The strongest ever mens field? | Golden Skate

The strongest ever mens field?

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
There are 7 or 8 men that can challenge for the top spot, and even more fighting for a podium spot. Is this the strongest mens field ever?

In 1994- The men that were expected to win were Boitano, Browning, Petrenko, and Stojko. Leave aside the fact that Urmanov and Candeloro sneaked in. Stojko was the only one who made the podium.

1998: Kulik, Stojko, Eldredge were considered gold medal worthy, with Candeloro and Yagudin as having an outside shot at the podium.

2002: Plushenko and Yagudin were the only ones competing for the gold. They were in a class by themselves. Others competing for a podium spot were Goebel (he made it), Honda, Abt, Eldredge.

It seems the maximum number of men capable of winning the gold was 4.

In 2006 any of the following can win the gold (the COP certainly adds more intrigue):

Plushenko
Lambiel
Joubert
Weir
Buttle
Lysacek
Sandhu

That's 7 competing for the top spot. For a podium spot, add Takahashi, Klimkin, Lindemann, and Li (a very long shot)- that's eleven men competing for the 3 podium spots. Can Matt Savoie be a contender? That would make it 12.

IMO this has to be the strongest mens field ever.

Vash
 

Kasey

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I do not know if it is the strongest men's field....but that it is the first Oly men's field to be competing under CoP. It is more the scoring system, rather than the strength of the men competing under it. Because four years ago, Buttle, Weir, Lysacek would never have been considered contenders for the gold, because they don't have quads. It is only under CoP system that they are considered medal, especially gold medal, contenders. I think it is more the system rather than the competitors. If CoP existed in 2002, or 1998, etc, there would have been more medal contenders to speak of.
 

slutskayafan21

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
Sorry but no way is there 7 men vyeing seriously for the gold or 12 possable medalists. Plushenko is really the only gold contender unless he gets injured. Lambiel, Joubert, Weir, and Buttle, and maybe Takahashi, are the ones vyeing for the last 2 medals, so at most 5 or 6 medal threats. At best Lambiel or Joubert have an outside outside shot if one of them is perfect and Plushenko is shockingly flawed in his performance.
 

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
You weren't serious when you listed Lysacek as one of the gold contenders right? I agree that Plushenko is really the predetermined olys gold medalist, and maybe 4-5 other men competiting for the other two medals, and then there are the wild cards.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
shine said:
You weren't serious when you listed Lysacek as one of the gold contenders right? I agree that Plushenko is really the predetermined olys gold medalist, and maybe 4-5 other men competiting for the other two medals, and then there are the wild cards.

I thought for a while before placing Lysacek on the list of gold contenders. The reasons I decided to add him to the gold list: 1.He is the reigning world bronze medalist, 2.He won the long program at the recent US nationals.

I agree he is a long shot for an Oly gold but anything can happen, as Sarah Hughes showed us in 2002. She too was the reigning world bronze medalist.

Vash
 

attyfan

Custom Title
Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Urmanov was also the reigning world bronze medalist when he won his OGM, wasn't he? Any other reigning world bronze medalists who won the gold in the men's event? Is the men's event subject to the same "rule" that governed the ladies event, where no one has won the OGM without ever medaling at Worlds?
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think Lysacek would have been more of a Hughes-like contender under 6.0, where a fall in the SP made it far more difficult to win from the resulting position. Under CoP, I think the rest have a chance only if Plushenko is off form by a whole lot. Without a quad, suffering from a double hernia, and with a solid but not-great performance in the quali round in Moscow, Plushenko still scored within a fraction of Lambiel, who had one of the best skates of his life. I think at Worlds, with three rounds, a consistently under-par Plushenko could be beaten by a couple of skaters who skated the lights out, but with two rounds at the Olympics, if healthy, I just don't see him being flat enough or inconsistent enough to lose the gold, because I think that's what it would take.

I know there was a lot of talk about Petrenko and Boitano being contenders for gold in 1994, but I didn't think they were in a combination of good enough shape and mentally honed for eligible competition at that point. I though they'd be on or closer to the podium, but not necessarily on the top step.

I think that while there were two real contenders for the top spot in 2002, there's only one in 2006. However, I think the field of contenders for the rest of the podium -- even to get into the final group -- is deeper than it's been in the post-school figures age.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Let's be realistic. It's Evgeni's gold to lose. Over and Out.

The bronze and silver are up for the best that night. And in your list, Vash, I would definitely include Li and Takahashi.

A missed quad or a lack of a quad will give reason for the judges to not put one of those skaters on the podium. I know, I know, its the score not the 6.0s but the quad will get more points in other areas. JMO.

Joe
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Joesitz said:
The bronze and silver are up for the best that night. And in your list, Vash, I would definitely include Li and Takahashi.


Joe

They ARE on my list of potential medalists; just not for the gold. I love Takahashi, but he makes too many mistakes to be a contender for gold right now.

Vash
 

nicole_l

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Vash01 said:
Plushenko
Lambiel
Joubert
Weir
Buttle
Lysacek
Sandhu

That's 7 competing for the top spot. For a podium spot, add Takahashi, Klimkin, Lindemann, and Li (a very long shot)- that's eleven men competing for the 3 podium spots. Can Matt Savoie be a contender? That would make it 12.

IMO this has to be the strongest mens field ever.

