Is Plushenko Too Old For This Sport? | Golden Skate

Is Plushenko Too Old For This Sport?

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
It was sad to see Plushy skate injured and perform far below his high standard at Europeans. He has now withdrawn due to injury. I think the sport is so hard on the body that for someone who has taken a beating from 20+ years of intense training is too much. I admire that he wants to skate in Sochi but it seems like a bad idea to continue training to compete at the highest levels when he can do permanent damage to his knees, hips, back, etc. He has won EVERYTHING in the sport already so I just question if skating an Olympics in your home country is worth the risk.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Last year he won euros very easily after the fs. He won it very clearly and it was only a year ago. Maybe the problems have really suddenly deteriorated unfixibly? That the issues now are just too great. He said the surgeries went well! And at the Russian nationals he did 4t and 3a. Maybe he just Wasn't prepared Enough. He just did these elements in December? Maybe this it but he just did the stuff!
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Last year he won euros very easily after the fs. He won it very clearly and it was only a year ago. Maybe the problems have really suddenly deteriorated unfixibly? That the issues now are just too great. He said the surgeries went well! And at the Russian nationals he did 4t and 3a. Maybe he just Wasn't prepared Enough. He just did these elements in December? Maybe this it but he just did the stuff!

He won Europeans last year since it was a horribly skated event. This year even if he skated well he would likely have found himself behind Fernandez, Amodio, and possibly Joubert if they mantain their SP level of skating in the LP, and yet those two guys (Amodia especialy) are way behind Takahashi, Hanyu, and Chan in the World pecking order now. It isnt hard to dominate an event where all you have to beat is Gaschinski.

I agree he should retire. Too many years of injuries and pounding on the body and knees doing those quad jumps. It is too big a health risk just for a chance to come 6th at the Olympics.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Lynn Rutherford: "No. He will be there in Sochi if he can walk. Great, great champion, IMO the greatest. But no one lasts forever"
 

wallylutz

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Last year he won euros very easily after the fs. He won it very clearly and it was only a year ago. Maybe the problems have really suddenly deteriorated unfixibly? That the issues now are just too great. He said the surgeries went well! And at the Russian nationals he did 4t and 3a. Maybe he just Wasn't prepared Enough. He just did these elements in December? Maybe this it but he just did the stuff!

I don't know if Plushenko is too old or not, only he knows how he feels and we should respect him for whatever decisions he makes regarding his future in this sport. That said, to compare this year to last year's Euro would be a mistake. The standards of men skating have risen rapidly. Last year, Patrick Chan could probably clean up the competition in his sleep - this year, it's a lot harder. Even if Plushenko was clean today, he still wouldn't have been in the top 3 after the SP without a Quad. So at best, his SP ranking would have risen by two and a still about 10 points behind the #1 and 2 after the SP. In other words, his chance of winning this year's Euro is slim to begin with. And the competition at Euro isn't even the strongest he will have to face. This still feels just a like national championship to him, where he made two major errors but only one was properly punished (the fall) but the other one (solo jump not preceding by connecting steps) was unjustifiably ignored by 8 of the 9 judges. So if this competition is already too challenging for him, imagine at Worlds or Olympics where the whole contingent of Japanese and North American men descending to the ice and land Quad after Quad - plus the judges there will likely be a lot more strict and less forgiving about major errors. He practically stands no chance. So if he is injured, he ought to take this opportunity to reassess his plans and also for the Russian Fed to ponder carefully what they should do re: the future of men's skating in Russia - not counting on Plushenko to recapture their past glory.
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
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Joined
May 19, 2011
I think so but it's not our call.

Don't worry. His body will let him know once it has had enough...it's been speaking all season, so my guess is it's screaming at him now...

Plushy ain't no spring chicken. If he wants to be able to walk for the next 50+ it may be time to call it quits.
 

Dragonlady

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
Each of Plushenko's comebacks has been shorter than the last. His body has had enough but he's not listening to it. His knees have been aging in dog years since he started doing 3A's and quads, and each comeback attempt has ended in surgery.

I doubt that we will see him in Socci. Frankly, I was surprised he made it to Vancouver, but he did and he skated amazingly well, all things considered. But the knees are done.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Hmmm.... I wouldn't start ordering the flowers and wreaths for the (figurative) funeral just yet if I were you people - and don't put in too much work on the eulogies (complete with backhanded compliments or not). This is Plushy we're talking about.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Hmmm.... I wouldn't start ordering the flowers and wreaths for the (figurative) funeral just yet if I were you people - and don't put in too much work on the eulogies (complete with backhanded compliments or not). This is Plushy we're talking about.

So true!! There is already nonsense!
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
He won Europeans last year since it was a horribly skated event. This year even if he skated well he would likely have found himself behind Fernandez, Amodio, and possibly Joubert if they mantain their SP level of skating in the LP, and yet those two guys (Amodia especialy) are way behind Takahashi, Hanyu, and Chan in the World pecking order now. It isnt hard to dominate an event where all you have to beat is Gaschinski.

