Can Evgeni Plushenko win the 2014 Olympic title? | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Can Evgeni Plushenko win the 2014 Olympic title?

yaya124

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 27, 2011
I think it would be great if he competed (by earning his spot with a win at Russian nationals)... but the reality is that the men's field is a lot stronger now and his chances are very slim. I didn't count him out in 2010, because he'd never had poor results up until that point, but some past results for Plushenko have certainly shown vulnerability, particularly Euros, as a result of injury.

Another issue is that I don't think he'll get the PCS that Chan or Takahashi are getting, even with perfect skates. It's become way more apparent that the field, as a whole, is much stronger and their programs are much more complex. The only advantage Plushenko had over the field was his jumps and consistency, which the other guys have not only matched but surpassed this season (Chan having consistently landed 2 quads, and Fernandez landing 3, and Hanyu usually landing his 4T and both 3As).

Plushenko could have an outside shot at a medal if the guys bomb like they did at Worlds this year and he goes clean. But I think this Worlds was an anomaly for the guys and they will be much sharper come the Olympics. You can't really base Plushenko doing well off a poor Worlds anyways, because that would be like saying Plushenko bombed at Euros so he's going to skate like that at the Olympics. In other competitions throughout the season, like the GPF, he would have been off the podium.

Really, we will only be able to gauge his chances the next time he hits the ice. You can bet he'll be competitive and do everything in his power to make it to Sochi, but compared to his past Olympics I can't imagine he'll be as successful there.

What Averbukh said is just random talk, nobody is serious about that, so you do not need to educate people again and again on why Plushenko cannot be among the top skaters again due to the deep field (let us just assume he will be healthy enough).

PS, the consistency of Plushenko is not only referring to landing the quads, but he tends to delivery clean programs. Using Chan as an example for consistency is just a joke, right?

And Plushenko, if healthy, will earn his spot by competing. As long as he can prove he still is number 1 in Russia, why should he back off? Is it logical to send Nr. 2 to Olympics only because Nr. 1 cannot receive great result?

Plushenko himself said many many many times in his recent interviews that he would be happen to be on the podium. He knows the situation, believe or not, his fans also know.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
but the reality is that the men's field is a lot stronger now

Please, this is probably the worst mens field in history. You are right on one thing and one thing only, Plushenko's chances are extremely slim, but that is because he is a very very old skater, way past his physical prime. Chan or Hanyu at 30 will be out of the top 10 if they are still competing amateur for instance (they wont be). Plushenko has faced way stronger fields than the current ones, 1999-2002 and 2004 at the very least, and still often won in his prime skating years. Plushenko in his prime would absolutely demolish any of the doggy dunn we saw at Worlds from the men. Maybe you meant stronger than Vancouver, which is possible, as Vancouver was also one of the worst mens fields in history, and Plushenko is even alot older and further past his prime than he was then.
 

glam

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
A couple of steps and a short spin that he did in the show in Sakhalin last week hardly count as "be back on the ice." Today he was added to PIW show in Japan in July. I assume that is where his first appearance to public will take place after the disk replacement operation.
http://www.princehotels.co.jp/iceshow/performer/

He did a show already? Is that really wise? Why can't he just relax and take care of his back. He is rushing it again.
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
His first step on the ice since January http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...5739403450.339756.315913233449&type=1&theater :)

Two quotes from latest interviews:

"Now doctors can not say I can skate or not. After I installed the vertebral disc of the polymer, which is fastened with screws. So far, very painful to walk. But I can not move. Soon I will go to Israel, will go rehab. Then rest and in May-June start training. I have friends - artists of the Bolshoi Theater, which makes such an operation. These guys jump, perform complex ballet elements. I hope everything will turn out."


In middle of March:
"I'll do my best whatever it takes. It's difficult to predict anything right now, it's 50/50. I want and I am ready to fight but it all depends on my back conditions. I will know in June. The doctor who operated me, and who performed a tons of operations of this kind, told me that it's a must to go through the right rehabilitation course, to recover, not to push things and not to force them. Then evrything will be fine and I'll be able again to skate, to jump and conquer the podiums."

Alexei Mishin: "Plushenko will start with full training from 17th of June" http://t.co/PScwmrZXvR Pinzolo training camp.

"From 2nd of May we will begin to train in "Jubilee" (St. Petersburg) or in Novogorsk, we will only make a program, while fully training will start from 17th of June, "- said Mishin over phone.
To the question, is it possible at the moment to say, that Plushenko's recovered from injury, Mishin said that it's "too early to say" about it.

Plushy's some Italian fans and some girls from several countries used to go Pinzolo. They will report to us.
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
He did a show already? Is that really wise? Why can't he just relax and take care of his back. He is rushing it again.

