| Place | Skater | SP | FS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tara Lipinski, USA | 1 | 2 |
| 2. | Michelle Kwan, USA | 4 | 1 |
| 3. | Vanessa Gusmeroli, FRA | 2 | 4 |
| 4. | Irina Slutskaya, RUS | 6 | 3 |
| 5. | Maria Butyrskaya, RUS | 3 | 5 |
| 6. | Laetitia Hubert, FRA | 7 | 7 |
| 7. | Krisztina Czako, HUN | 5 | 8 |
| 8. | Julia Lautowa, AUT | 11 | 6 |
| 9. | Yulia Lavrenchuk, UKR | 9 | 10 |
| 10. | Eva-Marie Fitze, GER | 16 | 9 |
| 11. | Joanne Carter, AUS | 10 | 12 |
| 12. | Olga Markova, RUS | 15 | 11 |
| 13. | Nicole Bobek, USA | 8 | 15 |
| 14. | Zuzanna Szwed, POL | 12 | 14 |
| 15. | Lucinda Ruh, SWI | 18 | 13 |
| 16. | Lenka Kulovana, CZE | 14 | 18 |
| 17. | Tatyana Malinina, UZB | 17 | 19 |
| 18. | Fumie Suguri, JPN | 24 | 16 |
| 19. | Alisa Drei, FIN | 22 | 17 |
| 20. | Mojca Kopac, SLO | 13 | 22 |
| 21. | Yulia Vorobieva, AZE | 20 | 20 |
| 22. | Helena Grundberg, SWE | 23 | 21 |
| 23. | Hanae Yokoya, JPN | 19 | 23 |
| withdrawn | Susan Humphreys, CAN | 24 | |
| 25. | Lu Chen, CHN | 25 | |
| 26. | Tony Sabrina Bombardieri, ITA | 26 | |
| 27. | Zuzana Paurova, SVK | 27 | |
| 28. | Marta Andrade, SPN | 28 | |
| 29. | Ivana Jacupcevic, CRO | 29 | |
| 30. | Sofia Penkova, BUL | 30 |
Although the overall quality of the feild was not as deep as in the men's event, the last warmup group of the ladies had plenty of excitement, with the results not clear until the last skater received her marks.
Skating in the prior warmup group, Nicole Bobek had a rough time of it, and her heart was clearly not in it. At the close of her program she was near tears, then dropped to her knees in a gesture of prayer. After skating she said, "I just couldn't get my feet under me out there. I tried but it was just too hard. My mind was racing and I tried but couldn't do it. It was too much. I wish there was a positive for me to take away from this World Championships but there is not. I want to forget it all and I wish none of this ever happened." Regarding her gesture at the end of the program she added "I just wanted Carlo to know I was thinking about him."
The last warmup group began with Vanessa Gusmeroli who looked like she might have a shot at winning, given her performance in the qualifying rounds. A case of nerves and four errors today, however, dropped her to fourth in the long and third overall.
Next to skate was Tara Lipinski who skated clean and strong and left the ice with a strong hold on first place; but it only lasted for two more skaters. Both Czako and Butyrskaya skated fairly well, but not as well as in the short program, making several errors each but still landing a respectable number of triples. Then came Michelle Kwan.
Kwan started off with the triple Lutz - double toe combination, getting it this time. She then went on to skate the majority of the program clean, her only error popping a solo triple Lutz into a double. Her presentation was the best it has been since before U.S. Nationals and it moved her into first place in the long program. To win, however, she would need help from the last skater due to her fourth place finish in the short program. If Irina Slutskaya placed second in the long ahead of Lipinski, Kwan would repeat as Champion, but that did not seem a likely prospect since Slutskaya had injured herself in practice earlier in the day.
Slutskaya, to the surprise of most, gave a stand up performance. She started with a shaky triple Lutz in her opening combination, but then went on to land all her jumps and skated with speed and energy. For a moment it looked like she might have done it, but it was not the case. Despite three first place mark she ended up third in the long program and fourth overall. Kwan won the long, but Lipinski won the main prize, making her the youngest Ladies Champion in the history of the ISU. Kwan ended up wining the long on a majority of seconds, with the three top ladies in the long program all sharing three first place marks each.
Tara Lipinski looks strong to become the youngest Ladies World Champion in history, but Vanessa Gusmeroli gave her a good run for her money for a five/four split panel. The top two ladies both skated clean programs with energy, but Lipinski had the edge on speed and presentation.
Maria Butyrskaya also skated clean but with rougher technique and a presentation that, while better than at the Champions Series Final, still looked forced. She moved ahead of Michelle Kwan who again struggled with the triple Lutz in her opening combination. Despite one of the better presentations of the day, the error was too significant to place in the top three and she ended up fourth in the short program. To win she will need some help tomorrow; but it seems unlikely at this point that both she and another skater can beat Lipinski in the long program - but not impossible.
Nicole Bobek had an emotional and difficult skate. She stepped out of the triple Lutz in her combination and fell on triple toe loop. She ended up 8th and has little chance of medaling here now, but with a strong free skate could still move up several places.
A fine performance was turned in by Krisztina Czako who landed triple Lutz, and triple toe - triple toe and she is within striking distance for a medal. Laetitia Huber also landed triple toe - triple toe, but she fell on her triple Flip. Irina Slutskaya, another medal favorite coming into the event ,fell on the triple Luzt of her combination and buried herself in 6the place.