fast and centred, edges are incredibly strong, and she skates with such charm, charisma, and power. No one came close to her here.
I do notice though you always complain about the times Ito was undermarked on her videos but you dont even acknowledge the many times she was also OVERmarked like her fucking joke marks for her shitty 2 triple skate with ghastly and boring artistry to go with it at the 96 worlds for which she got comical 5.6s and a completely unmerited 7th place finish. Or the short program at the 92 Olympics where she was held up to be 4th, and should probably been below both Harding (who fell but on a much harder jump combination) and Sato. That is biased, only pointing out when she is undermarked but never when she is overmarked just because you like her.
I will wait for the sheriff to come and get me. ;) An argument can be made for Ito to be placed ahead of Harding at the 1992 Olympic SP since Harding didn't do a double toe-loop after her failed triple axel and her sit spin positions were not low enough. If Sato skated clean (I haven't seen her 92 Olympic SP) then she likely should've placed quite a bit higher (ahead of Hubert, Harding, Ito, and Bonaly) since her basics and technical elements were amazingly strong and sound. Her lower marks and ranking was likely due to lack of reputation, much like why Midori was undermarked in 1988.
So many people loved to hate Midori, but looking at her skating after so many years, the only reproach that can be made concerns her posture. Otherwise, she was great. And she was miles ahead of her time
Leg wrap wasn’t great but no one can deny her height and length in her jumping
Holy Smoke. I counted 7 clean triples. Am I right in saying she's the first girl to complete 7 triples at a major international competition? And her 2a+3s seq was so ahead of time. She could have won a gold medal at any major competition today.
Yep. Before watching this I would never have guessed anybody did seven triple jumps in 1988. And the triple axels she did years later still stand the test of time... She was truly in a class of her own.
She was just the cutest. I always cry when I watch this. Just the natural athleticism and enthusiasm she had was terrific.
How can someone so tiny jump like that? Best jumper ever. An icon to be sure.
Good program.
Amazing!
Have you ever seen a happier human being?
THE GREATEST WOMAN ATHLETE EVER... I.M.O.
the USA and URS judges holding back marks on both Manley and Ito. transparent.
Yeah, I'm disappointed that I didn't have the chance to see this woman skate when I was younger. Incredible speed on those jumps.
no one skated with her speed…her flow in and out of jumps…the speed of her spins. and she did every type of triple. katarina witt only did the triple toe and the triple salchow. this whole "artistic" side of skating. is it a sport or a tap recital?
I know she never was, but Witt should have been ashamed to accept the gold medal given Midori's performane. I mean ,seriously, what kind of argument can Witt makes that doesn't make her look foolish? "Yeah, Midori is ten times more athletic than me, has more speed, and just didn't just dance around the rink for a minutel like I did, but hey, I can carve our pretty pictures and shapes on the ice! That makes me better!" Please. Judges were so misogynistic back then in how they viewed what women should be doing for "artistry". In that era they could never absorb the possibility that athleticism could be artistic just in itself. Even Kwan's coach admitted in an interview that when he turned Kwan into a more seductive skater, it turned her career around. If memory serves, Michelle wasn't even 18 when she started to go in that direction with her "artistry". Talk about creepy. One shouldn't need to get turned on in order to feel that one's artistry is better. I'm all for taking artistic risk, and you can't blame Kwan or her coach for doing what she had to do in order to win, but still, figure skating's monolithic views of female skating was pathetic.
RedNekLvr22 I thoroughly agree with your comments from three years ago - how Witt won the Olympic Gold in 1988 defies belief as she didn't do much at all in the long programme. Midori has outperformed Witt by a long shot, however back in this era the Compulsory figures still counted towards your overall score. I have previously done Roller (Figures & Dance) as well as Ice Skating (Figures & Freestyle) and yes the compulsory figures are necessary to learn control of edges in both directions on both feet, inside and outside included. But when you see performances of this ilk it does make you wonder as to why such a fantastic performance misses out in the medal tally.
@@Brissieskater1 Having compulsories as part of your score is like requiring a pianist to play a set of scales as part of their recital. If you have a mastery of the "basics", it will show up in your performance. You don't need a whole extra competitive category for it. It just prevents someone from working on their craft in a ways that push the sport forward due to having to waste time on those pretty pictures in the ice.
