Nicole Bobek (USA) - 1995 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate

Birmingham, England, GREAT BRITAIN - 1995 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate - Nicole Bobek of the United States started off strong landing a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, but as the program progressed, her nerves got the best of her, and she ended suffering 2 falls. She would place 4th in the Free Skate and ended dropping from 1st to 3rd Place overall.

[@3Axel1996]

What you have to understand is that Nicole was only the 3rd woman ever to land a 3Lutz/3Toe combination (despite the change of edge on the Lutz and the double 3-turn after the 3Toe). The combination still counted, so she was rewarded for doing something that difficult. Also, her jumps were more powerful and higher than Michelle's; and Nicole had more speed on her flow across the ice. It's just harder to compare this on TV. That's why Nicole got higher marks.

[@rolandgreen7484]

Not to mention Kwan beat Bobek in the long anyway. It was only Nicole winning the short which kept her ahead.

[@dkblazer24]

Were the other 2 previous to Bobek- Ito and Yamaguchi? Wow just goes to show how in 1992 the difficulty of jumps (Triple/Triple combo plus the Triple Axel) were so much higher than 1994-2002 really when the difficultly went backwards

[@intldawn]

There is a distinct difference between being focused and thinking too hard. All throughout, it was clear that Nicole wasn't totally on. She was doing great at first but she never had her normal spark where she's really engaging the crowd. Her face looked tense and her stroking looked too deliberate. She could never relax and let the performance happen. Very subtle signs, but very telling. 5.8s especially for technical merit were too generous, IMHO.

[@scook5599]

Yes. Agreed. Very different demeanor from her excellent short program.

[@wheresbaby7783]

I disagree. I think that she did the first 4 jobs and thought. I could win this and then she got nervous

[@r5t6y7u8]

The UK scored her 5.5 and 5.4 British...

[@trav16z]

she had this worlds won and blew it :(

[@amexred]

I still recall watching this and that opening was so great and then those dang falls . Such a bummer . I loved Chen Lu program that year alot as well though .

[@gpaco78]

She landed 4 triples and 1 of them wasn’t clean, ate the ice twice and checked out towards the end of her performance and you people think she deserved the bronze? She should have been 5th and not the bronze. The only reason Michelle didn’t get a medal because the judges wanted someone older than 14.

[@janemariecox6547]

Well Michelle won in 96 with a terrific program. My favorite of hers.

[@grantgoffin4774]

No the reason Michele didn't get a medal was Nicole had a wonderful short program where she was deservedly 1st, and the lead ensured she stayed ahead of whoever was 3rd in the long. Michele probably should have been 4th in the short over Bonaly instead of 5th, but even with that Nicole still stays 3rd due to her short program win, even with a 4th in the long. You could argue Kwan beating Bonaly for 2nd in the long too, but in that case Michele just gets the silver, Bonaly drops off the podium, and Bobek still gets the bronze. There is no scenario to drop Nicole off the podium due to her well deserved short program win, unless you have Markova beating her in the long and Markova had only about 2 clean triples so that would be ridiculous.

[@janemariecox6547]

LOVE HER! Queen of the Flutz jump. She had the most beautiful costumes of any skater ever. Love u Nicole

[@pueraeternus111]

The real queen of the flutz jump was Sarah Hughes!

[@3Axel1996]

@stefan7171 She had no choice but to change the last 3toe to a 2Axel, otherwise, she would have landed three 3toes in her program which would have penalized her further. She got the marks for the opening combination with or without the flutz and the 3-turn simply because there was no known flutzing until Nicole the mid-90s and also since its rare that ladies were landing such a difficult triple=triple combination. Surya herself had, at times, been a beneficiary of high marks as well.

[@3Axel1996]

They then call that a "flutz" because the change of edge makes the jump really a flip, not a Lutz as intended.

[@excalibur1812]

WOW-it's so hard to believe that this was 18 years ago!!!??

[@chonaV]

This would've been her glorious moment. All she needed was to do a clean long program. But poor girl. She was probably very nervous. She looked tense. She is not very good under pressure.

[@grantgoffin4774]

Even with 1 fall I would bet they give it to her. She was the leader, she did the triple lutz-triple toe, and the winner Lu Chen doubled her 2nd triple lutz anyway. If she just had 1 fall instead of 2, she wins.

[@3Axel1996]

A "Lutz" takes off from a Back Outside Edge. Improper technique causes a skater to start from Back Outside Edge and then change to a Back Inside Edge when the skater taps in with the toepick of the opposite foot, launching him/her-self into the air.

[@TravelingMan63]

2 major falls and won a medal one lucky lady.

[@oceanle]

She got a 5.8 with 2 falls ....hmmmmmmm

[@JogaOhio]

She was 1st going into this so she wasn't going to fall too far.

