The Competition
There were three phases of competition: the compulsory figures, the short program, and the long program. Boitano was ahead after the compulsory figures, but Orser won the short program. At that time, figures counted for 30% of the score and the short program counted for 20%. The difference between Orser and Boitano was so small that the skater who won the long program would win the title. Adding to the excitement, both Boitano and Orser both had military-themed long programs.
Boitano was the first to skate. His program was technically perfect with no mistakes. His program, set to the music of "Napoleon", showed five stages in a soldier's life. Boitano landed eight triple jumps, two of them triple Axels. Another signature move, a prolonged spread eagle, lasted ten seconds. Boitano's scores were:
| Boitano | FRG | USA | DEN | URS | SUI | JPN | GDR | CAN | TCH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical merit | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 |
| Artistic impression | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 |
| Placement | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Orser skated after him. His program was to "Dance of the Carter" and "Dance of Kozelkov and His Friends" from the ballet The Bolt by Dmitri Shostakovich. He had originally planned to do two triple axels, but decided at the last minute to do only one of them. He also stepped out of a triple flip towards the beginning. He landed seven triple jumps. Orser's scores were:
| Orser | FRG | USA | DEN | URS | SUI | JPN | GDR | CAN | TCH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical merit | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 |
| Artistic impression | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 6.0 |
| Placement | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
In a 5-4 split, the judges awarded Boitano the gold, and Orser his second Olympic silver medal. Though Orser won 4 judges' votes outright while Boitano won 3, two remaining judges that placed them with equal total mark gave Boitano higher technical mark, which was the tiebreaker. This was the last Olympics in which the technical mark was used as tiebreaker in the long program; in following years, the artistic mark was given precedence in the event of tie, which would have changed the split to 6-3 in Orser's favour.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of The Brians
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