Dick keeps talking to Jim, but its Peggy who replies... ;) Love Love Midori!!
1:39 I love (I have no idea what it's called) when she moves her free leg in the spin and it propels her to spin faster for a moment.
Midori Ito is the only non-American Asian lady I've seen who has a good leg position in her layback.
Didn't know that, thanks!
By the way, what did Jim say and tell about? 6:17
I would hear, "I think that even better than (she)...hope them tray(?) for the evening. Budda shrine ever afternoon at (her) school" ???? :)
I can't quite catch him and understand that.
sno what jim says is "i think that is even better than she hoped and prayed for at the buddah shrine after school.
Oh, that's kind of you, Isr asr! I appreciate your help. I get it.
Jim has a way with words. The real marks on technical merit were all much better than she expected. That was what he would like to say, wasn't it?
Speeking of marks, no doubt I would have given her SIX-O. She really had given a flawless performance. It couldn't be better.
sno, you are welcome. I agree with you that for technical in Calgary, Midori should have received at least one 6.0. no one was doing a triple axel yet. the skate was flawless and the difficulty far above every other skater there. the problem with the old scoring system is what Jim said after Midori's amazing skate waiting for her marks. He said "they (the judges) have to leave room (above Midori's marks) for the five lead skaters still to skate." that was the problem with the old scoring system which had to be replaced. Or they could do what Toller suggested for Midori in Halifax after her skate in his comments, "this is simply beyond 6.0".
what a corruption with the old system! they had exchanged Witt's first place against what? it is scandalous: this woman is triple salchow and triple loop. she finishes first! midori ito makes an I-spin, raises her arms in the air on a double jump (she is 20 years old and announces the new system) an incredible speed and artistic fluidity, makes a triple-triple combination, triple lutz , triple flip with heights and remarkable receptions and she ends up behind Witt! and nobody reacted to the corruption of the sport until the case with Judge Marie-Reine and his colleagues judged bursts in 2002 at the Olympics! what a shame !
Driss Abderrhamane - excellent comments. The old 6 pt system was geared for corruption and the 2002 scandal forced the change in 2005 to 2006 to the current system. But look at the 2014 Sochi games and Yuna Kim being cheated out of the gold by the russian skater. Judging events will always have corruption in it. It is a credit to Midori that she endured it and kept skating so we could enjoy watching her marvelous athleticism and the change she brought to ladies free skating. Look at how much more athletic the 92 albertville ladies free skating was compared to the 88 calgary olympics. All because of Midori who forced the other ladies to try and keep with her. Oh, Midori was only 18 at the Calgary Olympics.
She got jobbed because of those stupid school figures, they took too long to ditch those things, Midori had the best program of the night, better than every girl that made the podium
The 2 split leaps off of one foot are called "falling leaf" jumps.
I am impressed that Kim Yu-Na's return to competitive skating included an much improved leg and foot position in her layback. The free foot is now parallel to the ice and no longer points downward as before. I'd love to see her continue to make improvements on that spin.
American women and 3 Swiss women (Biellmann, Krieg and Ruh) dominated this spin, with the Swiss being better at centering, speed and number of revolutions.
Medals should have been:
Gold for Manely
Silver for Witt
Bronze for Ito
Impossible under the rules at the time. Ito could not have mathmatically won bronze. This is why i'm glad we've gotten rid of this old scoring system involving factored placements. Now under code of points, we have people coming back from tenth place to win a medal.
A real trailblazer.
What an incredible athlete and what a lovely presence! The fist pumps on the ice, her smile...is it really a wonder why the crowd was standing for her? She'd get some justice in 1992 with her silver medal. Her free skate there was historic, even with a fall.
So interesting to hear things like "she's only 18" from the commentators. The idea that she'd be better off at 22 years old is sadly missing today. But it is good they are raising the minimum age
If school figures hadn't been part of the competition, Midori would have won the gold. Figures were her nemesis.
No, the judges would have found a way cheat.
Sheer JOY!
didn't she get the highest technical marks of the night?
