Tiffany Chin (USA) - 1984 Sarajevo, Ladies' Long Program

Sarajevo, YUGOSLAVIA - 1984 Winter Games, Figure Skating, Ladies' Long Program - Tiffany Chin of the United States placed 3rd in the Long Program, which helped her move up from a tie for 6th to 4th Place overall.

[@matthewjameshall2145]

Tiffany you won this night. Brilliant skating.

[@brucedeleon9505]

Never was into ice skating till I saw Tiffany Chin in 1984 on tv. I was floored at the artistic performance she did and followed her skating even after she went pro then retired. To me she was the best. Her recovery after a brief absent didn't make me lose interest and knew she'd return. In my book she's the gold.

[@mht4908]

This LP should’ve at least been 2nd and ahead of Rosalynn’s (personally would've given her the win on the free skate), and she should’ve been on the podium

[@paolocastellano343]

Tiffany was the best and most talented female skater the USA ever had. Pure jumping talent and incredible musicality. Phenomenal posture and a beautiful girl! She is the first woman ever to do a clean triple Axel and one of the best triple Axels I ever saw!

[@zenitrulit2]

No she wasn't. She never landed a triple axel

[@Lomara-hq2yv]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXacoXSmippmjZIsi=ZYtdjpyKDQGqbFdz

[@flightoflightning2505]

@@zenitrulit2yes she did in practice, there are fluff pieces of her attempting them

[@janemariecox6547]

Love that great footwork to that awesome music So on point.

[@sk8412c]

What a lovely skater! Her every move and position are graceful and elegant. So precise and few can do this spin as well: 4:15

[@AT-jm4dl]

I wonder what would've happened with Tiffany's career if she had been able to stay with John Nick after 85 and her mom, not a medical doctor, never diagnosed Tiffany's "muscle imbalance" and then had her work with Chineses "specialists" to correct it. Tiffany was noticeably more muscular in 85 and her skating was never the same since then.

[@shihlin1]

This LP puts Roslyn and Katarina's to shame! Tiffany was undone by the compulsory school figures, otherwise she'd definitely medal here. Some what bad luck and bad timing bc by the time they did away with the compulsory figures, Tiffany was already skating as a pro. Such a sad shame!

[@metsdudenj]

That triple flip landed cleanly and Ivanova being judged correctly would have given her the bronze

[@mht4908]

And more importantly, Rosalynn being judged correctly. Her scores were extremely inflated just like Sotnikova's 30 years later

[@3Axel1996]

@libralady1010 Tiffany's 12th Placement and Elaine's 13th Placement in the Compulsory Figures (at 30% of the overall score) pretty much killed all hopes of a medal.

[@matthewjameshall2145]

Brilliant

[@barkingtree88]

5.8/5.9 for me. Best freeskate of the night!

[@lflagr]

I just compared this performance to Ivanova's that won the bronze...yeesh. Can't decide which judging was more corrupt back then, gymnastics or figure skating?

[@3Axel1996]

You have to remember, Compulsory Figures were worth 30 percent, Short Program 20 percent, and Long Progam 50 percent. Chin was in 11th after the Figures, Ivanova was around 4th or 5th. Had figures weren't at play, it would have been a different story. USA probably would have been 2nd, 3rd and 4th, with Chin getting the Bronze.

[@americanfairy]

How did Tiffany place so low after a performance like that??? That first jump aside her performance was amazing!

[@3Axel1996]

12th in the Compulsory Figures which were worth 30% back then (SP 20%, LP/FS 50%)

[@snopesshop1903]

She was the best

[@serenakicksass]

What really stood out at this event was both Chin (12) and Zayak (13th) placed so low in figures. Zayak unfortunately had problems with figures sometimes due to losing half her foot in a law moving accident. However Chins figures placing here is more perplexing since just a year later she was able to place 2nd in figures ahead of Witt, yet here she was 12th to Witt's 3rd.Could she really have improved her figures that much, or is that proof that the USFSA dumped her to support only Roz here.

[@metsdudenj]

Proof of politics as USR GDR ITA all supported Witt. Chin was screwed in compulsories

[@dougierichardson484]

@@metsdudenj She even joked in an interview with David Lease she thought her rise in figures placings from 12th to 2nd in just a year was odd since she didn't think her figures had really improved hardly at all.

[@lambielkwanfan]

@libralady1010 she was too young. The judges were telling her to "pay her dues" and "wait her turn" and all those other tired worn skating cliches. Not saying it is right of course, it is BS, but that is figure skating judging. Sadly her turn never really came.

[@johnpcomposer]

She did beat Ivanova in the long, but she needed to finish 4 places higher than Ivanova to pass her because of the ordinals. If you look at the factored scores you will see that was why Tiffany ended up 4th. In today's points system she would have vaulted past Ivanova. Witt was 1st, Sumner 2nd, Chin 3rd in the long. If Chin places 2nd and Ivanova 6th in the long Chin is the bronze medalist. She lost the medal in the compulsories, but came from 12th to 4th. If she lands the triple flip, could she have taken 2nd in the long? Maybe. But the judges still would have had to put Kondrashova 5th in the long to give Chin the bronze. Here's how the scoring worked. Compulsories (30%): 1st .6 2nd 1.2 3rd 1.8 4th 2.4 5th 3.0 6th 3.6 7th 4.2 8th 4.8 9th 5.4 10th 6.0 11th 6.6 12th 7.2 Chin: 7.2 Ivanova 3.0 Short program (20%): 1st: .4 2nd: .8 3rd: 1.2 4th 1.6 5th: 2.0 6th: 2.4 7th: 2.8 8th: 3.2 9th: 3.6 10th: 4.0 Chin: .8 Ivanova: 1.2 Long program(50%): 1st: 1.0 2nd: 2.0 3rd. 3.0 4th 4.0 5th: 5.0 Chin: 3.0 Ivanova: 5.0 Total: Chin: 11.0 Ivanova: 9.2 If Chin had placed 2nd in the long her score would have been 10.0 And if Ivanova would have been 6th her factored scoring would have been 10.2 and the bronze would have gone to Chin.

