Becky J. Hollen, The 1st woman to land a triple axel in competition at the 88 NHK in Japan.

Ridiculous how the GB judge only gave a 5.6 for technical

A true pioneer.

​@@mht4908A**hat!

hyacinthoides Amen.

AND She was still skating just a couple of years ago!

She will be remembered and talked about forever in figure skating history

@@mikegarcia7986 She is coming back too. Based on how big her 1A is, she probably can still do a 2A at like 53.

The olympic gold isn't everything, her jumps and records (triple axel, triple combination and more) are amazing

No foolin

Huh? This is Midori Ito, not Kristi Yamaguchi

@@zvezdoblyat I was talking about Ito, but it might look like I am talking about Yamaguchi. Quick fix!

actually @mcbrion1951, Midori was the darling of the 1988 Calgary olympics and the 1992 Albertville olympics. Watch her freeskate at the 1988 olympics. she stole the show and had the highest free skate technical marks of any female skater at Calgary.

Did you miss the 2014 scoring? Also 2018 when Zagitova didn't do a single jump in the first half of the show to get the bonus points in the second half? I hardly see how the new system is "much better". Hasn't really fixed anything. If anything, it's gotten so robotic and has taken the "art" out of the artistry of figure skating.

If only she had treated Oksana Baiul that way.

Based on the commentary it was assumed (perhaps barring a major upset) Kristi would beat Nancy. As in, it seemed to be a forgone conclusion before either of them even skated..it's something I've picked up over the years listening and re-listening to the commentators. Everyone kind of knew (again, outside of a major upset) who was duking it out here. Nancy was not a real contender at this point. She says exactly this during later interviews, even. There was a hierarchy in skating as in other sports, a "making your bones" kind of thing. Not so much now with younger competitors.

@@CanadianMonarchist I'll never forget how horrible Nancy was when Oksana won Gold. And Oksana was only 16, skating with multiple injuries. I love Oksana 💖

But Witt had to do the school figures, which were eliminated by 1990. It required much time with less time on free skating and jumps.

I agree with you in 1994 and 1998. Not in this case, although I do love Midori. Midori's performance in the short was far too damaging. Kristi was just an all around better "package" as she was a solid technician but also very musical. She tends to get overlooked since she didn't have the huge jumps but I found her performances so lovely and engaging. Her lines, transitions, connection...she really was deserving of the gold metal even with the two mistakes in her long.

@@slsl5243 Personally for me, I'm not sold on Kristi's artistry or musicality. I personally found her a bit soul-less. And a lot of her expressions came across to me as her phoning it in. I'm sure many will disagree with me and that's completely fine. Artistry is very subjective after all. But I didn't find her very interesting to watch.

@@slsl5243 Kristi's tilt in her jumps always bothered me...

Agree, except with Yuna Kim in 2010, I love Mao Asada but Yuna was matchless that night

@@fernandamartinezjaimez9648 For sure. Kim was the class of the field in 2010 (in 2014 as well IMO). I also think Arakawa is far better than Cohen but I'm sure many will strongly disagree with that.

Not really. Midori didn't hit her 3-3 combination which Kristi did. Kristi was a better all around skater; while her jumps had nowhere near Midori's size, she was quite precise technically and she had much better musicality and presentation. Something that mattered back then, hence the artistic score being the tie breaker.

@@slsl5243 Right. Even with throwing in the second triple axel, it doesn't erase the fall on the first triple axel for Ito, nor does it make up for the fact that she had no triple-triple. The downside of Ito's explosive jumps is that all that energy can result in a sort of messiness and lack of polish or finesse if it's not properly controlled. We also can't forget Ito's fall in her SP. Considering both programs taken together, Kristi certainly should have won. 5.9's for a LP with no triple-triple and a fall, even with the triple axel, was too high for Ito here.

I dunno. I don’t blame the judges for throwing out a 5.9 on the technical side. Landing the first triple axel in Olympic history and doing it after she missed the first one, 3+ minutes into the program, she can have that 5.9 from me. 😂 As a program overall, it didn’t deserve that, but that was an astounding feat of athleticism that made the overall impact of the program so much more powerful than it would have been. But dang, I can’t think of a single competition in Midori’s career besides this where she didn’t land a triple lutz. Even with Kristi’s mistakes, hers was clearly the superior program. Even if Midori had won the long program, it wouldn’t have mattered because she was in 4th after the short.

Your a criminal outrage .she fell .she lacks artistry.she had no triple triple combo ..Christy gad a triple lutz triple two ..she fell in the short.she got higher marks fir the Long program you b9zo

Midori fell on her triple lutz during the short program, which counts for 1/3 of the final rankings. She placed 4th in the short, whereas Kristi placed first. The long program counts for 2/3, so even if Midori won the free skate, Kristi probably only had to place 2nd to beat her. Judges will then vote for first place based on the scores they gave to each skater. So to answer your question, the placement and scores both play a factor, but it’s mostly the placement that’s more important

It's 2Lz-3T!

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 2

I liked her too, a lot, but Tonya Harding had the jumps and the speed too.

