- 8 months ago
When Olympic dreams come crashing down! Join us as we count down our picks for the most catastrophic times figure skaters fell or stumbled while competing at the Winter Olympics. From shocking slips to devastating tumbles, these moments changed medal hopes in an instant! Which Olympic skating disaster do you think was the most heartbreaking?
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00:00Too much outside edge when he's turned her forwards there, and it just got worse and worse as the rotation and the momentum took hold of the lift.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most catastrophic times a figure skater fell or stumbled while competing at the Winter Olympics, causing them to tumble down the rankings.
00:20She tripped over a toe pick and came right down and had to knock the wind completely out.
00:24At the very least.
00:25Number 20, Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lausanne, 2006 Winter Olympics, Torino.
00:33After teaming since 1995, this future wife and husband duo were ready to tear up the 2006 Winter Olympics while representing Canada during the ice dance competition.
00:56The first event, the compulsory dance, went by fine with Dubreuil and Lausanne ending up fourth in the table.
01:04It was during the original dance section when disaster struck.
01:07Right near the end, the rotational lift between the pair resulted in Dubreuil falling from her partner and landing harshly onto the ice.
01:16While they managed to transition to their final pose, Dubreuil's injuries were obvious as Lausanne had to help her off the rink.
01:31Despite getting seventh in the event, the duo had to withdraw from the competition due to Dubreuil's hip and back injuries.
01:38And that is tough to take in so many senses of the word.
01:44Number 19, Nathan Chen, 2018 Winter Olympics, Pyeongchang.
01:49This is the jump that he always has a little bit of trouble with to the outside.
01:54Often good toe jumpers do have trouble with the edge jumps.
01:58Coming into the 2018 Winter Olympics, Chen, representing the U.S., was one of the favorites to take gold in the men's singles.
02:05After all, he'd helped his nation to bronze during the team event, despite Chen falling in the short program.
02:12He and the U.S. were probably hoping that was a blip and things would get back to normal in the men's individual.
02:18Yet sadly, that wasn't the case.
02:20During the short program, Chen stumbled multiple times, failing to land his opening quad and a triple axel.
02:27Triple axel.
02:28As such, the U.S. star tumbled to 17th.
02:35However, by the free skating, Chen was back to his best, becoming the first skater to land six quads,
02:41which helped him finish first and end fifth overall.
02:44Number 18, Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Galionov.
03:002022 Winter Olympics, Beijing.
03:02After teaming up in 2017, hopes were high for Mishina and Galionov coming into the 2022 Winter Olympics.
03:19After all, the duo made their world's debut and took gold.
03:22Taking part in the team event for the Russian Olympic Committee,
03:25a near-career-threatening disaster happened at the end of their free skate.
03:29With the couple performing a risky lift, Galionov lost his footing and nearly planted Mishina headfirst on the ice.
03:41While this didn't hinder the result, allowing the ROC to win gold,
03:46the almost disaster may have factored into Mishina and Galionov's performance in the pair skating event,
03:52where they ended with bronze.
03:53Their team gold would later be downgraded to bronze due to the ROC doping scandal.
03:58More on that later.
04:08Number 17, Brady Tunnell.
04:112018 Winter Olympics, Pyeongchang.
04:14It's a flying camel spin, lovely line and extension, holding for eight revs, and then catching the foot.
04:20Having already tasted gold by winning the U.S. figure skating championship,
04:25Tunnell was confident going into the 2018 Olympics,
04:29even more so when she topped the women's category during the team event,
04:33aiding the U.S. to the bronze medal.
04:35For all her years on the ice, she has no memory of falling on it.
04:38Unfortunately, that would change.
04:40Within 30 seconds of her individual short program,
04:43Tunnell's successful opening combination led to her slipping as she attempted to land a triple toe loop.
04:49Opening up with required jump combination, triple loots.
04:55Could be costly.
04:56As a result, she finished 11th in the rankings.
04:59With a stronger performance in the free skate, giving her ninth in the table,
05:03Tunnell finished ninth overall, beating her U.S. teammates.
