Jan Hoffmann - 1980 Olympics LP

Jan skated a very clean performance with 4 different triple jumps - the peak of technique at the time. But it wasn't enough. While much has been made of the ladies result over the years, soem see the mens as equally controversial. Had the factored placement scoring system - which was introduced a year later in 1981 - been in force at these Olympics, Hoffmann would be the Olympic champion and not Robin Cousins.

[@ashy2419]

Великолепный фигурист ,всегда за него болела ,когда наших не было. И тот раз тоже , тем более ,то Ян выступал с более сложной программой , а Казинс красиво раскатывался. Вообще у ХОффмана было настоящее мужское катание .

[@olimpsportas]

very impressive jumps!

[@ilovebeinagirl]

I like his program; the music, choreography is interesting. I also love the fact that when he skates, you get the sense that he's someone who loves to skate. It's like I can see the joy of it in his movements. But his line and carriage wasn't as good as Cousins, and Cousins had energy. It's difficulty. I would've loved to see this guy win an Olympic championship but this was a tough night for the judges.

[@grantnoroyan4083]

COUSINS was far better overall

[@renavogel7114]

Klasse! 👍💖

[@barkingtree88]

As much as I admire Robin Cousin's overall skating and believe he deserved to be Olympic champion, I can understand why some people believe Hoffmann should have won. He skated cleaner than Robin, here!

[@grantnoroyan9275]

cleaner maybe and more technical merit but nobody was artistic and packaged like robin cousins

[@barkingtree88]

@@grantnoroyan9275 you are right, and watching it again I can see Jan's spins are less than ideal and I feel a little lost on his transitional elements. Also.... what kind of an ending was that?? It just sort of missed the point. For me, no performance in Olympic history can compare to the end of Robin Cousin's Lake Placid performance!!

[@user-xz6md9td7d]

​​@@kirchb , все дело в том, что Хоффманн исполнил больше сложных прыжков. Технически его программа сложнее. И он с ней справился на отлично. Судейство тогда осуществлялось иначе. В настоящее время по теперешним правилам, выиграл бы он. Иметь отличную пластику это хорошо, но не уметь прыгать сложнейшие прыжки это минус. И здесь Ян был первым. В его программе пять сложнейших прыжков. У Казинса только три. Судьи голосовали. В тот год Анетт Петч стала Олимпийской чемпионкой. Был просто договор. Золото у женщин-ГДР, а у мужчин отдайте Великобритании. А в целом Хоффманн первоклассный фигурист. Его технику изучают и сейчас. Для меня вторым таким как Ян стал Алексей Ягудин. Уникальный спортсмен. И, кстати, после Олимпиады Казинс не поехал на чемпионат мира. Он бы его проиграл. Хоффманн никогда не падал, всегда выступал мощно и стабильно. Это настоящее мужское катание , это качество.

[@floskate]

​@@user-xz6md9td7dCousins did go to 1980 Worlds and lost to Hoffmann there.

[@grantnoroyan4083]

ROBIN COUSINS ISNT EVEN CLOSE TO HOFFMAN ARTISTICALLY HE IS FAR BETTER SORRY DISAGREE 100 PERCENT COUSINS MADE 1 SMALL ERROR OVERALL HIS SKATING WAS FAR SUPERIOR ITS LIKE DIANNE DELEUAU AND DOROTHY HAMILL IN 76 DIANE DID MORE TECNICALLY HOWEVER HAMILL WAS FAR BETTER OVERALL!!!

[@piramis7615]

Jan Hoffmann was the winner after Points 189,72 (Cousins 189,48 only!)

[@npe1]

Yes but back then the results were calculated on place marks from each of the 9 judges. Not the same as today.

[@davidliers9215]

Das war damals Betrug....Jan hätte Olympia - Sieger werden müssen.

[@user-kj7hc8ub4s]

Отлично.Школа и стиль Ю Мюллер.

[@Timzart7]

I never thought of Jan as an artistic skater, at all, and there were certain things like his form in doing a camel that are not comparable to the great form of Robin Cousins, or the good form Robin had throughout his program. However, this was a dynamic program for Jan with a lot of energy throughout and he even looked good in some places, but still a little stiff and awkward in others. It had to be the best skate of his career. Looking at it today though, and compared to what I thought at the time, It kind of surprises me that I guess I can see how some people might think Hoffman should have won the long program instead of coming in second. Since he was first in compulsory figures, and Robin only fourth, he would have won.

[@tonywilson8645]

He should have just whined about judges not "accepting his style" to camaflouge his true lack of artistry the way Elvis Stojko who had even worse artistry than Hoffmann but got MUCH much higher artistic scores due to his bullying whining tactic.

[@grantnoroyan4083]

NO COMPARISON TO COUSINS ARTISTICALLY THEY ARE NOT EVEN ON THE SAME PLANET

[@EEDiazL]

Although he had the jumps, the spins, step sequences, enthusiasm, and bringing it on definitely belonged to Robin Cousins!!! I felt this performance to be utterly boring. It seems to me that at times he had to balance himself with both feet so he wouldn't fall on spirals and some steps. On the contrary, his jumps were gorgeous! Indeed, Cousins made a mistake at the beginning of the program, but is overall performance made everyone, and the judges forget about it by the end of his program. I found his Technical Merit to be very accurate. As well as his Artistic!

[@debbiethomas3687]

It is soulless. For all his technical ability he was stiff and lacked grace in every competition in which I saw him compete, and never compared well to Robin Cousins or John Curry.

