Plushenko questions judges after Lysacek claims Olympic gold
From James Toney, Sportsbeat, in Vancouver
EVGENI Plushenko has admitted he was surprised not to retain his Olympic figure skating title - and gently fueled the ongoing debate about the sport's future and chided the judges.
TWO TALES: Evgeni Plushenko and Evan Lysacek showed contrasting styles in the men's Olympic figure skating in Vancouver (Getty Images)
Plushenko has made no secret that he believes figure skating must go forward, with quadruple jumps a standard part of any routine that aspires to success.
In contrast new Olympic champion Evan Lysacek is more conservative in his approach, with perfect footwork and effortless spins, in the true traditions of figure skating, his trademark.
The Russian performed his quad in a nervy free skate at the Pacific Coliseum but the jumps in his routine were not as foot perfect as normal, with several landings far from clean.
It was to prove decisive as Lysacek's more conservative and traditional approach won favour with the judges.
"I was positive that I won but I suppose that Evan needs a medal more than I do," said Plushenko, the harshness of the comment possibly lost in translation.
"Maybe it's because I already have won, two silver and one Olympic gold is not too bad.
"However, my basic position and attitude is that movement must go forward, never stop and never go back - I think people need to do lots of quads.
"With the old points system, I would have won but the new system is a little different. The quad is not valued anymore, apparently this is not what figure skating needs today.
"I'm happy with my program but I'm not happy with the result."
Lysacek acknowledges the quad was never part of his routine and believes too much attention is being given to the debate.
"Even though it's a difficult element, it's just one step of many steps," he said.
"I have worked on the quad for several years and I know how much energy it takes to work on that jump and respect everyone who attempts it.
"But it pales in comparison to the amount of time it takes to work on the spins.
"From my standpoint that has been such a huge chunk of energy for me."
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Should not*
Should not*
And what is figure skating?
Figure skating is defined as "an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice."
Each element of the program (not just the jumps) has a base point value, with points added or subtracted for how well it is executed. So doing one jump that is more difficult will not win a program if someone else's entire program adds up to more points. Everyone knows this, and can plan their skate accordingly.
In this case, Lysacek and Plushenko actually had the same score for components--the more subjective artistic portion of the score. Plushenko lost points not just because his spins and footwork were worth less points than Evan's, but because several of his jumps were not landed perfectly, and none were done in the second half of the program when they are worth more points. It is much harder to jump when your legs are tired, so the judges give you more points for doing so.
If he had skated perfectly, he would have won, but he was counting on the points from his jumps, and he lost some of those points by not landing them well.
He also didn't take advantage of the way the new scoring system works by doing jumps later in the program. This might be because he recently came out of retirement and did not have the stamina to do so.
This is men's figure skating
This is men's figure skating - Plushenko should have won. U have Ice Dance to put more emphasis for food work and spins.With the win to Lysacek, men's figure skating is now reduced to ice dance level.
Ice dance level? May I
Ice dance level? May I remind you that even though Plushenko did a harder jump than Lysacek, that Lysacek still had triples, which is more than common people like you and me could ever hope for? While it might be okay for Plushy to call it "ice dancing" because he personally can do higher level jumps, I think you of all people should be throwing around the term "ice dancing" to make it apply to Lysacek. When have you ever landed a triple axel?
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