Why didn’t either of them comment on the Triple tow triple tow combination? That is amazing at the end of the routine. That is so weird. They’re just like
This was the event that lost me as a viewer. She was clearly doing things the other girls just could not. If the NBA had judges Shaq would be the worlds largest security guard instead of a champion. Then again, X games judges wouldn't have let this happen.
This is one of my favorite performances in Olympic figure skating. The comment about the judges "leaving room" for the other skaters technical merit scores was ridiculous. Other than Elizabeth Manley, no one else was going to come close to touching that performance. Did the judges not watch the official practices? Of course they did. And even Manley didn't have the same technical content.
And there are no 6.0s in technical merit for this program because?....
Best performance of the night and it didn't medal. Say what you will about the current scoring system but 6.0 was trash.
I don't think it was too common for a skater who performed that poorly in the compulsories to have such a high technical score. The judges HAD to leave enough room for the scenario that every skater after her was better. Since she wasn't in the last group, that leaves at LEAST six decimal marks they had to leave ahead for combined score, which means they couldn't score her higher than a 10.4 combined (at most). With 5.9 earned for technical merit, that left a maximum base artistic score of 5.7. I think they decided to pull back on the artistic mark because they would never be able to justify making room on the technical mark. So, 5.7 would be the "weighted" perfect score. Approximately. With that in mind, these scores are fantastic.
MIDORI. MY FUCKING WIG MIDORI.
She should have got sixes for technical merit. Very unlucky not to have got silver at least!
Liz really deserved to win the free but Midori should have been second, the british judge, Sally Stapleford marked her second and rightly so, if Midori had been second in the free Liz would have won gold, which I think everyone thinkns should have been the right result that night!
Midori deserved to win the free over Liz Manley. Liz had more polish to her movements but Ito had several more triples, skated with greater speed and power, had more difficult choreography (the way she interconnects all the skills is astonishing), and I also didn't find Ito's music and presentation to be as juvenile, childish, and annoying as Liz's that night.
This was wonderful. She should’ve been at least third place over Debbie Thomas.
Ito did actually place 3rd in the long program ahead of Thomas. She was just too far behind after figures and the short program to pass Thomas (and Trenary) overall.
Unfortunately, even if she had won the long program She couldn't have caught Debi under the rules at the time
@@mikeg8375 Do you by chance know what her final placement would have been if she won both the short and the long programs?
@gk891 If Ito had finished 1st in short and long, she would have ended the competition with 7.4 factored placement points, with Thomas at 6.4, so she would have been 4th. Under this scoring system it was really hard for people to get out from under a low placing in one of the programs. Ito's 10th in the figures basically doomed her.
@@mikeg8375 Thanks for this. So I guess she was fated to finish off of the podium no matter what then in Calgary.
Midori was in lower 10th place on compulsory figures and finished the 5th overall unfortunately. Nevertheless, I wish she could have won a place on the podium. I still wonder if the judgement (sp: the 4th & fp: the 3rd) was reasonable or not...
sno - I believe that because Midori did not have the reputation at the Calgary Olympics she was judged lower on the artistic side to keep her score down and allow the favored skaters to beat her. I also believe that because Midori was so technically ahead of the other skaters, the judges did not know how to score her artistically. Western standards for artistic judging were used including flirtatious moves on the ice by the women which Midori, a Japanese woman would not do. Christopher Dean, of Torvill and Dean, was doing the coverage of Midori's skate for Australian TV said her skating was the artistry. He also said Midori would be the 1st lady to land a triple axel in competition. How right he was.
>....the judges did not know how to score her artistically.
You said it!
When the artistic scores were indicated lower, Machiko Yamada, her coach, was sorry for Midori and said to her hugging in the kiss and cry, "It cann't be helped. " Poor Midori :_(
But I'm glad to hear that there also existed people who evaluated the artisitic aspects of her performance favorably like Christopher Dean at that time. Thank you for your kind and informative comments.
sno, you are welcome. and thank you for the comment about what Machiko Yamada said to her when the artistic scores came up. did not know that. If you have not already done so, you should watch Midori's 1990 Worlds LP in Halifax. Both the Canadian and US versions. The comments made by both Scott Hamilton (US) and Toller Cranston (Can) about her technical skating are amazing. They also both comment how her artistic side is much improved and Scott Hamilton comments that Midori is judged unfairly on the artistic side.