[@romankotov36]

@@debbiethomas3687 Robin Cousins is one of my most favourite skaters ever. But! I don't find this performance soulless at all. RC's wasn't that soulful either, BTW. It was basically a toss-up

[@nomiddlenamenmn427]

The Sound of Silence is a breathtaking masterpiece. I believe Jan does not feel the power and poignancy of the music.

[@miloandtock1]

Hoffman should have won. The judges clearly manipulated their free skate marks and it wasn't necessarily and East/West thing. The USSR judge put Cousins first overall and the USA's Ramona McIntyre and West Germany had Hoffman first overall. Hoffman was never going to get Britain (Sally-Anne Stapleford!), CAN, FRA, and SWE based on points going into free skating. The USSR is a surprise, CAN lowballed Hoffman artistically to ensure Cousins would be atop her card, but it was Japan that is most questionable with his lowball Hoffman marks for technical, he knew exactly how to ensure Cousins coming on top on his card.

[@grantnoroyan9275]

technically he should have been ahead artistically he wasnt even in the same ballpark as robin.......the better skater won

[@charlottegraul8416]

Amazing!!

[@yodabeesh]

Wow... I am really surprised that this performance did not win him the gold in comparison to Robin Cousins' program where he made a mistake.

[@stevebbuk9557]

He did but his transitions were better than Hoffman's, his jumps his equal and overall artistry counted before they changed the rules to make this an athlete with skates on competition.

[@InfernoBLK72]

The problem with Jan was he always seemed to be skating away from the music instead of skating with the music. His tempo always seemed to be off. He had a presence but didn't know how to use it to boost his performance. He was the best jumper of his era but lacked to presentation skills or content in his programs to win Olympic Gold. He was in the sport for so long being to 4 Olympic games, yet he never developed his own unique style.

[@romankotov36]

I disagree. Here Hoffman was absolutely wonderful and to the point. He slowed down quite a bit to the end of his LP compared to Robin Cousins, but he had a much more demanding tech content. Robin was a better spinner though for sure, and, given his height, his jumps were good, too

[@piramis7615]

the marks from England...

[@npe1]

@yodabeesh Jan was a good skater technically but in terms of style, flow, flair and artistic impression he was not in the same league as Cousins.

[@user-kj7hc8ub4s]

Хоффман явно лучше Казинса!ГДР была социалистической,помнить это надо.

[@stevebbuk9557]

Can we have Jan Hoffman's short programme please?

[@mircobotta6360]

I think that with the judging system of today he would have won

[@floskate]

Actually he would have won had they used the factored placement system that was brought in for the 1980-81 season.

[@alexeyp42]

Хоффманн однозначно выиграл у Казинса, тому по артистичности баллов накидали.

[@Iwatchstuff1000]

Put robins & Jan's flying camel side by side & you can see why Robin won, not just about the jumps.

[@pacmanindy]

Hoffmann could have won only if his presentation marks were higher!!! Jan would later become one of the judges in the ladies’ competition at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. He helped give Oksana Baiul a gold medal instead of Nancy Kerrigan. Why? It was a personal revenge against Western judges who denied him the gold medal 14 years earlier!!!

[@floskate]

For the following season they switched from total points to factored placements. Had they used the factored placements at the Olympics both the men's and women's results would have been reversed meaning Jan Hoffman and Linda Fratianne would have been the Olympic Champions.

[@davidliers9215]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@efa61]

Засудили! Хоффман занял первое место!

[@user-zk5jq2qr9j]

Вне всякого сомнения ! Как бы ни был гениален Робин Казинс, это всё таки спорт, а не балет и сложность должна учитываться. Программа Хоффмана более сложная, выполнена безупречно, а оценки ? На оценки посмотрите: артистичность - 5.5, 5.6 - ну это же дурдом ! Оценки, как начинающему, поставили. Ян всё-таки был в тройке лучших фигуристов мира !!! Явно его топили, протаскивая Робина. Зря. Ян Хоффманн заслуживал олимпийского золота больше, чем Казинс. А Робин Казинс и без золота остался бы в истории спорта, как выдающийся фигурист. Вон Толлер Крэнстон больше бронзы не получил, но навсегда остался легендой фигурного катания. И никого не интересует, какие у него были медали. Главное, что он был, и те, кто помнит, как он катался, никогда его не забудут. Он и без золота остался Великим.

[@user-kj7hc8ub4s]

КАЗИНС НИКАКОЙ НЕ ГЕНИАЛЕН, НЕ НАДО ОБ ЭТОМ И ПИСАТЬ,?ЧТОБЫ ОПРАВДАТЬ ЕГО ПЕРВОЕ МЕСТО? ПРАВДУ НАДО ПИСАТЬ,А НЕ ВИЛЯТЬ В РАЗНЫЕ СТОРОНЫ.

[@nomiddlenamenmn427]

I believe these are awful commentators. You never call a victory BEFORE all the scores are submitted by the judges. Horrible and an embarrassment. I feel ashamed for them.

[@floskate]

This happens all the time in skating, all the time. Back then the computer would update with ordinal placements during the performance of the next competitor so they could see in real time where skaters were placing.

[@nomiddlenamenmn427]

@@floskate Thank you. You are kind. Do you know who they are? I will be shocked if the man is Jim McKay.

[@floskate]

@@nomiddlenamenmn427 No these were the Canadian commentators, Johnny Esaw, Otto Jelinek, and Debbi Wilkes. Otto was 1962 world pairs champion, Debbi was 1964 Olympic and world pairs bronze medallist. Johnny was a sports broadcaster and TV executive. He loved figure skating and put plenty of it on TV so I'll always be grateful to him for that even though he did go on a lot!!

[@russianskatingfan]

He was robbed. This sport is so corrupt.

[@metsdudenj]

It came down to carriage, extension and musicality and Cousins was better than this