I agree he should retire. Too many years of injuries and pounding on the body and knees doing those quad jumps. It is too big a health risk just for a chance to come 6th at the Olympics.

This year Amodio and especially Fernadez have raised the bar. By the way it was a pleasure to watch Morosov looking at Fernadez's Sp:biggrin:

Plushenko last year had won 84 points in sp with no quad and skating to second *I think* group. His Lp with one quad was 176+ regardless of what others did there.. I m not sure what his goal is in Sochi, maybe to skate in front of home crowd and say goodbye? It is his to decide. Do you wish Takahashi to retire being 28 next year in his third Olys? No.
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
The way he is now reminds me of Stojko in 2002. I think he can still compete in the next Olympics, but I think he'll get something like 8th-10th place. Seeing him skate now just makes me think of Elvis's programs at the 2002 Olympics, where he finished at the bottom of the top ten. I don't think he'll contend with people like Takahashi, Chan, Hanyu, Amodio, Fernandez or even Joubert (who seems back on the rise). He'll be hard pressed to beat someone like Jeremy Abbott or Michal Brezina.. even Kevin Reynolds.
 

figuristka

Medalist
Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Its not just about age. He skated fairly well the last season he competed and even Russian Nationals this year. He still has the drive and has always been strong mentally. If his body can hold up and he has time to prepare i think he will still be in Sochi and will be top 5. If he has serious injures i think he shouldn't risk it. Got to respect him for trying though i worry he does himself some damage.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I take no joy in watching his considerable gifts curtailed by injuries. He is always an asset to skating, and it will be a lesser sport without him. I'd love for him to spare his body, but it doesn't seem as though he is able to call it quits. It's not our call, of course, but I do hope he figures out the best path for himself.

I went through this with Michelle. It's a sad truth about most sports that someone can be old in his or her late twenties...an age when most of us were still babies in our chosen professions.
 
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let`s talk

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Sep 10, 2009
Even if Plushenko was clean today, he still wouldn't have been in the top 3 after the SP without a Quad. So at best, his SP ranking would have risen by two and a still about 10 points behind the #1 and 2 after the SP. In other words, his chance of winning this year's Euro is slim to begin with.
How can anyone know that and where is the logic in it? First, if he were not injuried, he would skate with quad or more likely a quad combo in SP which neither Javi nor Amodio performed. Second, no one knows how the competition would go if Plu was at his best. Remember Shefield. Maybe again they all got "boo-ed" like it happen last season. Pretty much the same can be said about Worlds- the outcome is unknown. Nothing is more hillarious than to read the stuff like "the skater will land, skate, do, etc. this and that." Because no one can know that untill the competition comes.
 

wallylutz

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
How can anyone know that and where is the logic in it? First, if he were not injuried, he would skate with quad or more likely a quad combo in SP which neither Javi nor Amodio performed. Second, no one knows how the competition would go if Plu was at his best. Remember Shefield. Maybe again they all got "boo-ed" like it happen last season. Pretty much the same can be said about Worlds- the outcome is unknown. Nothing is more hillarious than to read the stuff like "the skater will land, skate, do, etc. this and that." Because no one can know that untill the competition comes.

I think that's a big "If". It's same as saying if Plushenko can return to his body at 22 year old, then none of these guys can touch him. Plus, I was told that Plushenko is not exactly injured because his back problem has always been there - it's an old problem that was never properly healed. Then, despite everything, he didn't have trouble - I was told - with Quad at the Russian Nationals. So given that this is not a new injury and his condition is more or less the same as a month ago, then I don't understand why you are blaming his lack of a Quad on an old problem that he has been living with for quite some time?

But more importantly, he didn't plan on a Quad combo today so let's try not to change the history and said he would have. Why didn't he plan a Quad combo, we will never know. Presumably, he did the same thing last year at Euros so it may simply be a strategic choice - not because he is unable to do the Quad.

In light of his planned elements, even if he had executed everything accordingly as planned minus the fall on the Triple Axel, one can extrapolate his approximate TES by adding back the points he would likely have earned without the fall and adjust for other factors to reach a fairly tight and narrow band of marks and conclude he will still not be higher than 4th. That's what I did in my head. You do a little math and you get to a range. If the higher end of the range is still below the marks received by the 3rd place finisher, then yep, it's safe to presume he will be no higher than 4th at a very good probability.
 

LRK

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
You were told - by whom? You keep suggesting that Plushy is malingering. "If indeed he is injured" - IF?

Okay, let's find out shall we? Contrary to what wallylutz may or may not have "been told" - how many here think that Plushy is NOT injured?

And this is a genuine question - let's put an end to it once and for all.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Its not just about age. He skated fairly well the last season he competed and even Russian Nationals this year. He still has the drive and has always been strong mentally. If his body can hold up and he has time to prepare i think he will still be in Sochi and will be top 5. If he has serious injures i think he shouldn't risk it. Got to respect him for trying though i worry he does himself some damage.

The injuries are directly related to age and this long competing at top level amateur competition, and this long attempting and doing quads though. You cant make them exclusive of the other.
 
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