Olympics

[nutty-ducky]

I want to know what you think:
If you had the LP of the 1998 Olympics By Tara Lipinski and the LP of the 2002 Olympics By Sarah Hughes who do you think would win?
Well, I never saw the 1998 Olympics but i reckon that Sarah Hughes would win!
Cat

[Corey]

:) Sarah Hughes. she was so beautiful that night.

[originalQA]

I would actually give it to Tara.
She had such speed and abandon.
While people will diss Tara with her weird 2Axel and flutz, and Sarah with her flutz and under-rotation on her 2nd 3Loop *ONLY*, I would still probably give it to Tara.
I absolutely love both Ladies, and I have watched both of their Olympic LP's about 50 times each.
Tara was so exciting and breathtaking.
Sarah was so elgant and refreshing.
I would give it to Tara by 1/10th technically (based on her clean 3l/3l), but this decision is absolutly killing me.
The only thing that might give it to Sarah over Tara is the fact that Tara looked like she was 12 years old, and that might make the judges give it to the more "mature" looking Sarah.
My opinion of course.....

[duane]

like QA, i love both skaters and both performances. i too would give it to tara, but it is an extremely close decision.

i think sarah was more mature and elegant, but tara performed with more gusto, spunk, and excitement.

in regards to the presentation elements, both were great. technically, i give tara the edge. her 3loop/3loop was flawless, and she landed two 3lutzes to sarah's one. also, her speed appeared better than sarah's (but after (finally) seeing a competition live, i know how deceptive speed can appear on television).

in a h2h matchup of both performances, my scores would probably be:

tara: 5.9/5.8

sarah: 5.8/5.8

[originalQA]

[quote:b2444127a2="duane"]tara: 5.9/5.8

sarah: 5.8/5.8[/quote:b2444127a2]
OHMYGOSH, that is the same score I was thinking.
It was just tooooo close to call, but since there are no ties, except in Pairs :wink: , Tara would have to take the cake.....

[Dustin]

I would definately give it to Tara. Sarah may have had 2 3/3s, but Tara had a much more difficult one combined with a 3/.5 loop/3 at the very end of the program. Arguably, Tara had faster spins. Tara's 3/3s were more fully rotated and the takeoff was not as pre-rotated (Sarah's were better than normal that night, but still not quite as good as Tara's).

I would also give the presentation to Tara. Her program seemed better choreographed. There also was a security in Tara's skating that made that performance even better.

Some people may kill me for saying this, but I think Tara had much more energy, excitement, joy, and precision in the choreography and presentation as well as the jumps than Sarah did.

For scores, I would give:
Tara - 5.9/5.9
Sarah - 5.8/5.8

[AxelAnnie22]

[color=indigo:f29378b116]In my book, Tara would receive the nod. Tara's skating overall (flutz aside) is simply better, as was her choreography. Tara skated with that much more joy, freedom and conviction. Sarah was great, no doubt about it, but Tara would win that one![/color:f29378b116]

[nutty-ducky]

Well i never saw Tara skate so i wouldn't know if her program was better than sarah. but i know what u mean. sarah did have a flutz and she had under-rotated jumps. but she was very good!

[Dustin]

If anyone needs to see Tara skate, go to this (http://www.tararulz.com/multimedia/videos.html) page. Her LP is the one on the right.

[icenut84]

nutty-ducky... oops! I'm sorry, I completely forgot about the tape of 98 ladies! I'll get on it asap :o)

[nutty-ducky]

Dustin - Thanks for the link. Now i know how good she was! I think that the commentator gets a bit excited to the end of the program though! lol!
icenut84 - i forgive u! take u time recording it! thanks!
cat!

[loveskating]

As between Sarah and Tara, I'd give it to Tara...her only deficits were that she didn't step up into her 2 axel, flutzed a bit, her jumps were smallish, and sometimes she pumped on her forward strokes.

Otherwise, she was an incredible skater, and that night, she was absolutely on fire.

In addition to what others have said, Tara had a natural balance that made it impossible for her to do anything off center, IMHO. Even her air position was usually flawless, and those rotations were a sight to see...talk about a [i:15764e864f]"proper backspin position" in the air [/i:15764e864f](which is one of the ways judges are supposed to differentiate when skaters land the same jumps)...she surely had to be among the best ever on that too. There was no air, none.

Tara really skated from within...she was and is totally present (one of the presentation criteria is that the skater must skate to the music from within, not merely skate the movements of the choreographer).

[nutty-ducky]

well hopefully i should be able to see tara skate soon!
i cannot wait to see her skate, i want to see what everyone is going on about saying she was so good! and then i will be able to say who i would let win!
cat! :D

[JDC1]

In comparing the two I give the nod to Tara too, although I think she was over scored on the second mark.

