Brian Boitano & Brian Orser - Great's Of 88 Olympics

[@juliemc8460]

They are both amazing human beings.

[@ThatFunHouseGal]

The Battle of the Brians.. I was 13 Years old.. visiting my grandma in Calgary watching form her living room. ... they ARE the reason I LOVE olympic figure skating!!

[@allthingsbegin]

I was nine years old when I watched my first winter Olympics. When I saw the men's figure skating, these two guys captivated me. I didn't understand the stakes at that age. I was just amazed guys could skate like that. The Brian's are the reason I have watched every winter Olympics figure skating and they are the reason I started skating. It's amazing to see this and think back on those memories. I still remember the television set in the living room and watching that performance. What a beautiful story with a beautiful ending.

[@user-ux8tb1rq1t]

Великие спортсмены👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@tabithasabella8165]

But order you should of never quit after that. You still are incredible. You need to make a comeback. I believe in u and know you could do it, please please please please I'm begging you to come back

[@triciajohansen3027]

My God they look so diffetent!!!!!!

[@phyrruskarimarmalgold3660]

But now Orser is undeniably the most successful one. 🔥He is the Olympic Champion we never had in the past. For now he produced the legendary King and Queen, the greatest Olympic Champions of figure skating in the name of Yuzuru Hanyu and Yuna Kim.🎉🍁💕

[@L1623VP]

All these years later, it's amazing how people still think Orser's loss was all about falling out of the triple flip. The truth is even if Orser had skated clean, Boitano's program was FAR more difficult technically and had better, more sophisticated choreography than Orser's junior-ish, puppet-on-a-string choreography that had him jumping and hopping around the ice, complete with cringe-worthy knee slap. Ushi Kessler was never a great choreographer, and she didn't do Stojko any favors in the years to come either. Technically speaking, Boitano did two triple axles (which Orser didn't do), two triple flips (which Orser didn't do) and a triple-triple combination (which Orser didn't do). Not only did Orser fall out of the triple flip, but he downgraded his second triple axle to a double and had a hard two-foot landing on his last triple. Taken all together, Boitano should have beaten Orser by a MUCH wider margin and any judge who marked Orser equal to or higher than Boitano, especially on the technical mark, should have been sanctioned. So many people just couldn't figure out how Orser's score was so close to Boitano's in the 88 Olympics when it was obvious Boitano was the clear winner. The answer: the fix was in for Orser to win no matter how he skated. Below is a link to an interview with Brian Boitano and his coach, Linda Leaver, from 2016. Finally, after all these years, the truth comes out and we discover what we suspected back then was true. The Olympic part of the interview begins at 13:30. At 17:10, Linda shares a story about how one of the judges from the men's 1988 Olympic LP approached her 15 years later. He told her that there absolutely was a conspiracy among the judges to give Orser the win no matter how he skated. He'd lost to Scott Hamilton four years earlier, and since the Olympics were in Canada and Orser had a great deal of sympathy behind him going in, his victory was to be the "feel good" story of the games. After seeing Boitano's incredible skate, however, the former judge told Linda that he just couldn't go along with the scheme. He HAD to vote his conscience, and it was HIS mark that gave Boitano the 0.1 lead in the technical score and the overall win he deserved. As a consequence for foiling the scheme, the former judge told Linda he was fired from his position with his federation, but he said he didn't care. He said doing the right thing that night was one of the proudest moments of his life. Of course, Orser wasn't in on any of this, but federations do this backroom bullsh*t all the time. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpW4paeAm7OEgsk

[@LaurenThompsonIsMyRealName]

lcowles You are absolutely r ight on all points except your first one. It was the step out that caused Orser to lose. You said it yourself, the fix WAS in. If it were not for that step out that even the un-trained eyes of the viewers was easy to discern, Orser would have gotten the gold. And since then not a thing has changed. Need I say Sochi, anyone? If Yulia had not have fallen it would have been her gold. But the home team had a backup with Adelina.

[@L1623VP]

Lauren: I see your point. I think from the general viewing audience's point of view, it was all about missing the flip for Orser. However, I believe that in the mind of the judge that actually cast the deciding score, as Linda Leaver shared, it was all about the superiority of Boitano's performance, especially technically. As an experienced judge, he could certainly tell how stacked Boitano's difficulty was compared to Orser's and that it was executed flawlessly. Even if Orser had skated perfectly, his artistic limitations and lack of technical content still wouldn't have been worthy of the gold, and I'm sure the judge knew that. You make an important point, however, that Orser's missing the flip (a very visible error) is what validated his rightful loss in most people's minds. Even so, it didn't give the deciding judge any insurance or credibility with his federation, as he was fired soon after anyway. He broke the deal. Ah yes, Sochi. Now, with all these insane scoring changes to figure skating, I'm certain we're in for even more creative judging in the seasons to come. I've put up with a lot from skating. I remember the communist bloc judging and people like Paul Wylie, Nancy Kerrigan, Kim Yuna and others (all who were robbed in favor of eastern bloc countries!), and it's getting to be too much, even for me to watch. After the outrageous scoring of Worlds 2013, I had to take a year off during the Chanflation era, and now I'm very close to quitting for good. By limiting the number of quads for the men, as well as the number of jump repetitions, reducing the length of the LP, mandating the number of jumps in each half of the program, revaluing the jumps and adding a +5 GOE, they've significantly de-valued the technical (objective) side of skating and further strengthened the artistic (subjective) side, making it easier than ever for anonymous judges to boost their favored skaters to the top of the podium. I just can't watch that. It would be far too frustrating. What's interesting about all this is that the move to make skating increasingly more subjective and less objective in its scoring had its genesis in Boitano's rightful win. The judges don't like when power is taken away from them. They don't like not being able to "choose" the winner, and so after Boitano's win, the ISU changed the tie breaking mark from the technical score to the artistic score...in a "sport", of all things. There were a lot of people with their noses in a joint because medvedeva didn't win gold in Pyeongchang, even though Zagitova won perfectly by the rules. Even Dick Button said so. The ISU and others were also concerned that Nathan Chen's phenomenal performances throughout the season and especially in his Olympic LP (which he won, beating Hanyu by 18 technical points and 9 points overall, even after PCS was added) would simply walk away with the 18-19 season. Why? Because his technical content was so high, that even with PCS, no one could numerically defeat a perfect program from him. Even the Eurosport commentators said as much during Nathan's 2018 Worlds victory LP. Once again, the judges don't like being out of control. They don't like their tricks with GOE and PCS being rendered moot by high, technically adept skaters like Alina and Nathan. That's what all these ridiculous changes are about now; handicapping the technical skaters and not letting them continue to push the sport forward, while keeping all the power and the destiny of all skaters in the judges' hands...which is exactly where they like it.

[@dkadkins6545]

I remember hearing Orser say in an Olympic film that he decided to take the second triple axel out because the Olympic Champion couldn't fall. Since hearing that I've wondered if the biggest IF is whether it cost him his gold medal dream.

[@L1623VP]

@@dkadkins6545 When you skate safe, 99% of the time you don't win. Orser was skating to "not lose" whereas Boitano was skating to win. Orser was cautious, and Boitano was free. Skating safe has cost some of the biggest skaters the gold like Kwan in 98 opting for a triple-double instead of a triple-triple. I always say she lost that gold by one revolution. Regardless of the probable cheating in 2014 Sochi, Kim Yuna went into her LP with just six planned triples. The pressure to win again caused her to skate safe, and she lost. I still say she lost that gold by one jump, the one she didn't make. As a strategy, skating safe almost never works.

[@dkadkins6545]

@@L1623VP Agreed