Men's Free Skate - Thurs, 18th 8pm EST

I have a great idea. In Sochi they don't have to separate part. to men and women. I think Yuna or Mao will win. They have better 3/3 combos and Moa can do3a better than Lysacek.

Well, i'm shocked by result. That Gold Medal belonged to Plushenko. He made quad jumps, include combo 4-2, 3-3 (so much difficult than Lysacek), but your GOE was too low! Evan was great, but he was in 2nd place at SP. Even more shocked I am with the 6th place of Johnny Weir, behind Chan. Wow, he skated well in both the SP and the FS, deserved a much better place. I'm disappointed for a long time with the results of figure skating, from Salt Lake 2002!

Layfan said:

Well, I guess I'm just assuming. Well betting. I bet a lot that Evan won't be showing up at worlds. Why should he? He's already got that GM.

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I guess few OGM winners show up at the following worlds, but Alexei Yagudin showed up when he won in 2002. So never say never, I guess.

And looking back at the records, I believe Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, and Kristi Yamaguchi also attended.

Eh. I don't know.

Ice-Lady said:

Yes, he needs to have all. And Plushenko has it all. Lysacek have no idea how to jump. His jumps are low and underrotated. Congratulation to Rogge and Chiquanta, they didn' want to see the next Olympic Champion from Russia, so they have achieved it. Blame on you. I like FS for my whole life, but without this objectivity I think it should be taken out from the Olympics, Sorry for it an d thnak you Sale/Pelletier

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Plushy doesn't quite have it all. He has even said he doesn't have transitions, which means he has no difficulty or variiety in his movement from element to element. You could put on a tango or the chicken dance and you couldn't tell the difference because Plush's programs are pretty much the same for the most part (though he did do a few tango/dance-y movements in this LP). So he doesn't really interpret the music and his choreography therefore isn't that great. Plush really excels in 3 areas: jumps, program execution and skating skills. Evan doesn't have perfect technique, but he has more to his skating than Plush does.

To me, Plush relies on his flashiness and confidence to try to convince people that he has it all (kind of like 'hair-ography' from Glee) - he uses those things to cover up his weaknesses.

That said, if Plush had even 1 or 2 more secure jump landings, he would have been the 2 time OGM.

Lightbulb said:

i'm not a big fan of evan, but his program was clean. the jumps were landed with ease. the skid in the triple axel is obvious tonight though. plushy- the jumps were wonky. that pretty much did him in. would have hoped to see daisuke on top of the podium but props to him for going after the quad. even when he fell, he was able to pull it all together to still give a memorable program. johnny also did very well. i would have put him in fourth.

i have a question. had daisuke landed his quad, would it be enough to be first?

and, can i just say what an awesome skater kozuka is? i know he is not at the level of the top skaters yet, but his skating skills are really sound. he landed the quad!i hope he works on expressing himself more during his performances.

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I'd like to think that if Dai had landed the quad he would have won tonight. He was wise to try it. Probably figured it was the only way he could beat a clean evan and even edge out a Plushenko with slight mistakes. He didn't make but man! what a way to leave it behind and go for the rest of the program. He probably was mentally prepared for it. (okay, I'll try the quad but if I don't land it I refuse to self-destruct.) I don't agree with Elvis Stokjo that Dai should have beat Evan. But I'm upset that Lambiel and Chan beat Dai in the LP. Not that it mattered in the end, but still.

Let's not forget, it's quite absurd for Plushenko to have tied in the PCS with Evan. Plushenko skated a far less complex program with less speed, and far less security in most of his jump landings. His choreography/composition and musicality is atrocious. And the transitions, well we've all heard that tune before, but he's cued it up again. According to the ISU's own guidelines, there isn't a single area of the PCS where I can make a case for Ev P. outscoring Ev L. I'd say the judges were trying to hold up Plushenko, just a bit. Too bad he didn't cooperate and flunked the TES.