@@vaskylark Harding had the speed skating across the surface, but she rarely achieved the same flow (speed) out of a jump like Midori Ito. Harding’s triple axel didn’t have the same distance and speed out - that’s why Harding has never landed a triple axel triple toe loop combo, while Ito had. Harding’s axel also was always shakier, with the rotational axis always tilted. That’s why she was unable to achieve the same jump consistency as Ito. So I would say M J’s statement is correct that nobody jumped like Ito.

@@eyen30 I watched Midori Ito too back in the day. I watched all of them. She was powerful skater too. I know she was great, but I was talking about Tonya's skating, not Ito's, who despite power and speed and jumps was lacking in artistry in my opinion. She was fantastic don't get me wrong but I preferred watching Tonya skate. I loved Kristi Yamagucci too. She's probably my all time fave and best all around and she couldn't do the triple axel at all.

@@eyen30 Tonya's had more height though. Both women were phenomenal.

@@eyen30 i think Ito being a lot shorter than Tonya had an effect on her jumps being more consistent. She didn't jump as high as Tonya though.

No as much the Japanese Fed. as the Japanese media. The media just hounded her every move at every moment. Under such a magnifying glass, it just took something like Surya Bonaly's back flips in practice during her run through that startled her and broke her concentration.

@@3Axel1996 sigh. i wonder if Surya did that on purpose or if her mom ordered her to do that. If that wasn't done, would Midori have kept the 3 axel in the short? It's just what ifs now unfortunately.

@@GaryGarlic She and Tonya should've never put a triple axel in the short, it's way too risky. If they fall, they lose credit for the required element. They should've gone for something slightly easier, so even if they fail the triple axel in the long, it wouldn't have been as detrimental

Are you crazy! Kristi was busting everyone’s heads!

I know , right ? She was amazing and classy.

Rick Francis, perfectly stated. And without Midori, Tonya never would have attempted a triple axel. She saw Midori do the 3A at the 1990 NHK trophy and decided she needed one as well which Tonya landed at the 1991 US nationals in Minneapolis.

kev7978 the english judge has always been surprising in her marks lol...

Well she's dead now so won't have to worry about nasty judging from her.

@@cvcfoundation8413 that’s funny 😂

@@jimmyseraphin7314 Yah taht judge is so weird. She gave more technical marks to nancy kerrigan (popped 2 jumps) than midori ito wtf?

To be fair, I think this British judge was always harsh on her marks, so a 5.6 from her was good. What mattered was where she placed you relative to others.

Jimmy Seraphin triple axel means nothing if u skate like u weigh a thousand pounds. Guess what nancy wins. Hehehe

Harvey Chadbourne Nancy came in third dumbass Midori beat her

A woman, not a lady.

Kristi was the only one with a 3-3 combination.

Not true at all.

I'm glad we agree to disagree.

Indeed we do. She wasn't dainty like Kristi or Nancy. That's what makes her stand out. Not to mention, the rest of the ladies had to up their technical content because of Midori. They knew that they couldn't rely on their artistry alone, especially when she was consistently landing triple axels and various triple-triple combinations. Hell, Midori was STILL doing triple axels & triple-triples as a professional.

Best female jumper in the last 40+ years. I still prefer her triple lutz-triple toe combination more than Kristi's.

+Troy Turner I prefer Tonya's triple axel and triple lutz, even more than any male staker.

BuckHollywood right I'm like 5.6? You took the words right out of my mouth.

ＢＧＲ　Ｗhy？

It wasn't like that. She returned home to a hero's welcome.

Denise Lau Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor

i know midori apologised for getting the silver though she was told she didn't have to. from what i have seen from later of harding she seemed bitter about coming up short. she said in 1992 that she didn't want to go to the 94 games if she won a medal in 92 and her unsuccessful attempt at the podium resulted probably with tonya going back to her old coach and i guess became the start of the nancy vs. tonya rivalry. i know in the 2006 documentary about tonya she goes on about how she lost by 0.1 of a point and things. it's sad because if i recall she was landing triple axels in practice.

+hyacinthoides once again we agree to disagree. Her artistry and presentation were not up to par with her jumping and when that triple axel escaped her it was a wrap. Without it she would have not that medal in '92, but I do give Midori credit she and Kristi made everybody start jumping.

If she hadn't fell in the short program she might have won gold

I guess it depends on how you measure artistry. I wouldn't say Kristi was un-artistic but her programs seemed a bit soulless to me. I found Midori much more engaing to watch. But I much prefer Midori before she changed her style. She was trying too hard to fit a certain image of what artistry was.

ToMaters Agree! Love this girl and her skating sooooo much!

Dorothy Hamill, the gold medalist in 1976 summed up Kristie and Midori's skating perfectly. She said "Kristie was graceful and musical but Ito was something special. When Midori skates I am on the edge of my seat."

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 2

Thank you so much!!!

dhom100 this isn't ice capades. hate to break it to you, but female athletes should be athletic. figure skating should be about skill, not art.

I think you are one of the few who gets it. Artistry mattered much more in that period, and was in fact the tie breaker score.

lol what.....

I love Tonya too. But she also fell and couldn't succeed triple axle but Midori did it.