Reporter Jere Longman of "The New York Times" called Lipinski's free skate "a light, airy performance" and said she was "composed and nearly flawless". Longman reported that Lipinski opened with a double axel, and included a triple flip and her "signature triple-loop, triple-loop combination". She received 5.8's and 5.9's in her technical scores and a 5.7 and 5.8 for her presentation scores. The final results after the free skate were close; Longman stated that the judges were unable to declare a clear winner of the free skate. Lipinski, Kwan (who was fourth after the short program), and Russian skater Irina Slutskaya all received first-place votes. In what Swift called "a split decision", Kwan's free skate came in first place because she had more first- and second-place votes, and Lipinski came in first place overall because she received more second-place votes in the free skate than Slutskaya. Longman reported that if two more judges had placed Slutskaya before Lipinski after the free skate, Kwan would have won the competition but instead came in second place. It was the first time the U.S. finished first and second at the Worlds since 1992, when Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold medal and Nancy Kerrigan won the silver medal.