Vash
The three I bolded I consider to be gold medal worthy. Personally I think Plushenko is the class of the field and it's his to lose, but it really depends on his health. He is incredibly consistent when he's healthy, Lambiel is wonderful but only ok on the consistency factor, and as we all know, Sandhu is incredibly inconsistent (but when Dr. Sandhu shows up he could challenge for the gold).
I consider Takahashi, Klimkin, Lindemann, Li, and Savoie long shots for the podium. Actually, if the judges would open their eyes while Li skates he wouldn't be a long shot...but that's another post entirely.
Finishing in the top 10 in this competition is a great accomplishment, really. I wouldn't say it's the strongest ever, but it is very strong.
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
nicole_l said:
Finishing in the top 10 in this competition is a great accomplishment, really. I wouldn't say it's the strongest ever, but it is very strong.
What field do you think is the strongest ever?
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
Vash01 said:
In 2006 any of the following can win the gold (the COP certainly adds more intrigue):

Plushenko
Lambiel
Joubert
Weir
Buttle
Lysacek
Sandhu

Vash

Turin Olympics will sure be highly interesting in men´s field, much much more exciting than in 2002! Several possible gold medal winners, that in my opinion would be: Plushenko, Lambiel, Joubert and Sandhu (he at least has the works if he only is able to concentrate).

As much as I love Weir, Buttle and Lysacek, I would not see them as gold medal contenders, but as very possible medal contenders. Takahashi is in this list also.
 

Bowers

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 23, 2005
Joesitz said:
Let's be realistic. It's Evgeni's gold to lose. Over and Out.

The bronze and silver are up for the best that night. And in your list, Vash, I would definitely include Li and Takahashi.

A missed quad or a lack of a quad will give reason for the judges to not put one of those skaters on the podium. I know, I know, its the score not the 6.0s but the quad will get more points in other areas. JMO.

Joe

I agree with Joubert (as quoted in a recent interview)--I do not think an Olympic medal should be bestowed on a male skater without at least one quad.
Which brings to mind another question, "Should a lady be able to medal without a 3/3 combo?" My answer is "No, unless it's Sasha with a perfect skate!" And a perfect skate from Sasha is gold-worthy!
 

yelyoh

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
One look at the Euros results and you know nobody will be atop the podium 'cept Plush. There will be no Yaga at Olys so it's EP's to lose. IF EP has a terrible skate (not going to happen) and Lambiel a perfect one then maybe not.

As for the others, I would say Lambiel has a good silver or bronze shot unless he misses the 3x in both programs and a quad and winds up on his butt twice. With Joubert's very high (?????) PCS scores at Euros I think the judges are ready to give him a medal of some sort. On the tech side, a clean quad and his level 3s and 4s on his other tech elements will put him out of reach of JW or JB. Their PCS scores will not be any higher than Joubert's though they should be as the guy rarely skates on one foot through his footwork sequences and is no spinner. So at best JB and JW have an remote shot at a bronze (though their PCS elements SHOULD make then contenders in a fair world). As for Li, I think he is the best jumper out there and I actually like his quirky presentation but he doesn't get rewarded by the judges no matter what he does. I think the podium will be EP, SL and BJ.
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
Yelyoh, you posted spoilers from Europeans. I believe the competition has not been broadcasted in USA, yet? How is it with Canada?
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I'd make a case that it is the weakest men's field I can remember. Plushy at the top, and the rest competing in a race to the bottom. The only question is Plushy's health and whether he has the same sort of mental Olympics-only glitch that he had in 2002.

Plushy (health problems, but unless he withdraws, a lock)

Buttle (consistently flawed, no quad, but is going to try one (thus spotting Plushy one fall in the LP))
Sandhu (even more consistently flawed, a head case)
Joubert (another head case)
Li (stamina problems, and judges don't like him)
Takahashi (head case, but young, he may get over it, no quad)
Lysacek (no quad, weak LP skating to Oh No Carmen, falls a lot too, worse, plans to try a quad (think Todd Eldredge as well as Buttle))
Weir (health problems, weak LP replaced for last year's LP,no quad but plans to try one :eek: another one)
Lindemann (not skating well the last two years)

At this point, I expect a splatfest, but hope to be surprised by Wylie-like performances from men unlisted.above...maybe Preaubert or Dambier. (I love Preaubert's SP with the imaginary bee in it) or Klimkin. He skated a great LP at Europeans. If he hadn't done a waltz jump in the SP, he might well have medalled there).


If you want a really great men's field, I recommend watching the 1988 Olympics, particularly the SP. The results, of course, were influenced by figures. The top 3 spots were supposed to be predetermined to be the 3 world champions that were competing (Boitano, Orser, Fadeev, with the edge given to Orser), but if you look at the up-and-comers, you'll realize that if either Brian or Petrenko had faltered, there were good performances in plenty that could have been rewarded..

Here's who was skating:

Brian Boitano
Brian Orser
Viktor Petrenko
Alexander Fadeev
Grzegorz Filipowski
Vladimir Kotin
Paul Wylie
Chris Bowman
Kurt Browning
Petr Barna
Heiko Fischer
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Doris - You left off Lambiel.

Yelyoh already is predicting he will miss his quad and quad combo and, of course, his 3A. With that out of the way, I am wondering if he can make the final group to skate.

Joe
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Joe, Totally right--I was out the door before I remembered I had left him out. And for sure he is about the only hope to unseat Plushy. What I worry about with Lambiel is the SP-screwing up his 3A and getting shoved so far back he can't recover. It happened with Klimkin at Euros-he had a good LP, and all he missed in the SP was the 3A-and he was slotted so far back, he couldn't make up enough ground.
 
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