Hughes did not deserve the Gold Medal

Her presentation was really bad, everone liked Kwan and Slutskaya (sp.) much better...

 

Nah, I liked Hughes.

 

I entered this in another thread, but it applies here, too:


I watched NBC's repeat of the free skate and after a second viewing, I really believe Kwan skated a better overall program than Slutskya. She only made one obvious error while Slutskya made at least two. Her artistry was also better. I just don't understand why the judges placed Slutskya above Kwan. If they'd done just the opposite, Kwan would have won everything. Strange.


Now don't get me wrong -- Hughes obviously won the free skate. But she won by mathematics. She needed help from other skaters to even medal, and that's just what happened.


The judges obviously did not agree on how much to take off for mistakes made by Slutskya and Kwan. I think this is a good example why ALL scoring should be based on credit for each skill the skater performs well, rather than deducting points for mistakes.

 

Kwan made a major mistake (falling totally) whereas Slutskaya made two smaller errors (she didn't actually fall totally). However, What I don't understand is the crappy presentation marks given to both Kwan and Slutskaya

 

Judges shouldn't give skaters the same presentation marks. Why? If there's a tie in the technical marks, the presentation marks are used to break that tie. Since they'd already given Hughes and/or other skaters 5.9's and 5.8's, they had to give Kwan and Slutskya 5.6's and 5.7's. That's why I thought Hughes' marks were a little high, considering the judges should leave room for other skaters who could do better.

 

I don't agree - I thoughts Hughes skated much better than everyone else, including artistry.

 

Figure skating shouldn't even be a sport until they can set a much more objective scoring system.

 

At least they should get rid of Ice Dancing. It's pretty, but what is the point?

Of course, I think the snow boarding half-pipe was a ridiculous addition to the Olympics. Let's add more subjective sports!

 

Oh yeah, I forgot, they are going to completely change the scoring system. The head of the ISU announced it a day or two ago (please forgive me if I don't show the link).

 

There where like 10 participants in that - and like 8 were from the US. And I'm sure the others live in the US.

How the heck can you make that an Olympic sport?

By that same logic American football should be an Olympic sport as well. But it isn't, because not enough countries play it.

As for the figure skating - they can talk all they want but it only counts after they demonstrate the new system and it's benifits in some actual competition.

 

Ahhhhhh, Michelle Kwan. How many world championships has she won? Nobody glides over the ice like her; she skates like an angel. I just hope the @@@holes in the sports media don't talk about Michelle like she's a failure because she didn't take Olympic gold. She has numerous national titles and four world titles, I believe, but you know that some dork is going to opine that she isn't a worthy enough skater because the ultimate prize eluded her.
Overall, she's the very best and that's how I'll remember her career. It's a shame when winning an Olympic bronze medal is considered a disappointment, isn't it? It's such a wonderful accomplishment when you look at it in perspective.

Don't get me wrong. Hughes obviously won the free skate. I don't begrudge Sarah her happiness--but as much as she's improved artistically she'll never move on ice like Michelle. Ultimately, I think losing to Lipinski in Nagano in '98 will be the Olympics that haunts Michelle; she skated so very beautifully to "Lyra Angelica" and still didn't win because someone decided she didn't have "enough spark."

Those are the breaks though. If my kid wanted to get into skating, I'd encourage her to speedskate over figure skating any day. No subjectivity. No judges' scandals. You either cross that finish line first or you don't.

 

Hughes deserved the Gold, and Kwan definitely deserved the Silver. The Russian skater did an awful presentation. Michelle should not have gotten Bronze...

 

Hughes deserved the gold, Slutskia the silver, and Cohen the bronze.

I watched it last night, and I can say that tyhat's what I think should have happened.

Hughes was brilliant. Amazing. Slutskaya was pretty good, but not amazing. Her program wasn't as hard as Hughes', and she didn't skate it as well. Her landings were not solid, like Hughes'.

Kwan fell. Cohen skated a beutiful performance, and her extension and spins were amazing.

G: Hughes
S: Slutskaya
B: Cohen

EDITL I forgot about Cohen falling. I'm not sure between Kwan and Cohen then.

 

I agree with Double_Sting. They should figure out a more objective system over the next four years. However, I think that's next to impossible...

 

Well, the Russians are protesting, just to make a further mockery of the games. Not that I really care. The Winter Olympics tend to suck.

Amazing.

 

the russian should have been in third,but since they made a big deal about the olympics we gave the a silver out of curtisy.ungrateful...


to be continued

 

I thought the Russian girl had the second best performance of the night. I don't see what the argument is that Hughes didn't deserve the gold. She skated the best, pure and simple. A fall is a huge error, I'm surprised Kwan even medaled.

For the record, I thought the other US skater that fell (Sasha whatever) had a much tougher routine than Kwan, and she should have won the medal. I think they were playing favorites, as I sure there were other girls who skated better than Kwan, Sasha, or the Russian.

But Hughes still skated the best. I just don't see the controversy for her.

 

This protest might mean more if Slutskaya had skated well...in fact, had she or Kwan just skated a solid program, either would have gotten the gold hands-down over Hughes. But Hughes set the bar high with a truly excellent performance, and none of the other three women (including Sasha in there) could meet the challenge she threw out there.

Though I must admit, the thought that this was rigged for Hughes strikes me as odd...Kwan is the obvious person people would expect shading dealings for, and if Slutskaya had finished behind Kwan in the long program, Kwan would have gotten gold right? Ah well, Cinquanta (the ISU guy) doesn't seem to think it a big deal, so we'll just have to wait and see...

 

The final standing was exactly the way it should have been. Setting aside that Kwan was the favorite, take a look at the performances objectively. Hughes was in fourth, but she skated a more difficult program than the other two and it was flawless. Slutskaya performed a more difficult program than Kwan and did better. The ranking was exactly as it should have been.

The problem is that this wasn't what the populace wanted and Hughes didn't fit the mold of what they envisioned as the champion. Kwan's story was a great media device because of how she lost the gold in the last Olympics. But if the ranking were anything but that, then there would be a great deal of controversy and the Olympics would be in extremely hot water.

 

I totally agree with Sapient. Hughs' performance was very physically demanding and inspiring with no technical errors. The other two American skaters had a more graceful in motion and performance, but they both fell. Slutskaya's performance was good, but not nearly as inspiring as Hughs along with some technical errors. I think the system got it right here, but I do not have a clue as to how the tie-breaking system is. Thanks for the commentators for not explaining it to us with more details. Hell, Hughs did not even know how she won in her interview after the announcement.

 

I think people just didn't like her Dutch Boy Paint haircut.

 

I am liking Sara -shes so young

 

The Russians are being so foolish in this. Meh.

 

I found this to be an interesting article:

No Arguments: Hughes Deserving

I can't believe the Russians are officially protesting about Slutskaya not winning the Gold.

 

Hughes is the only one NOT to screw-up in the last round.