Boitano skated a clean, technically excellent long program, with eight triple jumps, including two axels, and a triple flip-triple toe loop combination. Landing his second triple axel jump cleanly was probably a critical factor in the battle. Orser made one small mistake on a jump and omitted his planned second triple axel. Boitano won the battle in a 5–4 split. It was later discovered that the Canadian Figure Skating Association had engaged in "vote trading" with several countries on the judging panel, particularly East Germany and the USSR. This ultimately backfired, as the Soviet judge refused to follow this agreement and voting "with his conscience," placing Boitano first. Had he followed his federation's directive, Boitano would have lost the gold medal. The judge was promptly suspended by his federation. Experts questioned why the scores were so close between the two skaters because Boitano had two triple axels, two triple flips and a triple triple combination, elements that were not included in Orser's program.
Boitano skated a clean technically excellent long program, with eight triple jumps, including two axels, and a triple flip-triple toe loop combination. Landing his second triple axel jump cleanly was probably a critical factor in the battle. Orser made one small mistake on a jump and omitted his planned second triple axel. Boitano won the battle in a 5–4 split. It was later discovered that the Canadian Figure Skating Association had engaged in "vote trading" with several countries on the judging panel, particularly East Germany and the USSR. This ultimately backfired as the Soviet judge refused to follow this agreement and voting "with his conscience," placing Boitano first. Had he followed his federation's directive, Boitano would have lost the gold medal. The judge was promptly suspended by his federation. Experts questioned why the scores were so close between the two skaters because Boitano had two triple axels, two triple flips and a triple triple combination, elements that were not included in Orser's program