[@AT-jm4dl]

Roz should have been 3rd or lower in the LP. She was underwhelming.

[@mht4908]

@@AT-jm4dl I would've placed Rosalynn 6th or 7th, she popped way too many jumps and only ended up with 2 triples

[@serenakicksass]

@libralady1010 she was Asian. The judges were racist against Asian skaters and Black skaters for years. Chin, Chen, Bonaly, and Thomas were all undermarked due to their race for years.

[@metsdudenj]

That missed triple flip is probably what cost her straight 5.9s across the board.

[@metsdudenj]

Had Tiffany finished second, and Kira Ivanova 6th instead of fifth, then she would have won the bronze

[@paulmasterson3698]

The commentators were touting Chen as the favorite to win ‘88 Gold in Calgary. What happened to her after the ‘84 Games 🤔🤔🤔

[@trexinvert]

Yeah, I noticed that too. That was no prediction. Just a nice way of saying she blew it for this game. Better luck next time. Sad. Reality, this sport back then/still is all about right age, right momentum only one chance. For the skater it kills their confidence and she turned "pro" within 2 years, which means forget 88 oly's. Once, you go pro you can't compete in olympics anymore, back then.

[@matthough3590]

Basically, she began losing her triples. Losing the salchow cost her the world titles in 85 and 86 (where she had to settle for bronze). By the time she left amateur skating in 1987, even a triple toe loop was chancy for her, and the sal and flip were no longer in her arsenal.

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

@@matthough3590 You seem quite knowledgeable about figure skating. May I ask who was your favorite female skater of all-time? Mine was Oksana Baiul ('94 Olympics).

[@matthough3590]

@@pnutbutrncrackers That's a very difficult question since I've been around a long time and loved different women skaters in different eras. Overall, though, I'd say Kristi Yamaguchi. She had distinguished amateur and pro careers and rarely skated a program where she didn't attack her jumps and go for almost everything. She was a gutsy skater.

[@pnutbutrncrackers]

@@matthough3590 Certainly liked her (Kristi). For some reason in this category I think of how great they were at their absolute peak. Oksana was magical, but her blue flame went out as quickly as it had appeared. So if longevity is a criteria, she loses. Still, she just had "it" the most for me. Thanks for your response.

[@lambielkwanfan]

@metsdudenj Chin should have won the LP. Both Witt and Sumners were kind of blah and just ok this night. Ivanova I would have placed 6th in the LP below Kondrashova who also had some glaring mistakes and was very shaky but atleast had some nice moments of artistry and style unlike Kira. Maybe even Rueben too who had mistakes but landed some really nice triples, better than Ivanova that night. In conclusion Chin should have passed Ivanova in the final standings.

[@baritonebynight]

I thought that Elaine Zayak and Tiffany Chin were the absolute best in both the short and the long. Zayak's short and long were completely clean and Chin stepped out on one triple jump here in the long. Throw out the figures and I would have put Zayak 1 Chin 2 and Witt 3. Roz was a great skater but didn't have a great Olympics. Chin would have been a power house if she would have continued.

[@ralphbourgeois5875]

@@baritonebynight Chin did continue, she just wasnt as good a skater ever again. She began declining majorly jump wise as early as next year, and then came the bad muscle problems with her legs, mom issues, coaching issues, and Thomas/Kadavy/ Trenary all flew past her to the point she turned pro half a year before the 88 Olympics knowing she would be beat out by those 3 for the spots and not make it.

[@conradmartinez4175]

I DON'T CARE "TIFFANY" WAS THE "BOMB"💥😁

[@Beargeek616]

Ugh. Figure skating in the 80s was frustrating to watch as a fan avid to see the best skater not win. 1980 Denise Biellmann should have won 1984 Tiffany Chen should have won 1988 Midori Ito should have won

[@metsdudenj]

@serenakicksass Not true. Debi Thomas' fifth place debut in 1985 worlds was the highest in history at the time, and in just her second worlds she won the title. She was also given high marks for a horrendous Olympic performance. Chen was undermarked in 1992 and thats it, after she wasnt, many felt she was gifted the 1998 Olympic bronze. Chin was undermarked in Sarajevo then overmarked in every worlds after that.

[@ЛюдмилаБецкова-ц8о]

Чин и Коэн - чудо!

[@serenakicksass]

@metsdudenj Debi Thomas was undermarked in her early years. Her coach nearly quit since he was so upset she didnt make the 84 Olympic team which he felt she deserved to be on. Thomas never once beat a clean Witt, showing the judges favortism. Chen was undermarked for many years. She deserved the 93, 95, and 96 World titles and was grossly undermarked in all 3 (including even when she won in 95) and deserved to beat Baiul at the 94 Olympics. I agree her 98 bronze was a gift though.

[@lambielkwanfan]

@3Axel1996 the compulsory figures should have been gone by 84. They were outdated and it is a shame they were still influencing results so heavily.

[@annecohen8927]

Only if her mother has found a good coach for Tiffany because she has so many potentials.

[@3Axel1996]

She had many great coaches. As she was entering the junior level, she was coached by Frank Carroll. At the senior level, she switched over to John Nicks. When her mother intervened on getting her muscle imbalance corrected in the summer of 1985, she left Nicks and later was coached under Don Laws (Scott Hamilton's former coach) in 1985/86. After that season was over, she went back to John Nicks for a bit before going back to Frank Carroll in 1987.

[@paolocastellano343]

Her mother ruined her career.