Ladies' Free Skate - 2000 European Figure Skating Championships (US, ABC, Butyrskaya, Slutskaya)

Vienna, AUSTRIA - 2000 European Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate - Commentary by Robin Roberts and Peter Carruthers. The Qualifying Round was introduced last season to help dwindle down the field from the number of entries to 30 for the Short Program. However, most of the top-ranking skaters would skate their FS, but with fewer quads and triples just to make sure they place in the Top 15 (Top 15 from Group A & B advanced to the Short Program). Because of this, skating wasn't very exciting, so it wasn't a draw for the audience. To change that for the 1999/2000 season, the ISU decided to make the QR worth 20% of the overall score. By doing so, that forced the skaters to perform their FS with the planned number of triple and quad jumps so that the medal contenders wanted to place in the Top 3 in order to skate in the final group in the Short Program. The problem was, it skewed the results enough that placing in the Top 3 in the SP and the Free Skate won't necessarily guarantee the skater of a medal if they struggled in the QR.
SKATING ORDER
Introduction The bombing of Maria Butyrskaya's car in Moscow on the Eve of Russian Nationals 0:01
Maria Butyrskaya Мария Бутырская (RUS) 3:45
Silvia Fontana (ITA) 10:17'
Vanessa Gusmeroli (FRA) 16:21
Profile on Irina Slutskaya (RUS) 23:00
Irina Slutskaya Ири́на Слу́цкая (RUS) 24:53
Viktoria Volchkova Виктория Волчкова (RUS) 32:29
Interview with Irina Slutskaya (RUS) 39:27
RESULTS:
Rank Name Nation TFP QA/QB SP FS
1 Irina Slutskaya Russia 2.0 1 1 1
2 Maria Butyrskaya Russia 4.8 1 4 2
3 Viktoria Volchkova Russia 6.0 2 2 4
4 Vanessa Gusmeroli France 6.4 4 3 3
5 Elena Liashenko Ukraine 10.8 3 6 6
6 Júlia Sebestyén Hungary 13.6 2 13 5
7 Mikkeline Kierkgaard Denmark 15.4 5 9 8
8 Silvia Fontana Italy 15.4 6 5 10
9 Tamara Dorofejev Hungary 17.2 9 11 7
10 Alisa Drei Finland 17.4 3 7 12
11 Diána Póth Hungary 20.2 4 16 9
12 Julia Lautowa Austria 21.4 6 10 13
13 Anna Rechnio Poland 23.2 5 17 11
14 Mojca Kopač Slovenia 23.4 9 8 15
15 Galina Maniachenko Ukraine 25.8 7 15 14
16 Sarah Meier Switzerland 27.2 7 14 16
17 Sanna-Maija Wiksten Finland 28.4 8 12 18
18 Zoya Douchine Germany 34.2 8 20 19
19 Olga Vassiljeva Estonia 35.2 14 21 17
20 Anna Lundström Sweden 35.4 10 19 20
21 Karen Venhuizen Netherlands 38.8 10 23 21
22 Yulia Lebedeva Armenia 39.6 12 18 24
23 Tammy Sear United Kingdom 41.0 12 22 23
24 Kaja Hanevold Norway 41.6 13 24 22
Free Skating Not Reached
25 Sara Falotico Belgium 11 26
26 Sabina Wojtala Poland 14 25
27 Idora Hegel Croatia 11 29
28 Valeria Trifancova Latvia 13 28
29 Eva Chuda Czech Republic 15 27
30 Roxana Luca Romania 15 30
Short Program Not Reached
31 Dominyka Valiukeviciute Lithuania 16
31 Silvia Koncokova Slovakia 16
33 Helena Pajović FR Yugoslavia 17
33 Melania Albea Spain 17
35 Liza Menagia Greece 18