05:07One big mistake off the top.
05:09She missed a triple combination.
05:11Other than that, a clean performance for Brady Tunnell of the United States.
05:15Number 16, Irina Slutskaya, 2006 Winter Olympics, Torino.
05:21And all the athletic elements speak to her strength.
05:25Triple loots right here.
05:27Triple loots.
05:27Huge triple loots.
05:29In 2003, Slutskaya, the reigning champion,
05:33didn't compete at Worlds to care for her mother,
05:35who ended up having multiple kidney transplants.
05:38During this time, the skater had her own health issues,
05:41eventually being diagnosed with vasculitis.
05:44Yet, problems continued as the medication fatigued Slutskaya.
05:48Yet, despite that, she became the favorite to grab gold at the 2006 Olympics
05:53after winning it at that year's European Championships for a record-breaking seventh time.
05:58It looked good for the Russian after taking second in the short program in the women's individual.
06:03Watch this edge right here.
06:04She's going to be going backwards, and then she has to turn forward perfectly to do this double axle.
06:10Gorgeous delivery and a nice spiral on the landing.
06:12Yet, during Slutskaya's free skate, she fell during a triple loop.
06:17This knocked her down to third in the event,
06:19causing her to take the bronze medal overall,
06:21as she quietly retired from competing.
06:23Number 15, Barbara Fusapole and Maurizio Magaglio.
06:372006 Winter Olympics, Torino.
06:40After taking bronze at the 2002 Olympics, despite a controversial fall,
06:55Fusapole and Magaglio retired.
06:58Yet, with the 2006 edition taking place in their home country of Italy,
07:02they dusted off their skates for the ice dance.
07:04It started amazingly, as the duo came first in the compulsory dance category.
07:09Yet, during the next one, the original dance, it went bad.
07:16Not again.
07:17Near the end of the performance, Magaglio lost his footing,
07:21causing both him and Fusapole to fall to the ice and down to 10th.
07:26Fusapole then glared at Magaglio, which became an iconic moment in the sport.
07:31Thankfully, they made up for the next event.
07:33However, it wasn't enough to get them on the podium, as they finished 6th overall.
07:37Whatever the problem, it's no good her looking at him like that.
07:42What on earth is going on?
07:45Number 14, Tonya Harding.
07:481992 Winter Olympics, Albertville.
07:51Her opening move, a layback spin.
07:52This is unique because you are dizzy after these spins.
07:56The next thing she's going to do is the most difficult jump being performed in the ladies' event.
08:00She and Midori Ito are the only two women in the world who have landed in competition.
08:06While nowadays she's best known for being involved in the 1994 attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan,
08:11Harding was once the rising star of the U.S. skating scene.
08:14I had no prior knowledge of the planned assault on Nancy Kerrigan.
08:20In 1992, Harding was expected to be in the running for gold at the Olympics, having become a national champion in 1991.
08:28However, reportedly behind the scenes, her coach was furious that she'd only arrived at the event days before to fight jet lag and trained erratically.
08:37This was made worse when Harding injured her shoulder during practice.
08:41As such, it's not too surprising that she didn't put in a standout performance many hoped for.
08:46She can't hang on to the landing. It was tilted in the air. It's going to be a 0.5 deduction.
08:53Instead, Harding fell in both the short program and free skate, causing her to finish fourth as Kerrigan took bronze.
09:01And these aren't bad. I mean, that's a 0.5 deduction.
09:03You can see the difficulty of the triple axel put her up 5'7".
09:07When you take a half a point off, it really costs you.
09:11Number 13, Zhu Yi, 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing.
09:16Born as Beverly Zhu in California, American hearts were broken when the skater chose to represent her parents' country of China, become a citizen, and change her name.
09:34When Zhu was selected by China for the 2022 Olympics, even some of her fellow citizens were annoyed that other athletes were overlooked.
09:42Taking part in the team event, Zhu struggled with the pressure as she fell multiple times in the short program and free skates, including crashing into the boards.