[@JogaOhio]

She also landed a triple Lutz triple toe combo

[@kevinhebner6773]

@@JogaOhio hmm… Tell that to Nancy Kerrigan who was 1st in the SP in 1993, only to fall apart in the LP and place 9th, then 5th overall. She wasn’t going to fall far? We never know until it’s over.

[@mht4908]

Look at Nancy Kerrigan in 1992, singled her 2nd triple toe and her lutz, plus a fall on her salchow. The judges still placed her ahead of Tonya who had less mistakes in the free skate while attempting harder elements (fall on triple axel and doubled her 2nd triple toe in a triple-triple attempt)

[@dmp7252]

What cannot be understand is that Nicole was pretty much the last of a dying breed of TRUE female jumpers. She really understood what it meant to jump. Not trying to get shady but… Isabeau? Amber Glenn? (In Amber’s defense she does have the triple Axel, but the rest of her jumps are no where near as spectacular as Nicole’s.) Kaori Sakamoto doesn’t even get as much height on her jumps. She skids across the ice. Look: back in the day, when Nicole jumped the audience went “ooohhhh” similar to the reaction Midori Ito got. But when Nicole was on her game… forget it… she was untouchable. Her pristine ladylike power was beguiling. No doubt she had those judges under her spell. People need to understand: Nicole was a judge’s skater… her layback had beautiful arch and turn out; to see her spiral in person - breathing; you didn’t have to tell her 50 million times to EMOTE, compared to other skaters who are afraid to look at the audience. Not mention, you’d be hard pressed to find a gay queen this side of the universe who wasn’t enamored with Nicole through and through. She gave you show girl dresses and ballet extension. (Nicole looks like she took ballet classes, Scherbakova needs to demand a refund from her ballet teacher. Whoever it is should be fired! Nicole was a gay man’s paradise. Women were jealous of her … just look at her and you can see why. She was Marilyn Monroe on ice without a shadow of a doubt. I can barely stand to watch ladies anymore. None have the guts to jump this high. I believe women CAN jump higher, but I think they psychologically limit themselves. It’s sad because it’s easier to self-correct if you’re a big jumper should things go wrong. If you insist on being like Satoko, Rika, and many of the girls out there now … your takeoffs better not have any problems. If so, you’re almost guaranteed a fall. So THIS is largely why Nicole was able to hang on to a bronze. No one in this competition, and frankly very few since, had Nicole’s stage presence. Nicole is the reason we have Her Excellency, Dame Michelle Kwan. Kwan knew that in order to be SEEN while Bobek was on the ice she had to up her presentation, improve her spirals, etc. Little did we know Michelle would artistically revolutionize our great sport. But never forget… the great Kwan comes on the heels of Bobek. FYI: both trained in California and sometimes at the same rink in Lake Arrowhead.

[@richat30]

Her spiral is great ... but bronze should have gone to Michelle Kwan.

[@rolandgreen7484]

the silver was between Kwan and Bonaly. One was going to be 2nd and one 4th. The bronze was between Bobek and Markova due to the short program results.

[@russiaboy58]

richat30 gurl really? U crazy if u think Kwan deserved bronze over Nicole

[@russiaboy58]

richat30 gurl really? U crazy if u think Kwan deserved bronze over Nicole

[@drsuessl]

I love Nicole ❤

[@jorgebonilla2234]

5.8????

[@3Axel1996]

@acuison1 She won the Short Program, not the Free Skate. You can't make such accusations just through circumstantial evidence. She failed to do well here do to nerves and inexperience.

[@vickilindberg6336]

This was 1995. Triples wete fairly new then. She had potential but seemed told lack the mental toughness necessary necessary to hold on.

[@kevinhebner6773]

I’m confused with your comment, “Triples we’re fairly new then.” Janet Lynn had triples in the late 60s as did Melissa Militano. Linda Fratianne and Lisa-Marie Allen had them at the end of the 70s. Tiffany Chin and Midori and Elaine Zayak had them plentiful in the 80s, followed by Debi Thomas, Katarina, Caryn Kadavy and Jill Trenary. Many junior level skaters had them too. This was 1995…Yamaguchi and Ito and Harding (with their triple axels) preceded this. Where are you getting your facts? 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

[@flightoflightning2505]

“Fairly new” What do you mean? Janet Lynn had the first rotated at ‘69 Nationals. Melissa Militano became the first junior girl to land a triple in 1971. Sonja Morgenstern was landing 3S consistently by then as well. By 1980 women were landing multiple triple jumps in their programs already, and Denise Biellman with her triple lutz and Tiffany Chin with a triple flip. Mind you this was the early 80s. By 1988 most women had it up to the 3Lo. By 1995 women were landing like 5 triples every program.

[@pedropelaez]

Queen of the flutz

[@barkingtree88]

It's so sad to see performances like this.... chances for gold can be over just as fast as they begin! It's too bad she didn't get another shot at it the following seasons.

