Irina Slutskaya (RUS) - 2001-2002 Season Grand Prix Final, Ladies' Free Skate, Round 3

[Karosanyo]

Look at Timmy and Michelle at 7:07. How cute. I agree with everything that Dick and Peggy said. An early Christmas gift was right on!

[Karosanyo]

Michelle Kwan SHOULD have won this title! Six triples and good artistry losing to a SLOPPY Irina performance with 4 triples? Irina's skate here was atrocious. Her spirals and "artistry" were a mess.

[WickedProductions100]

How was this better than Sarah or Michelle's program? The fact that Irina wasn't steady in this particular performance just makes it so that, to me, she didn't even come close to winning this. Yeah, her jumps were high, but the landings were so awkward on some of them. The spins were faster than Michelle's but they weren't as clean of a body line, in my opinion. And that's what figure skating is...a subjective sport.

[Seresu1]

My god, I love Dick and Peggy but when it comes to Irina they are so... I would like to tell him to shut up when I listen to this. "Very weak layback"? Oh Dick, look at your lovely Michelle's layback and you will see a weak layback. Irina's one is very good with good speed, position, centering, use of arms, Michelle's position in her layback is sometimes as mediocore as Irina's spirals. Why didn't he EVER point it out? Because Michelle's an American, right? That's what we call subjectivity...

[allenglandlawns]

@Seresu1 I certainly agree. Dick and Peggy are so biased towards Michelle, they might as well hand her the gold medal. They're like Kwan's biggest cheerleaders...so afraid to say anything critical (like they do to other skaters) about America's favorite ice darling.

[MissThingSings]

@allenglandlawns AKA Getrealandsee, Dick and Peggy weren't the only people who were awed by Michelle Kwan...she won 9 national and 5 world titles...a lot of judges adored her as well! Only idiots buy into your ridiculous conspiracy theory. Michelle was a favorite because, unlike your beloved Sasha, her career was one of tremendous success..unlike Sasha, Michelle wasn't a career choker..Michelle is a champion. Her fans don't have to make excuses. She didn't need Olympic Gold to become a legend!

[frostdiamond1]

Eeeee, Dick was a little harsh there. But the criticism of Irina's spiral is merited. It really is too weak for an elite skater such as herself. It never really improved significantly either...I remember in the SP at the 2006 Olympics she had this REALLY bouncy edge on her catch-foot that was frankly unacceptable.

[frostdiamond1]

@frostdiamond1 I have to agree on the artistry as well...I wish Irina had stayed with more upbeat, lively music than the dramatic kind she switched to around this time. I know she was trying to grow, but really she's more of a fun skater than an elegant one. It's just her style. Can you imagine how AMAZING a jazzy type number would have been? Like Cabaret? She could have SOLD that and then some!

[fjn219]

I like Irina and this program, but the performance like that was just unconvincing.

[iceroby72]

Dick Bottom is an ass...

[fionamadora]

I like ira's programme so much.

I cannot stand Dick and Peggy always use NEGATIVE and STRONG words to ira. They always comment on her spiral sequence. Maybe they only get used to American skating techniques.

[SMSProductions1]

@fionamadora Well, her spiral is weak. It's not even about being North American. I like Mao Asada's spiral. It just isn't very flexible and looks RUSHED.

[zenitrulit2]

It's like Dick and Peggy follow the opposite rule, like "If you can't say anything BAD than Shut Up" towards all non-northamerican skaters......sounds so disgusting....

[allenglandlawns]

@zenitrulit2 Amen! Except their gushing seems more directed at Kwan. Any skater falls and they point it out. When Kwan falls, Dick goes "what a graceful fall...didn't even disrupt the program" Sheesh they might as well hand her the gold medal already. An absolute farce and an insult to real athletes and skaters everywhere!

[MissThingSings]

@allenglandlawns AKA Getrealandsee, etc., compare those few times Michelle fell throughout her career to some of he falls of your favorite, Sasha Cohen...NO COMPARISON! Sasha had absolute DISASTROUS falls for the duration of her career, often more than one in a program!! Truly, some of the worst falls in the history of the sport! What's more, Dick Button is certainly more qualified to critique all areas of skating than you are or will ever be. How many skating titles have you won??

[bradyachin]

@zenitrulit2 Irina's style is sloppy. Powerful but sloppy. In comparison to Michelle and Sarah, her spirals are horrific, crossovers are messy, choreography is messy and she didn't deserve to win.

[zenitrulit2]

@bradyachin

Aha....dream on.

Sarah and Michelle should have learned how to make a lutz jump first of all.

Don't start it from here.

[Karosanyo]

@zenitrulit2 Irina should have leaned to do a spiral correctly and not have piss poor artistry... Michelle Kwan didn't flutz all of the time...

[zenitrulit2]

@Karosanyo

Apart from Nancy and Tonya all top american girls flutzed.

[Karosanyo]

@zenitrulit2 It's not valid to state that most of the American girls flutzed ALL of the time...

[zenitrulit2]

@Karosanyo

Say it to Sarah, Sasha, Tara, Nicole, Kristy etc etc etc

Read carefully: ....all TOP american...

[Karosanyo]

@zenitrulit2 Read carefully? It's not valid to state that those women flutzed ALL of the time... Sometimes it wasdifficult to tell with Michelle Kwan's takeoff.

[Dylvente]

I really don't know how this skate won the free portion. I think Michelle landed six triples to Irina's four? I know Michelle fell at the end, but she landed more jumps and as Dick said (in the nicest way possible) the artistry was on another plane. I still love Irina though. She seems so nice in addition to being a hell of a jumper and spinner.