- Congrats to medalists
- Evan, cleaniest out of Top three, so well deserved, also congrats to Frank Carroll
- Plushy, a great comeback and I really admire him for this
- Dai, also a great comeback after his injuries and I liked his performance the best tonight
- Stephane, of course a great artist, but flow disrupted several times and that really hurt the program. Nonetheless I admire him for coming back despite his conditions and you really are the artist on ice
- Chan, overscored in LP but not because of PCS, hope to see him in future with improved jump consistency
- Johnny, totally robbed, totally robbed, totally robbed, but he really gave the best he can and I have to applaud him for that, hope to see him around in ice shows, can't imagine what performance he would give and also I respect him for trying to calm the crowd, an end with such dignity! I was booing alongside with the crowd... at my home -.-!!
- Oda, I feel so sorry for him, for such thing to happen at Olympics; but applauding for pulling it through and I just couldn't look at him during K&C
- Kozuka, wow, landing the Quad, I have high hopes for Sochi 2014.
- Jeremy, good job coming back after disastrous short program
- Michal, jumps among the best but definitely need improvement in other elements. I'm so excited for his future.
- Joubert, oh my, oh my, I'm so sad, but I hope you have no regrets! I hope the media doesn't go all bla bla on him again -.-
- Verner, oh my, oh my, where did your consistency go!!!
- Amodio, ahaha, such a joy to watch. Go Florent!!

Layfan said:

I'd like to think that if Dai had landed the quad he would have won tonight. He was wise to try it. Probably figured it was the only way he could beat a clean evan and even edge out a Plushenko with slight mistakes. He didn't make but man! what a way to leave it behind and go for the rest of the program. He probably was mentally prepared for it. (okay, I'll try the quad but if I don't land it I refuse to self-destruct.) I don't agree with Elvis Stokjo that Dai should have beat Evan. But I'm upset that Lambiel and Chan beat Dai in the LP. Not that it mattered in the end, but still.

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Dai's quad and triple flip/triple toe were downgraded. That's why he was behind Lambiel and Chan in the LP.

GS is back!

Anyways, congratulations to all the medalists!

(and here's a hope for those who didn't quite deliver today, next time better!)

So incredibly happy for Daisuke.

DesertRoad said:

Let's not forget, it's quite absurd for Plushenko to have tied in the PCS with Evan. Plushenko skated a far less complex program with less speed, and far less security in most of his jump landings. His choreography/composition and musicality is atrocious. And the transitions, well we've all heard that tune before, but he's cued it up again. According to the ISU's own guidelines, there isn't a single area of the PCS where I can make a case for Ev P. outscoring Ev L. I'd say the judges were trying to hold up Plushenko, just a bit. Too bad he didn't cooperate and flunked the TES.

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I don't get Plushenko outscoring Evan on choreo. Not one bit. But I think maybe he outscored Evan on interpretation because Evan DID hold back in that respect tonight. I don't particularly like Plushy's "sex bomb" style but he DOES perform. He does fill the ice and he has that "look at me factor" like no one else. If Evan had been as exuberant as he was in his SP he probably would have outscored Plush on interpretation.

Surprised that they tied on transitions. But I'll have to rewatch the programs to really judge. I do have a vague recollection of watching Plush tonight and thinking, actuallly, I DO see transitions here... I actually liked Plushy's interpretation and musicality MUCH better tonight than in his SP.

Layfan said:

I was actually reminded of of Midori v. Kristi as well. But unlike Evan, Midori was 4th heading into the FS. So the situation is not really comparable. I think Plushenko makes a stronger case for whether skaters should be more rewarded for having difficult jumps than Midori in 1992.

If Midori had virtually been tied with Kristi heading into the FS and lost despite landing the 3a, then we can start talking...

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Good point. It's not comparable, but I believe the fuss over it especially during the 1991 Worlds and 1992 Olympics is still somewhat similar. And during the 1992 nationals they had a big fluff piece debating how important it was to have a triple axel...