My scores would have been -
T - 5.9/5.7

S- 5.7/5.8

I think Tara's speed and security, in general and on that night, were really impressive, in particular I saw her live and (although the program underwhelmed me) her speed was amazing, as was her air position, interesting someone else picked that up too, she was tiny but her air position was perfect and she did pre-rotate less than Sarah. It's too bad she was injured because I think she could have been more amazing as she progressed and matured. NOt knocking her pro programs but I still prefer competitive/olympic level skating.

[purplecat]

I agree with the majority here...I would've given it to Tara. I agree with Duane in that I loved both performances. Sarah has better extension, positions...a little more maturity. Tara had more speed, more difficulty (triple loop triple loop, the triple toe half loop triple salchow and two triple lutzes which were less flutzed than Sarah vs. Sarah's triple sal triple loop, triple toe triple loop and only one lutz) and though Sarah may have better positions in the spins, Tara has good speed in hers. I just recently rewatched Tara's win and forgot just how exciting it was.

[olivia]

Add me to the Tara over Sarah category. Tara, IMO, was more in command of her body and her entire performance than was Sarah. Tara's technique (though I agree with loveskating about the 2axel) was generally better than Sarah's overall. Spins? About equal. Speed? Probably Tara. Tara's combinations were more impressive. But it's the command factor that gives it to Tara for me. I also preferred Tara's choreography. It was, overall, more balanced.

Both ladies were incredible.

O-

[proam]

For me it is too close to call, OK, I’m wimping out I don’t want to choose. Both Sarah and Tara were incredible and both their performances will be remembered always.

I will say I was so emotional with Sarah’s win, but not with Tara’s. But that is not taking anything away from Tara, I see it as a different time and different circumstance.

I see the U.S. as the winner with having two great Olympic Gold Medallists having great performances for the entire World to see and remember. :D

[CMc]

This is every bit as subjective as the judging in competitions! :wink:
I would probably need to see Tara's performance again since I didn't save it on tape, but at the risk of sounding biased, my heart was with Sarah so much more, and she nailed everything!
ITA with proam that they were two great but completely different performances that were every bit as deserving of the gold medal.

[kwanette]

I would go with Tara. I think the energy, choreography, music were excellent. Tara saved some very difficult moves for the end, she had a second 3 lutz and her program was better balanced.

[bcskater]

SPINS - to sarah, i think they were held longer and better positions
CHOREOGRAPHY - to tara, skated with ease and hit every note of the music, showed COMPLETE maturity through the ENTIRE program
JUMPS - to tara, even with the fact that taras jumping TECHNIQUE is much better than sarahs, her two 3/3's were a little higher in difficulty.
my scores would have been

SARAH - 5.8/5.8

TARA - 5.9/5.9 ( might sound odd, but i would even lead to a 6.0 for the TECHNICAL side if this event had been in north america, probably would have gotten a little more caught up in the moment if tara had skated that in SLC, i think it will be a while longer till we get to see another female complete a long program as wonderfully complete as that one)

[nutty-ducky]

well i have just watched the 1998 LP by tara lipinski and i think she was soooooo good! :D it was the first time i had ever seen the 1998 Olympics Ladies SP and LP. well anyway i think that i would of given the medal to tara lipinski even though sarah hughes was very good. i thought that tara's spirals were much better than sarah's, but i think that sarah's spins were better and i liked both of their jumps but tara did more lutz's and i think that the jump combo with the halfloop in it was very good!
so i think that tar would win but sarah would be very close to it. my scores would be:
tara - 5.9/5.9
sarah - 5.9/5.8
infact i think that they were both as good as each other! :D

[ILoveAllSkaters]

Me too! I just [b:cc3e895e74]love[/b:cc3e895e74] to watch Tara and Sarah also, even I am glad to see them do so well. :D

[CMc]

But again, I've said on our old previously-free forum FSW that comparing performances by people from different eras even by a few years is hardly fair since you may as well put Michelle Kwan circa 2002 versus Peggy Fleming circa 1968, and the problem with that is the rules weren't the same. And you certainly couldn't have Tara Lipinski skate against Sarah Hughes now in their current status especially since Tara has been told by doctors if she ever does 3-3's again she'll have irreprable damage.

[pilgrimsoul]

As great as Sarah was in SLC, I think Tara has to come out ahead on this one. Both longs are so close in quality, that it's hard to say which one is better. But if you also look at their shorts, I think Tara's short is better. Also, I feel Tara's presentation was superior. When I watch Sarah's performance, her presentation has a surprised feel to it that seems to say "Wow, I can't believe this great skate is happening to me!" But when I watch Tara's, I get a much stronger sense of her confidence, like her presentation is saying "I *know* I can win this, and I'm going to show these judges how it's done!"