How much chance you gave him before Vancouver or Sheffield? If I right remember he beat Chan and Dai, too in Vancouver....
This is the protocol of Sheffield
http://www.isuresults.com/results/ec2012/ec2012_protocol.pdf
Plushenko was the favorite in a weak field in Vancouver but he was less prepared than now. The Plushenko of Euros 2012 would have won Evan of 2010
If he wins the bronze in Sochi (which is highly unlikely but not enitrely impossible) it would be a huge victory for him at this stage, and require a phenomenal effort by him and some crashy performances by atleast 2 of the major favorites.
I really admire Plushy for continuing on and am in awe of his quads so soon after surgery (and at age 30). But men's skating has gotten much better since 2010. No one could win without a quad now like Evan did. In fact, it will be difficult for anyone to win without three quads (total). And, against all odds given the scoring system, artistry has come to the forefront in the men's event. Both Dai and Patrick have really upped the ante on artistry. Plushenko skates with a ton of confidence and charisma, but his artistry consists of a lot of (in my view) extraneous arm movements. I can see Plush making the podium if he skates clean in Sochi. It is Russia, after all. But I don't see him getting the gold or even the silver.
Perhaps you suffer from short term memory loss but Plushenko was actually the favorite going into Vancouver. That was at the all time low point in the history of mens skating where Evan Lysacek was crowned as World and Olympic Champion however, so even an aging and well past his prime Plushenko was extremely competitive at that point, fast forward 3 years and it might as well be a different planet of skating. None of the Worlds top men right now are from Europe except maybe Fernandez, although he wasnt one of the top last year. As for your last point Lysacek beat Chan and Dai in Vancouver, could he beat them now as well.
I will be surprised if his body holds up till Sochi.
I don't disagree that bronze is probably the best Plushy could do at Sochi, but does he agree? I don't think he will come back at all if he doesn't think he can win the gold medal He already has the gold, more medals are meaningless for him unless he wins another gold. I personally think Plushy will retire after Europeans--but we shall see.
I dont think Plush had a clean skate at Nationals, an iffy quad, no 3-3 combo,UR or downgraded -I m not sure- on 3z-2t, low levels on spins, and his score was even less than Euros, with inflated pcs yes. And I dont remember Dai, Hanyu and Fernandez falling all over the place in GPF, Daisuke fell on the first quad, who else? Nationals aside, it was supposed to be of their best performances. Chan's score was lower anyway.
Ha-ha! I admire seniorita's patience who still bothers to reply on all this stuff.Well, some talk the talk, some walk the walk!
If it is easy to compete in your forth Olympic, Plushy may not be interested in doing it in the first place.
Look at this:While not unexpected, his quad at Nationals did not have the height of the past, which makes me wonder if he can pull off a good second one in the long program.