DesertRoad said:

Let's not forget, it's quite absurd for Plushenko to have tied in the PCS with Evan. Plushenko skated a far less complex program with less speed, and far less security in most of his jump landings. His choreography/composition and musicality is atrocious. And the transitions, well we've all heard that tune before, but he's cued it up again. According to the ISU's own guidelines, there isn't a single area of the PCS where I can make a case for Ev P. outscoring Ev L. I'd say the judges were trying to hold up Plushenko, just a bit. Too bad he didn't cooperate and flunked the TES.

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Agreed. Plushenko's choreography is dreadful. Did he make up his program himself? If that's the case, he could have used some help.

Plushenko had two fewer Level 4 elements than Lysacek, he left off the double toe of his 3 jump combo, and a few of his jumps were wonky. I understand why Lysacek won, and all Plushenko needed to do was add in that double toe or land a couple of his jumps better and he would have had gold no problem--- even with the awful program.

I think big congratulations are in order for Johnny Weir (who I personally think was undermarked)... he really had the competition of his life these Olympics, putting together two clean programs. Hopefully he still feels proud of his performance, regardless of the judges' marks.

As for other marks, it almost seems like the judges were clueless with how to mark Plushenko for PCS... some marks ranging between 7.25 and 9.00+ for a single category. Overall, he was very overscored for PCS (in my opinion). I hardly think he should have wound up with the highest performance/execution and, especially, interpretation marks of all the skaters. Definitely a big ? for me there.

Considering how "forgiving" the GOE's were for some skaters (ex. Plushenko's VERY wonky landing and horrible air position on his first 3A only garnering him a -.36 with positive marks from some judges), Takahashi seemed to be overly scrutinized in comparison.. the 3T on the 3F+3T appeared fully rotated to me... and I didn't see such huge mistakes on his 3Lz and 3Lz combo to garner even bigger -GOEs than Plushenko's -GOE on the 3A. Considering how recent his injury was, he should have left out the 4T and gone for a more secure jump combination... that could have put him on top of the medal stand. I do hope he continues to compete; his skating is so polished and fun to watch, especially his step sequences.

For me, one of the biggest highlights was the showcasing of some of the younger skaters... particularly the younger skaters Chan (even though he is already quite experienced), Brezina, Ten, Kozuka. Barring injuries, these young men could all be major players at the next Olympics, and competitions before it. Ten did astoundingly well for a 16 year old competing in such a deep field... he just needs the finesse and polish on his skating. Kozuka is outstanding, and with more experience, he looks like he will keep on improving. It was a great preview of what's to come in mens skating. A big round of applause to all of these young skaters.

screech said:

Dai's quad and triple flip/triple toe were downgraded. That's why he was behind Lambiel and Chan in the LP.

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oh. Thanks for that! But still Lambiel was shaky on practicallly every landing. still I guess a fall and a downgraded 3-3 sort of evens that out ... I'll have to watch Chan again. I remember thinking, and I think I posted it, that Chan was totally awesome except for the fall. But I don't know if he has any small mistakes of the sort of I couldn't see.

ETA: in that case, it because more fuzzy on whether Dai would have beaten Evan and Plush had he landed the quad.

Chan is so overscored. His program vs. Oda program. He should not even break 150 if Oda got that low.
What I don't understand is Oda did not go for the quad.
Morozov must realized that Evan's skated clean. Chan got 160+ and SP wasn't far behind Oda. The top 5 hasn't skated yet. This isn't exactly like 2006 Turin. Oda did not score in the top 3 with virtually identical score. He cannot afford to play safe and hope to medal with so many strong contenders still to come.

In 2006, the strategy worked for Shizuka because Sasha already messed up and no one but Irina could beat her.

I hope this guy won't screw up Miki as well. Bad strategy all around.

I can understand Dai's quad because had he landed it, he would have gotten 9.8 base + no negative 1 deduction, which would push him to the top.

Weir should be in 4th place, ahead of Lambiel. Both SP and LP clean and can't beat mistakes-ridden Lambiel?

Chan should be in 10th place or something.