[@scook5599]

So beautiful on the ice, but was inconsistent.

[@debsam77]

Oh I hate that for her. Just a loss of concentration 🥺

[@BenOnIce]

when a lutz changes edge to a flip jump = F(lip)LUTZ

[@gemma_skye]

what is a flutz, im so confused

[@Cmc995]

4:01 ouch

[@onetwocue]

Couldn't find crack I guess

[@enriquetheprofessor]

Was that really necessary?

[@skaterboy-cz9wj]

Nicole imho deserved the bronze easily over Michelle. I felt at least in the early stages of Kwan's senior career Kwan was overmarked. We have seen many jumping beans held down in the case of Kwan she wasn't terrrible at presentation but not that mature , yes she was very young but she like many young skaters had that coltish look which is not attractive at all and the jumps were puny or look like a bunch of arms and legs flung in the air but Nicole despite the falls had big, great amplitude jumps and a wonderful mature presence. Too bad Bobek couldn't control her nerves. still those marks and skate not bad all. I am not sure why Aissa is even mentioned on this skate. Yes, Alissa had wonderful spirals but she had so many other issues. Sasha had wonderful spirals too. Perhaps the best for the worst ability of spirals since we have gotten off topic lol is Nancy Kerrigan she made the simple, lack of flexibility spiral look divine. But back to this skate still a nice full package - the commentating is somewhat annoying though.

[@zigzaggyp746]

The hell you say! She was still developing, but her consistency even at that age was astounding. Not to mention that she at 14 had more personality and musicality that some years older than her at that time. Michelle got screwed over in the scoring in both programs. They purposely held her back due to her age despite two clean programs not missing a triple jump.

[@rolandgreen7484]

The only way Michelle was undermarked was being 5th in the short instead of 4th. She was 3rd in the long behind Chen and Bonaly which was right. 4th in the short behind Bobek, Markova, Chen would also have been right. And with that she still would have finished 4th overall due to Bobeks short program with. You seem to forget Kwan did in fact beat Bobek in the long, Bobek held onto the bronze due to the short program results and imparticular her short program win.

[@grantgoffin4774]

@@zigzaggyp746 LOL Michele was not very consistent this season at all. Worlds was the only event she was close to clean, she had numerous mistakes in both programs in every competition that year, including Nationals. Your memory is not good at all.

[@russianskatingfan]

Bobek actually should have beaten Kwan in the long program, which cost her the silver medal to Bonaly. Had she been 3rd in the long as she should have been she would have won the silver overall over Bonaly. Nicole was robbed.

[@gpaco78]

roger leblond huh? She ate the ice twice, checked out of performance and only landed 4 triples to Michelles 7 and you thought she was robbed? She should have been placed 5th not 3rd.

[@scottietoohottie5273]

Sure what did you take this morning to get a even close scenario for bobek to get the silver ahead of Surya your tripping on something!?

[@grantgoffin4774]

@@scottietoohottie5273 I actually think Bonaly should have been 4th since I think she should have been 3rd in the long behind Chen and Kwan, and that would drop her to 4th due to Bobek winning the short where Bonaly was only 4th. Bonaly clearly beat Bobek in the long program of course, but if she didn't beat Michele she still drops off the podium. And honestly Bonaly should have been lower than 4th in the short too, 5th or 6th. She didn't have a good skate at all. This was a rare event in Bonaly's career she was a bit held up, usually she is underscored, but not here.

[@russianskatingfan]

@barkingtree88 yeah she never was really a contender for gold ever again.

[@rickram1961]

I seen Nicole Bobek here in my hometown at a skating show and I wasn't impressed with her at all. While skating her program she suffered a nasty fall and had to be aided off the rink by fellow skaters.

[@BmcC102]

"I seen..." ... and just like that, you've lost all credibility.

[@waynehentley4332]

@@BmcC102 Be nice!😝😝😝

[@openroad8888]

she was always very listless in her skating. She has very basic choreography.

[@tylerchandler575]

Best spiral...easily alissa czisny..she had better extensions better flexibility and more positions rather than just one like bobek where she just flings her leg up in the air...Alissa also had better spins..fast spins..centered fast spins..unfortunately Alissa never has the jumps...

[@3Axel1996]

Nicole was really the first skater to start the focus on amazing extensions with spirals. Those who came after her were definitely influenced by Nicole. Even Michelle worked on her spirals in order to compete with Nicole. Alyssa came over a dozen years later. By that time Sasha Cohen had established a new level in spirals, which Alyssa was inspired by.

[@pueraeternus111]

The problem with Alyssa's spiral was that her free leg wasn't extended behind her hips but to the side. From certain angles, the body line just wasn't pretty.

[@janemariecox6547]

She deserved the bronze!!!!