Well yes but the case could be made Irina's program should have been 2nd in the long behind Michelle but ahead of Tara. Personally technically I found Irina's the strongest program over both Tara and Michele. She did 1 less triple than Tara but the jumps were bigger and more impressive, and the spins and speed superior. Artistically Michelle's was the best of course. I would have scored Michele 5.8, 5.9, Irina 5.9, 5.7, and Tara 5.8, 5.7, which would have had Irina 2nd in the long and given the gold to Michelle overall.

@@grantdesjardins764 Are you referring to Irina's "Phantom..." free skate? If we're thinking of the same program, I remember Dick Button just not feeling the music in his commentary. '97 Was an off-season for her but her jump potential wasn't in doubt.

@@jarwillnc I agree Irina's artistry was not great, but neither was Tara's so if we are talking about who comes 2nd in the free skate I don't think it really hurts her. I still would have had her over Tara technically even with Tara's slightly higher jump content due to the superior amplitude and power of her jumps, her spins and speed as well. I would have them about tied on the 2nd mark, both behind Michele of course. Irina highest of all 3 on the 1st mark, and 2nd in the long over Tara, which would have given Michele the victory.

Dylvente No she didn't..that is why Michelle lost because Tara's jumps were more difficult. If Tara didn't go pro after 98 Olympic win Michelle would never of won all those titles because Tara would of beat her.

Aspen Robinson You can’t say that for sure. Maybe Tara would have lost her jumps. Besides, Tara had a hip injury that required surgery, so she would have had to retire anyway.

Aspen Robinson Tara had a hip injury after the Olympics. No more 3loop/3loop for her. Tara was lucky she won when she did. After the Olympics she really hit puberty and body changed drastically. Tara's jump technique was woefully flawed hence her hip injury. Basically Michelle, Irina, Sasha, et al would have wiped the floor with Tara.

@@evanperilstein5308 With her hip problems she would lose her triple-triple combos and her triple loop-triple loop for good. Even keeping the triple lutz and triple flip consistent would be hard. I see her probably having a hard time scraping out a bronze in figure world and Olympic meets had she stayed. Irina would have consistently beaten her, along with Michele. Maria was erratic always but when she skated well she would start beating Tara. And when Sarah Hughes came along, even with her cheated 3-3s that would still beat Tara who would never be doing any 3-3s with her hip problems she would be regularly beating Tara too, including at the 2002 Olympics.

@@jjh2456 Sasha wasn't a top skater until 2003. In 2002 she couldn't even beat Fumie Suguri most of the time yet. So I don't see Sasha wiping the floor with her as Tara probably retires after the 2002 Olympics at the latest anyway.

but the current system is worse

tara was overmarked technically as well. she was a very constant flutzer but got away with it

@@r.g6170 But so did alot of skaters . . . she WASN'T the only one who flutzed

​@@r.g6170 Tara, despite her flutz, was a really amazing athlete. Her jumps were fully rotated, and her toe jumps were actual toe jumps. The only flaw was her lutz because of the severe wrong edge, unlike Michelle who disguised her flutz better. But, yes, Michelle was light years above Tara in terms of artistry. With that said, technical ability shouldn't solely be based on jumps, either. Michelle had better technical elements --- footwork, spins, edges, speed, glide, etc. --- than Tara. So, yes, Tara was overmarked because, overall, she was nowhere close to even a flawed Michelle Kwan.

@@r.g6170Michelle flutzes as well, so they would get the same deductions (if the judges even pick it up, they never do especially with the Russians)

Even in the short, too, despite the step out with the lutz. Michelle won that championship!

gonzo77ffm she had to land that the 2nd lutz. She doubled out of it and that’s what cost her. She had to be perfect, and sadly she was not.

@@PanchoMaldonado-hf6rq I am aware. What I am saying is that had Kwan landed that 2nd lutz, it would have been enough for the judges to put Irina over Lipinski and thus give Kwan the gold.

@@jjh2456 Even with a perfect performance -- all 6.0s -- Michelle would have still placed 2nd to Lipinski because of their ordinal placement after the short program, where Michelle placed 4th. What really cost Michelle the title was how severely punished she was by the judges after she merely stepped out of her triple lutz in short program, which was actually the most exquisite performance of the night.

Coming from a Retired Competitive Figure Skater , myself, Michelle Kwan never Won the Gold at the Olympics because She was never the Best.

So many of the Ladies were way above Michelle's Leaque. The judges know what to look for and who is the best. Michelle Kwan was never the best.

Tara beat Michelle when it counted at the Olympics.

@@eileenmcqueeney1262 Michelle was the most important and popular skater in her era, Tara can NEVER. Michelle got into the World Figure skating Hall of Fame, Tara can NEVER. Michelle got the most 6.0 ( 57 times ) in the history, Tara can NEVER.

@@eileenmcqueeney1262 Some people deserved the Olympics gold but never got it with bad lucky, like Michelle. Some people didn't deserve the Olympics gold and got it with good lucky, like Tara.

Senor Chang will never forget her.

I love Peggy, Michelle, Yuna...they had beautiful performances and amazing artistry.

lexlib She had to land that 2nd lutz. If she did that she would have won.

Jose Hill No, Michelle won the long anyway. Because of her sp, she needed help from another skater beating Tara in the long in order to win. Same scenario as Sarah Hughes in Salt Lake except that actually happened there.

Evan Perilstein Yes, Michelle won the long program, but it was not perfect. If she skated a clean program with the 7 planned tripled the judges would have put Slutskaya over Lipinsky and thus giving Michelle the gold.

@@jjh2456 110%

Tara is 1997 world figure skating women's gold medalist and 1998 Olympic champion.

But...still who is she? It's 2021 and no one remembers her.

@@timothychow177 Michelle beat Tara at 1998 US.

There was this one time Kwan tried 3t-3t and 3z-3l I think in Skate Canada but missed both attempts.

It wasn't against the rules; they were allowed to repeat any 2 triple jumps, but at least one had to be in combination. It's called "The Zayak Rule."

The only skater who was on a past with Kwan artistically was Janet Lynn

You mean Weir?

Tara was younger than Michelle, Tara had a kid's body and weight so easier to jump, nothing more.

This program is about true love, memory, time. It's different from Salome. Do you understand the story ?

Are you kidding me? This program is her masterpiece. Salome may have gotten the ball going but Taj Mahal was a slam dunk!!!

@@damianlee5438 I think the main issue with this program is she never performed it once cleanly. Had she done one clean then people would get into what really made this program memorable.

Sarah is Lucky. Sarah did a good job never happened before to win the Olympics gold at 2002, and the other better skaters like Michelle and Irina made mistakes. It's a accident that Sarah won, but she deserved it.

SHE ACTUALLY did later on but it never matched the layback of Janet Lynn

Michelle is short. That's why.

So you had no sense.

Nah. They just have no taste.

nancymckeon had she done the 3lutz at the end instead of doubling it they would given it to her.

even of she did the 3 lutz she would have still got second because of her placement in the short... she did win the long program