Layfan said:

I don't get Plushenko outscoring Evan on choreo. Not one bit. But I think maybe he outscored Evan on interpretation because Evan DID hold back in that respect tonight. I don't particularly like Plushy's "sex bomb" style but he DOES perform. He does fill the ice and he has that "look at me factor" like no one else. If Evan had been as exuberant as he was in his SP he probably would have outscored Plush on interpretation.

Surprised that they tied on transitions. But I'll have to rewatch the programs to really judge. I do have a vague recollection of watching Plush tonight and thinking, actuallly, I DO see transitions here... I actually liked Plushy's interpretation and musicality MUCH better tonight than in his SP.

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Ah, but interpretation doesn't actually refer to projection, that's under performance/execution, which has other requirements that Plushenko is deficient in. The full requirements for the component: "effortless movement in time to the music", "expression of the music's style, character and rhythm", and "use of finesse to reflect the nuances of the music". Considering that Plushenko actually skated to tango music, I'd say he roundly and soundly failed the second requirement, even if you ignore his usual lack of musicality.

Anyone having a link to watch victory ceremony? It was cut of by eurosport and also BBC-Eurovision. Would love to see it.

Still can´t believe that Plushy was defeated. Would have liked it to be more clearer then it was.

Think Chan had the very best program tonight in terms of transitions - they where just awsome. Cannot belive that his Transition mark was his lowest component. Think Weir got totally robbed!
Don´t understand, that Oda didn´t try quad, after seeing his practise vids with a rock solid quad.

Looking forward to Worlds. This is also going to be one interesting mens competition!!!

DesertRoad said:

Ah, but interpretation is actually a shorthand. The full name of the component is interpretation/timing. The full requirements for the component: "effortless movement in time to the music", "expression of the music's style, character and rhythm", and "use of finesse to reflect the nuances of the music". Considering that Plushenko actually skated to tango music, I'd say he roundly and soundly failed all three requirements, even if you ignore his usual lack of musicality.

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hmmm. another good point. Great. another thing for me to be grumpy about along with with Johnny being robbed. But. EVAN WON!!! Can't have it all I guess.

euroskate said:

Anyone having a link to watch victory ceremony? It was cut of by eurosport and also BBC-Eurovision. Would love to see it.

Still can´t believe that Plushy was defeated. Would have liked it to be more clearer then it was.

Think Chan had the very best program tonight in terms of transitions - they where just awsome. Cannot belive that his Transition mark was his lowest component. Think Weir got totally robbed!
Don´t understand, that Oda didn´t try quad, after seeing his training vids with a rock solid quad.

Looking forward to Worlds. This is also going to be one interesting mens competition!!!

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I agree! Even if the top three don't compete...you still got a whole bunch of interesting people to watch! And with Evan (due to SOI) and likely Johnny opting out, we'll get to throw in Ryan Bradley and Adam Rippon in the mix....and heck if Johnny still wants to compete, he should because he probably had a great chance of ending his career with another world medal.

Weir was robbed. He should have been higher since he skated almost cleanly with one mistake. Others that ended up higher, had more mistakes than he did. Congratulations to Evan even if I don't like his program and think its boring but he delivered enough to get that medal that he so wanted. I really wanted Plushenko to win and I would have given him the medal if nothing else for the difficulty of his jumps but realize that jumps is not everything and he is not as artistic as Johnny or Lambiel, however Lysacek is not that artistic. I wish that the landings of some of his jumps were cleaner and not wonky, some of them I was afraid that he wouldn't land, it seems that is what made the difference. However, he will be remembered as a great one with his 2 silvers and one gold and his consistency in jumping (too bad the landings were wonky) as well as the amazing comeback he did from a few months ago being retired to now silver medalist and doing quads. I'm so sad about Brian Joubert, I really wanted him to medal but it just wasn't meant to be. I was pleasantly surprised by Amodio and hope that he continues improving. He already sells the program to the audience and that is a good start. In the future, there will be more debates about the quad and I agree with some posters, it should have a higher value or else it will be an incentive to not do it.