Brian Orser LP 1988 World championships Budapest

[organicskating]

Great skate! And Brian Boitano's so lovely in the congratulations at the end. Could all be like these two nowadays!

[joe11880]

I didn't care for his long program in 1988.  They could have found better music but incredible skating anyway.

[BmcC102]

Only a doubled triple loop at the 2:59 mark.... the rest is just, wow.

[mlc2005]

I cant think of another male skater who put the second triple axle so far into the program.. pretty much at the end, and nailed it so beautifully.

[rickram1961]

I just love this beauty of a program by Brian Orser!

[afqy75]

Amazing. Simply amazing.

Such athleticism and artistry!!!!

Forever a Brian Orser fan! =)

[mlc2005]

His jumps are the most beautiful and effortless I have ever seen. I had not seen this program until recently, and it truly does go down as one of the finest ever. His jumps float in the air, and his triple lutz could have been a quad no doubt... stunning!!!!

[audiophile331]

The spread eagles were kinda lame, almost an afterthought... but that's about the only critique I can possibly make.

Pretty much flawless.

[QtBlackMan]

Question, who choreographed Orser's 88 long program??

[Benben35]

It was Uschi Kessler.

[rickram1961]

In two words: Simply Magnificent!

Thanks so very much for posting this!

[divinafan2]

thanks so much for this...it's been so long since i've seen this program, i forgot how incredible a skate this was. this is bar none one of the greatest figure skating performances i've ever seen--right up there with t/d's bolero, g/g's 88 olympics lp, u/m's 84 worlds lp and lipinski's 98 olympics lp. an incredibly intricate program that just builds to the end.

orser definitely had the stars with him on this night--the electricity this performance generated in the arena is palpable.

[saskiaburgermeister]

WHAT is he wearing???

[espinaca79]

He is a soldier. Can't you see it?

[TruWatcher]

Orser is "an abnormal skater"? Well, I guess so, considering what a "normal skater" is. Winning a world title, two Olympic silver medals and eight consecutive Canadian titles does make him pretty "abnormal," I guess. But how that makes Boitano, Petrenko, Eldredge, Urmanav, Kulik, Yagudin, Plushenko and Stojko "a lot better" I don't know. I also don't know what fluidity is if he doesn't have it.

[plankboi]

Yah I dont get the hoopla for Orser. He's a abnormal skater and not very fluid. Seems to just bounce and flounce around. I dont find that enjoyable. It was hard to sit through this. Even if you throw out Boitano, there are still many better skaters than Orser. Vetrenko, Eldredge, Urmanav, Kulik, Yagudin, Plushenko, even Elvis and thats saying alot.

[plankboi]

lol oops, Petrenko!

[MissFit29]

I have felt the same way about Orser. But when you look at his programs in comparison to the other skaters of that era, he was the most complete skater. Boitano finally got real programs in 1988, but before then, Orser was regarded as the best. I think many still held him in that regard.

Truthfully though - I appreciate Orser much more than Urmanov, Kulik, Elvis, and ESPECIALLY Plushenko.

[nolaughingmatter]

I almost shared the same views as you, and that is only because I saw maybe an exhibition number or two plus this '88 Olympic performance. And they're not really indicative of Orser's style at all.

He was merely skating to the clownish character of the music. I think his 84 Olympic skate shows what a complete skater and stylist he was.

[mlc2005]

plankboi: If you can't see Orser's quality than you are either biased or you know nothing about skating. Saying he isn't fluid is absurd... I've been watching skating for 30 years, and he's one of the MOST fluid on ice. And his jumps were incredible. One doesn't get practically all 5.9's and 2 6.0s (especially at that time) if a skater isn't very special.

[plankboi]

@mlc2005- im not biased, just honest. i did enjoy some of his skating as a professional though. on a side note, i've been watching that long as well. i hardly think length of time watching skating has anything to do it. lets not forget that skating was all about politics at that time. he got good scores for reasons other than his content. i'm honestly amazed boitano won. clearly he was better but the judges couldve ignored this fact & went with orser. thankfully they did the right thing.

[beatsdude]

A shame for Brian Orser. If it hadn't been for compulsory figures, he would've been 4-time world champion, 2-time Olympic champion. That's something!

[Sexilard]

The Greatest

[rickram1961]

I really think Brian Orser outskated Brian Boitano at the 1988 World's in Budapest, Hungary. I would have picked Brian Orser to win the Gold over Brian Boitano who skated very well but didn't even come close to Orser's magnificent program.

[owemunar]

Orser had a disastrous short program at these championships that put him too far back mathematically to catch boitano for the gold.

[Benben35]

He was actually 2nd in the short program. He would have been much lower had the other men skated well. All of them faltered except Brian Boitano. Orser was also 5th in figures.

[alaoopie77]

After reading these comments- i have to say its like comparing apples and oranges, really.

Yes- Orser was both artistic AND technical skater but he did score much higher in artistry. i think thats why he's known more for that.

But Boitano had the 'Tano triple AND a triple/triple combination.

who could perform 'Tano triple these days??..

[Eagle009]

Adam Rippon not only does a beautiful Tano triple lutz but also a two armed variation of the triple lutz. Ironically, he's an American skater who is coached by Brian Orser!

[alaoopie77]

yeah- its called the RIPPON lutz!

[owemunar]

Thanks so much for posting this!!!!!!

This had to have been one of Brian's best skates from the amateur ranks and one of my favourites. This was the skate he should have had in Calgary... "The Bolt" as it was meant to be skated.

[visceraltuning]

Hey Brian from Toronto, you are wrong. Orser landed two Triple Axels in his 1987 World Freeskate.

[visceraltuning]

oh, wait, never mind

[BrianfromToronto]

This is one of the greatest skating programmes of all time. If you think about it, this was the 2nd time Brian Orser completed two clean triple axels in one programme. Brian Boitano, as good as he was, never ever accomplished this. The closest he came was at the 1988 Olympic Games but the 2nd triple axel was two-footed.

[visceraltuning]

I can't believe you went there . . . ha ha ;D

[metsdudenj]

The second triple axel was not double footed, it was a flash of ice but in the replay you can see it is a clean jump

[BrianfromToronto]

Trust me. Even Dick Button - and we know how unbias he is towards US skaters - confirmed it was two-footed. Brian Boitano's 2nd triple axel was NOT clean.

[metsdudenj]

He said that on the broadcast, but if you look at the extreme close up you can see it was clean, and he also said later on that it was clean.

[BrianfromToronto]

Actually he said that in the close-up slow motion reply as well. In anycase, Brian B. gave an amazing performance. But my point is funny how things get clouded and how Brian B. was always known as the "technical" of the two Brians. But consider this:

1) Brian B. has never landed two clean triple axels in one programme.

2) In Bupadest, he did not land even one triple axel in the long programme.

[metsdudenj]

Yes, but he attempted a quad and landed two triple lutzes. He singled a triple axel. But Brian sucked in compulsaries, and for that reason he was never a champion. I agree this performance might have beaten Boitano in Calgary, but I still feel Boitano's Calgary performance was the best male figure skating performance in history. He was brilliant and error free; and I still feel that triple axel was clean. I didnt see a double footing on it.

[lenystar]

so nice, to see this beautifull skate without that paintfull 3flip moment !

Brian is the true 6.0 champion ! Thanks