09:50As such, she came last in the rankings, which saw China's third-place position fall to fifth.
10:03On the Chinese social media site Weibo, users heavily criticized Zhu, including taking shots at her performance and for her not speaking Mandarin fluently.
10:12Number 12, Midori Ito, 1992 Winter Olympics, Albertville.
10:25In theory, doing a backflip during figure skating sounds cool.
10:28However, the reality is that it could be dangerous, resulting in its ban.
10:32At the 1992 Olympics, this hazard was demonstrated when Surya Bonali did one during rehearsal, nearly striking Ito with her blades.
10:41Today in practice, a little sideshow going on.
10:45Backflips are illegal in competition, and Surya Bonali does it right into triple toe loop.
10:50And the only problem was, Midori Ito is in the middle of a run.
10:53The Japanese star, who was expected to fight for gold, struggled to regain her composure from the near accident, causing her to go with a safer routine.
11:02However, Ito didn't land the triple lutz.
11:05She's going for the triple lutz.
11:07Triple lutz, and she cannot even hang on to that.
11:10In the free skate, she tried the triple axel, but fell again.
11:13The triple axel jump, it's left her for three days.
11:17She hit one in warm-up, and she cannot hang on to the landing of this one either.
11:22However, by the end, Ito successfully did it, becoming the first woman to land it at the Olympics.
11:28However, it wasn't enough for her to get gold, as she had to settle for silver.
11:33Another triple axel, and she lands this one! Unbelievable!
11:38Number 11, Camila Valieva, 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing.
11:52Looking as though she thought she was going to be the next skating superstar, Valieva was touted to dominate the 2022 Olympics.
12:00After all, she played a vital role in securing the ROC the gold in the team event.
12:05However, before the medals were awarded, news emerged that Valieva had failed a doping test,
12:09which later caused the team to be given bronze instead.
12:13After deliberation, Valieva was controversially allowed to compete in the women's individual event.
12:18Yet, all that scandal perhaps played on her mind.
12:24And that confirms him, I'm afraid, down on the quad toe.
12:30After a good showing in the short program, the distracted performer stumbled or fell multiple times during the free skate.
12:37Valieva's overall score fell drastically, finishing fourth overall, which was later rescinded after she was disqualified.
12:44Oh, yeah. What a shame.
12:47Gestures that said everything.
12:50Waving away this past week.
12:53Number 10, Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini.
12:571984 Winter Olympics, Sarajevo.
13:00Ordinarily, pride comes before a fall.
13:03They're very good looking, they've got great speed and great energy,
13:06and they have a shot at any one of the medals in this competition.
13:12But in the case of Canada's figure skating pair, Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini,
13:17they could say that a big fall gave them the impetus to get up and give it their all.
13:21A disastrous showing in the Sarajevo Olympic Games saw Underhill slipping and sliding underneath Martini,
13:29tripping him up too.
13:30The fault was placed on both of them for their proximity to each other
13:41and attempt to do the move in the first place.
13:43Yet despite leaving the 1984 Winter Olympics at an all-time low,
13:48the pair made a return to the rink just weeks later for the 1984 World Figure Skating Championship
13:53and became the first Canadian winners in history.
14:05Number 9, Thai Babylonia and Randy Gardner.
14:091980 Winter Olympics, Lake Placid.
14:12Sometimes the fall doesn't have to be during the event in order to cost a skater a win.
14:17First skaters we'll see will be Thai Babylonia and Randy Gardner,
14:21remembered so well from their disappointment, their heartbreak in Lake Placid four years ago.
14:25For the pair of Thai Babylonia and Randy Gardner,
14:29it was evident during the warm-ups of the 1980s Winter Olympics that something was very wrong.
14:35Prior to arriving at Lake Placid, Gardner was already injured with pulled leg muscles,
14:40which was further aggravated during the rehearsal.
14:42What should have been a routine loosening up became high drama.
14:45There had been a rumor that Randy was injured, but the first lift looked okay.