Absolutely yes! Midori's performance in Halifax is surely one of the best ones. (Why the 2nd there, too ?)
I already had watched most of performances on video which she did. So, I also had heard comments by Hamilton, Cranston and Kurt Browning as well.
As you may know, she won the title in '84/'85 Skate Canada when she was 15 yrs old. She told them in the interview just after the long program in Calgary that she had so many good memories especially in Canada that she was always happy there, didn't she? th-cam.com/video/PmgW8UKxhg0/w-d-xo.html (the latter)
sno, I have watched Midori's 1984 skate canada long program which was terrific. i think she was the only woman at that time doing the double triple toe jumps. And she was only 15 years old. She did seem to skate very well in Canada. She only came 2nd in Halifax because she was 10th in compulsories. Even though Midori won the LP in Halifax by a mile, Jill Trenary finished 2nd in the LP and won the gold medal as a result. Had Jill finished lower than 2nd in the LP, Midori would have won the gold. You should watch Midori's exhibition skate in the 1990 world's on Canadian TV. Toller Cranston at the end of the exhibition skate pays Midori an amazing compliment about her triple axel jump in Halifax. He says we won't see a jump like that again for 50 years and it was the most amazing jump ever done by a female at a world's competition.
@jhecht424 The judges have their biases, i suppose. The judges' stated reason for not giving her a 6.0 is because it "wasn't her time". Bulls**t.
I wonder why they never talk about her free leg being perpendicular to the ice no one else does that she doesn’t do it on every jump but it’s very distracting you know
how the hell did katarina witt place over this with only two different types of triple jumps??? Midori had 5 different types( at that time), and did two triple-triple combos! What a joke.
She was robbed
Midori Ito hätte eine Medaillie/Bronze bekommen müssen!!
Die Wertung war unfair !!!!
Midori Ito ist viel besser gesprungen als Debi Thomas. 😖
Had Katarina Witt had been placed 3rd in the free skate, and Ito 2nd where she rightly belonged, Elizabeth Manley would have won the gold medal. Add another item to the long list of incorrect figure skating outcomes. Now with the skaters of today and the system, no one even cares anymore
So confused by these commentators that Triple to Triple to her best combination, they don’t even say anything
Her and Jill Trenary were quite overlooked that year! Debi Thomas was overrated
Very true, American women dominate that spin, European and Asian women do not
You have to remember theres 2 scores, and for artistry, Midori then only got the scores she got because of her first mark, Liz trounced her in the second mark, as far as a complete programme goes, Liz was the complete skater on the night
What exactly was so artistic about Manley and so un-artistic about Ito? Manley may have had better posture and polish but Midori expressed her music extremely well and all of her moves (all of which were interconnected so seamlessly) were in sync with the music. Not to mention Liz's music and presentation were annoying beyond belief.
Spike, I read that Christopher Dean, who was doing the Calgary olympics australian tv color commentary said that midori's skating was the artistry. He also predicted that Midori would be the 1st woman to land a triple axel in competition. He was right on both counts.
incredible jumps and high energy , but still lacking artistry in my opinion , her jumping abilities were equal to those of male skaters , but she wasn't a complete skater , otherwise it is a shame she didn't win a medal here .
Does anyone but me thought the way the coach showed affection was gross and disgusting..not to mention hugely inappropriate...I don't care what Japanese culture does but this was a huge international event..and to do that not only in public but on television for the world to see....GROSS
+Tyler Chandler What is it that you see?
Her coach is like her mother, midpri's parents divorced when she was 10, she moved in with the coach and has lived with her eversince. So her coach is like a mother to her.
I don't understand. Midori's coach, Machiko Yamada, just hugged her a lot and put her arm around her because she adores her and is proud of her. I love this performance and Midori should have won the free skate. Machiko went on to be the coach for Mao Asada when she was young like in 2005, so she has been the coach of two of my favorite skaters. Machiko was also down to earth and taught skaters of all levels and made no pretensions of saying she was the greatest. I heard that she taught her skaters that the most important thing was to be loved by the audience.