Evan vs. Evgeni - The Best Man Won.
Posted on February 19, 2010 with 0 comments
We're talking Men's figure Skating at the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver, Canada. Just in case you didn't know. :)) First let me say, at the risk of sounding "un-American," that, when it comes to figure skating, I don't necessarily automatically root for an American skater, I root for the skater who skates best.
Last night, on Olympic ice in Vancouver, 24-year-old Evan Lysacek skated best. And he just happens to be on the U.S. Figure Skating Team. I've read some comments that, because Lysacek didn't have a quad jump in his program, he should not be qualified to be Olympic Champion.
As Colonel Potter of the M*A*S*H 4077 would say, "Horse Hockey!"
Along with his stellar short program, Evan Lysacek's performance in the Olympic free skate was the best I've ever seen him skate. His jumps and spins were flawless and his presence on the ice was amazing. Lysacek took his quad jump out of his program because, after breaking a foot a year ago, he's not found that comfort zone. Jumping the quad puts a lot of stress on that foot. Personally speaking, I think quad jumps are bad for skaters all around and I would like to see them removed from competition. But that's another angle ...
Evan Lysacek deserves to be Olympic Champion. His skating last night was the best, period.
Now, on to Evgeni Plushenko. Plushenko is an amazing skater, there's no doubt about that. I've seen him through the last decade, as a shadow to fellow Russian skater Alexei Yagudin in 2002 (winning the silver medal to Yagudin's gold at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City,) and then becoming Olympic Champion in 2006, in Turino, Italy. I've seen Plushenko on television of course, but also in person ... front-row seats on a couple of occasions to Champions on Ice. Now, it's true, professional exhibitions don't come close to amateur competition, but still, Plushenko's presence on the ice is solid ... usually. Last night, it wasn't. Sorry, but it wasn't. I've seen him skate better and apparently, so have the judges.
Plushenko's quad jump in combination with a triple can't be denied ... it was wonderful ... but it was at the beginning of the program. The free skate lasts 4 minutes, 40 seconds. If he'd have done that combo 3-4 minutes into the program, I would have been more impressed. But jumping on fresh legs just after the music starts, well, any well-trained skater can or should be able to do that, no matter how many rotations are in the jump. Plushenko's other jumps were OK, not spectacular. A couple of them were off-center, he was crooked in the air, and it was clear that he had to fight to maintain the landing on one or two. But he's a champion and he made it through. He was good. Not great. Let me tell you the real reason I wasn't so impressed with him last night ...
The program lacked energy and it packed all of the jumps into the first part of it so that for the final 60 or 90 seconds or so ... nothing. Throughout the whole program, a skater needs to be able to take the audience with him on his journey and for me, that just didn't happen. Plushenko's jumps, spins and footwork just didn't inspire me, as he's been able to do in the past. But the past doesn't matter, it's all about what you can do in the moment that counts. The sad thing about Plushenko right now is that his sour grapes are showing. He said ... and I'm quoting a couple of other sources here* ... these things: "If the Olympic champion doesn’t know how to jump a quad, I don’t know. Now it’s not men’s figure skating, now it’s dancing. I was positive that I won. But I suppose Evan needs a medal more than I do. Maybe it’s because I already have one.” He also said, "you can't be considered a true men's champion without a quad. For someone to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around his neck with just doing triple jumps, to me it's not progress, it's a regress because we've done triples 10 or even 20 years ago. Just doing nice transitions and being artistic is not enough because figure skating is a sport, not a show," he said.
OK, Evgeni, really? I know you're disappointed, but really?
I like what Lysacek had to say about the jumps: "If it was a jumping competition, they’d give you 10 seconds to go do your best jump. But it’s about 4 minutes and 40 seconds of skating and performing from start to finish.”
And on February 18th in Vancouver, Canada, Evan Lysacek did just that.
One other note, this one about Johnny Weir. He skated well. Maybe not well enough to be on the podium but I thought he deserved better than a 6th place finish.
Olympic skating continues this afternoon (4:45 p.m. Pacfic Time, 7:45 p.m. Eastern) with the compulsory dance in the ice dancing competition. The Original Dance (short program) is on Sunday (4:15 p.m. Pacfic Time, 7:15 p.m. Eastern) and the Free Dance is on Monday(4:45 p.m. Pacfic Time, 7:45 p.m. Eastern.) Two couples to watch: Reigning Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of the United States and defending world champions Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin of Russia.
The Ladies short program is on Tuesday, February 23rd and the free skate is Thursday, February 25th. World champion Kim Yu-Na of South Korea is the favorite to win the gold medal, but don't count out Japan, Italy, Canada and the good ole U. S. of A.
And so, there you have it!
Teri Silver, February 19, 2010.
*Yahoo & NBC