14:49The treatment of painkiller injections made matters even worse,
14:53as now Gardner was falling on the ice due to a lack of feeling in his leg.
14:57Unable to support his weight, Gardner repeatedly went down during the final warm-up
15:02and left the rink to withdraw from the competition.
15:04Watch this fall closely, because it's not a normal fall.
15:07His legs were numb and simply couldn't hold him.
15:09They buckled underneath him.
15:10The pair's Olympic competition was over before it began.
15:14Number 8.
15:15Letitia Hubert
15:161992 Winter Olympics, Albertville
15:19At 17 and on home soil for the Albertville Winter Olympics in 1992,
15:25French skater Letitia Hubert couldn't have had better backing when going into the event.
15:30Building speed for a combination now, triple loop and a double toe loop, triple loop, double toe loop.
15:37Her involvement in the short program had gone surprisingly well,
15:41and now she was in with a chance for a medal, having placed fifth in that event.
15:46And these are great! Five fives, five fours, unbelievable!
15:54The second set of marks are distant compression.
15:59And these are great as well! Where did this girl come from?
16:02Hubert knew that she needed to go for broke in the long program in order to stand on the podium,
16:08in front of her country. Sadly, it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.
16:12She fell not once, but four times, and made errors across the board.
16:20In the end, she placed 15th in the program and 12th overall.
16:25Number 7.
16:26Mao Asada
16:272014 Winter Olympics, Sochi
16:30They say that the higher they climb, the harder they fall.
16:34And sadly for Mao Asada, they might be right.
16:37Prior to Sochi, Asada was the only junior competitor ever to land a triple axel,
16:43and the first senior skater to land three in one competition.
16:53Expectations were high going into 2014, but it was that same maneuver that cost her.
16:59Asada fell on the triple axel in two events, costing her a medal.
17:02However, the judging at Sochi was criticized as being too focused on her falls,
17:14and not on it being so technically difficult,
17:16especially considering Yuzuru Hanyu won gold with the same reasoning that year.
17:21Number 6.
17:30Mandy Witzel and Ingo Stoyer
17:321994 Winter Olympics, Lillehammer
17:34In 1994, Mandy Witzel and Ingo Stoyer were a pair skating team on a mission to the top.
17:41Only two years after the previous Winter Olympics,
17:51and involved in an event that was already mired in controversy,
17:55yes, you, Tanya,
17:57the German skaters took to the rink,
17:58and were expected to place high on the leaderboard.
18:01Yet ironically,
18:03just as the commentator was remarking on the numerous concussions
18:06Witzel had inflicted on Stoyer during their two years together as a team,
18:10poor Mandy plummeted chin first to the ice.
18:17Oh dear!
18:19After a scary moment where it looked like Witzel couldn't catch her breath,
18:24Stoyer picked her up and carried her off to a rinkside doctor,
18:27who confirmed the pair had to withdraw from the competition.
18:31Vern, I've just talked to the German team leader, Peter Krieg,
18:34and he said that Mandy has badly cut her chin,
18:36she's in the first aid room behind me having it stitched right now.
18:39He said that nothing is broken,
18:41but he said it is impossible for her to go out and skate.
18:44Number 5.
18:45Kurt Browning
18:451992 Winter Olympics, Albertville
18:48After suffering a bad back injury only months before the 1992 Olympic Games,
18:54Kurt Browning knew that the event was probably not going to go his way.
18:58In his free program, back problems forced Kurt to hold back.
19:01Instead of his usually packed program of triples and even a quad,
19:05he was only able to come up with doubles,
19:07and even this triple loop turned into a single.
19:09Although he ultimately placed 6th,
19:11which is no small achievement given the circumstance,
19:14it was a far cry from the gold medal that many were expecting the Canadian to bring home,
19:19given that he was the first figure skater to complete a quadruple jump in the competition.
19:23I've already, you know, had my fair share of history in figure skating,
19:28but I hate to leave things unfinished.
19:30I have an opportunity to win the Olympic gold medal,
19:32and I'm going to do everything I can to do it.
