Women's FS 1996/97 Champions Series Final (U.S. Fox)

HDp60fps format, American coverage (commentators: Dorothy Hamill, Peter Carruthers, James Brown)
The 1996–97 ISU Champions Series Final was an elite figure skating competition held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from February 28 through March 2, 1997. The Champions Series Final was the culminating event of the ISU Champions Series, which consisted of Skate America, Skate Canada International, Nations Cup, Trophée Lalique, Cup of Russia, and NHK Trophy competitions. The top six skaters from each discipline competed in the final. Ladies/Women's free skate (FS) performances, marked with (^) below:
Rank Name Nation TFP SP FS^
1 Tara Lipinski United States 1.5 1 1^
2 Michelle Kwan United States 3.5 3 2^
3 Irina Slutskaya Russia 5.0 4 3^
4 Maria Butyrskaya Russia 5.0 2 4^
5 Olga Markova Russia 7.5 5 5^
6 Tonia Kwiatkowski United States 9.0 6 6^ (partial only)
-----------------
LIPINSKI POISED TO BECOME YOUNGEST WORLD CHAMP
By P. Hersh and Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: March 4, 1997 at 1:00 AM CST |

Tara Lipinski as the youngest world figure skating singles champion in history?

A month ago, that seemed impossible. Now, two weeks before the 1997 world meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, it has become plausible.

In a two-week span, Lipinski, 14, has twice beaten U.S. countrywoman and reigning world champion Michelle Kwan. In winning the Champions Series Final on Saturday night, Lipinski also defeated Russians Irina Slutskaya, the reigning European champion and 1996 world bronze medalist, and Maria Butryskaya, a two-time national champion.

“This is a shock and a surprise, but it’s great,” said Lipinski, still somewhat impervious to the fuss she has caused.

With Kwan, 16, reeling through a period of physical changes and self-doubt and the condition of China’s Lu Chen still uncertain, Lipinski has a chance to replace Norway’s Sonja Henie (1927) as the youngest winner of a world singles title.

“I’m not going to worlds to win or even make the (medal) podium,” said Lipinski, 15th in her world-meet debut last year. “Hopefully I can finish higher. Eighth, seventh, fifth–that would be fine with me.”

Winning the worlds–or even winning a medal–would make Lipinski into a gold-medal contender at the 1998 Winter Games.

Before Lipinski became the youngest U.S. singles champion last month in Nashville, her coach, Richard Callaghan, was talking only about having her “be respectable” in the next Winter Games while looking toward the 2002 Games. Much as he and Lipinski want to keep such a reasonable approach, they are being overtaken by events.

One is Kwan’s sudden change from a skater who so rarely made mistakes she seemed unbeatable to one who makes spectators hold their breath on every jump. Another is Slutskaya’s struggle to cope with her obvious growing pains at age 18–and Slutskaya is the best of a weak European field.

Under the current circumstances, China’s Chen, the 1995 world champion and 1996 runner-up, would be a heavy favorite at worlds–if her situation weren’t such a mystery.

Friction with her longtime coach, Li Mingzu, and her national sports authorities led the Chinese government to demand the skater and coach return to China from California in September.

Chen has been out of China only once since, coming to the Skate Canada event of the Champions Series in early November before withdrawing with a foot injury. She went on to withdraw from the Nations Cup event in Germany and a couple of open events.

Her first serious competition of the year apparently will be in the women’s qualifying round at worlds next Monday.

All that leaves the possibility Japan will hear shouts of Tara! Tara! Tara! at its Nagano Winter Olympics.

Play money: Lipinski collected a $50,000 first prize and a $10,000 qualifying bonus from her Champions Series Final victory. Asked by reporters what she would do with the $50,000, she had no answer other than surprise about the amount.

“Is it really that much?” Lipinski asked Callaghan after the reporters left.

Lipinski’s winnings from the Champions Series–in which she also had two seconds and a third–came to $110,000. She may have already doubled that this season with income from exhibitions and open competitions, and she could bank another $150,000 to $200,000 on the Tour of World and Olympic Champions this spring.

Lipinski, a New Jersey native, lives with her mother near Detroit (where Callaghan coaches) while her father stays behind in Houston for his job. The financial consequences of that separation are diminishing as Lipinski becomes a well-paid professional athlete, like most of the other leading skaters who will compete in Nagano.

The difference is her age and size (4 feet 8 inches and 74 pounds) makes her the larger-than-life darling of the sport. Her agent, Mike Burg, has already been swamped with offers for Lipinski, who already has one clothing deal.
----------
#figureskating #フィギュアスケート .
event playlist:    • 1996-97 Champions Series Final (Hamilton, ...