19:34But it was a fall during a triple axle that cost him a place on the podium.
19:38He was never quite the same for Olympic events thereafter,
19:41as another fall during his warm-up cost him greatly in 1994 as well,
19:46and Browning later called it a day.
19:48Like I said, I wouldn't have changed it.
19:49I went into it aggressive and just made a mistake.
19:53Number 4.
19:54Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao
19:562006 Winter Olympics, Torino
19:59For many watching, China's team of Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao
20:03would have been forgiven for withdrawing from the Paris event of Torino's Winter Olympics.
20:08They perform so completely together out there on the ice.
20:14Technically, the best pair in the world.
20:16After attempting a never-before-seen, nor-landed, quadruple-sal-cow,
20:21Zhang Dan was thrown 10 feet into the air and landed awkwardly into a split.
20:29Oh, that was a nasty fall.
20:31The throw and the fall looked decimating and forced the pair to leave the rink immediately.
20:37Although everyone thought they were done,
20:39the pair returned after several tense minutes and finished their routine,
20:43even earning the silver medal.
20:48Good girl.
20:50Oh my goodness.
20:51The fall prevented the pair from making history
20:54and beating the gold medalist Russian pair as they'd intended,
20:57but the duo earned extra kudos for their drive to compete.
21:01Number 3.
21:02Jeremy Abbott
21:032014 Winter Olympics, Sochi
21:05Jeremy Abbott was a member of the U.S. figure skating team
21:09for both the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
21:12During the latter, he took home a shared bronze medal for the team event,
21:16but plans went awry for what he was expected to achieve going into the men's short program.
21:22Though not necessarily favored as a medalist,
21:24his place on the board was likely to be high,
21:27but in attempting a quadruple jump,
21:29Abbott fell and crashed into the barrier which surrounds the rink.
21:32Immediately dropping too far down from any conversations about medal winning,
21:45he regrouped and finished his performance,
21:48which is certainly no mean feat,
21:50and left the event with his head held high.
21:52Number 2.
22:01Yulia Lipnitskaya
22:022014 Winter Olympics, Sochi
22:05Though Sochi 2014 should be considered as an amazing event for the young Russian skater,
22:11Yulia Lipnitskaya,
22:12it will always be one of regrets as well.
22:15The country's youngest gold medalist achieved her victories for the team events,
22:19for the free skate and short programs respectively.
22:22Quite incredible, the Russians increasing their lead,
22:26they were untouchable before this,
22:28and now they're in another, they're on another planet.
22:32Going into the individual event,
22:34she seemed destined to earn one on her own,
22:36and she would have received another gold had she not fallen when attempting a triple sal cow,
22:41and a triple flip in the free skate and short program respectively.
22:49She dropped from the favorite to fifth place,
22:54although few would doubt her skill and prowess.
22:57In 2017,
22:59Lipnitskaya retired from competing,
23:01and now trains the next generation of figure skaters.
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23:28Number 1. Michelle Kwan
23:312002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City
23:34Around the turn of the century,
23:36Michelle Kwan was the ice skating prodigy.
23:44By the time she retired,
23:45she was a five-time world champion,
23:48and a nine-time US champion.
23:50Kwan is also a two-time Olympic medalist,
23:53with bronze and silver around her neck.
23:55However, the only one that eluded her was the gold.
23:58Sadly, knowing full well that her time as a skater was probably drawing to a close,
24:03that all-important medal slipped out of reach.
24:10During her final Olympic event,
24:13Kwan fell on a triple flip,
24:15losing her points and leaving her in bronze position.
24:21Toe slipped out again.
24:22There would be no other opportunity for the figure skating legend,
24:28as injury forced her to withdraw from 2006 Olympic event,
24:32and retirement eventually called.
24:35Is figure skating the most injury-prone sport at the Winter Olympics,
24:39or is another event worse?
24:40Let us know in the comments.
24:42So here,
24:42we'll see you next time.
24:44Perhaps.
24:45So,
24:46we'll see you next time.
25:05Thanks.