The video is quite clear. He is just not doing much. All the other men there did major step sequences and he didn't! He wasn't doing major things. He was doing a little choreo and that's it. It really wasn't much. He is taking it very slowly. He's not even doing step sequences! Him being on the ice is not indicative of rushing. It's world class gold winning skater standing on the ice?
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Plushenko has faced way stronger fields than the current ones, 1999-2002 and 2004 at the very least, and still often won in his prime skating years. Plushenko in his prime would absolutely demolish any of the doggy dunn we saw at Worlds from the men. Maybe you meant stronger than Vancouver, which is possible, as Vancouver was also one of the worst mens fields in history, and Plushenko is even alot older and further past his prime than he was then.

You're seriously using 1999-2002, a pre-CoP era, as an example of stronger fields? The guys back then didn't have to do half the stuff programs have now. If you define "stronger field" as more consistent with jumps, sure they were, but that's partially due to the fact that men only needed to focus on the jumps. You had 10 second footwork sequences on mainly picks with no difficult turns, spins had not nearly as many revolutions or as much intricacy, you could telegraph jumps or just stroke in between them, and there weren't nearly as many quads being executed or attempted.

Today's men aren't consistently strong, but it's really hard to get a clean program with quads, axels, and difficult choreography/spins/intricate footwork -- post-CoP. The inconsistency is due to the higher difficulty. What this men's field attempts would wipe the floor clean, difficulty-wise, compared to any field in history, so obviously they're not going to be the cleanest field in history by any stretch. And frankly, it's unreasonable to expect them to be.
 

bestskate8

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
He did a show already? Is that really wise? Why can't he just relax and take care of his back. He is rushing it again.

how do you know he is not relaxing and not taking care of his back, have you been in his shoes:laugh:
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
If he can regain his peak form (which I doubt due to health reasons) I think he can 100% win. I think he is fully capable of delivering programs like Dennis put out there, and with his reputation and being on home ice he would outscore Dennis by a sizable margin. If Patrick is totally clean he should absolutely win, but Patrick is not a skater who is usually clean. The other top guys from Japan and Europe also struggle to deliver clean programs. Plushy is the only skater who has shown the ability to deal with Olympic pressure.
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
I didn't count him out in 2010, because he'd never had poor results up until that point, but some past results for Plushenko have certainly shown vulnerability, particularly Euros, as a result of injury.
Some results is one bad short program this season , since I dont know, worlds 2005?

On topic, I m worried about his health that I havent be able to think of him competing in Sochi, let alone land on the podium.


Is there a video from this show he appeared?
 

yaya124

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 27, 2011
Some results is one bad short program this season , since I dont know, worlds 2005?

On topic, I m worried about his health that I havent be able to think of him competing in Sochi, let alone land on the podium.


Is there a video from this show he appeared?

I think CanadianSkaterGuy is referring to his EC2013 SP, I think his point would be if Plushy was clean his score should be still OK, but if he made mistakes, he does not have Chan's cushion to still lead.

Plushy did not really "perform", he did some steps and one spin. Quite simple movements. Even his skating speed is not fast, so I think he is quite careful with the recovery pace (finger crossed).
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Some results is one bad short program this season , since I dont know, worlds 2005?

Along with his Euros 2013 SP I'm also considering his performance at the 2012 Japan Open, where he had a FS with multiple errors, including a fall (http://www.jsfresults.com/InterNational/2012-2013/jo/data0105.pdf). And he wasn't as sharp as usual at 2013 Russian Nationals where he won (Plushenko's SP had a 4T-2T, Plushenko's FS had errors on his quad and 2nd lutz, along with no level 4s in his SP or FS; Voronov actually outscored him on TES in both segments). At the 2012 Russian Nationals that he won his SP had a shaky quad and 3Z-2T, and in his FS he botched both lutzes. Still great Nationals performances, but not the level of consistency he's capable of pre-2012.

I'm hoping he takes sufficient time to recover. It's always great to see him in a competition as it incites all the other guys to bring their best programs, and Sochi wouldn't be the same without him.
 

yaya124

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 27, 2011
Along with his Euros 2013 SP I'm also considering his performance at the 2012 Japan Open, where he had a FS with multiple errors, including a fall (http://www.jsfresults.com/InterNational/2012-2013/jo/data0105.pdf). And he wasn't as sharp as usual at 2013 Russian Nationals where he won (Plushenko's SP had a 4T-2T, Plushenko's FS had errors on his quad and 2nd lutz, along with no level 4s in his SP or FS; Voronov actually outscored him on TES in both segments). At the 2012 Russian Nationals that he won his SP had a shaky quad and 3Z-2T, and in his FS he botched both lutzes. Still great Nationals performances, but not the level of consistency he's capable of pre-2012.

I'm hoping he takes sufficient time to recover. It's always great to see him in a competition as it incites all the other guys to bring their best programs, and Sochi wouldn't be the same without him.

He was injured when competing in all these competitions, even the EC2012 he won with injury. This is more related to his health than his techniques.
So the most important thing for him is to recover well and complete so that he could skate to his maximum.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
He was injured when competing in all these competitions, even the EC2012 he won with injury. This is more related to his health than his techniques.
So the most important thing for him is to recover well and complete so that he could skate to his maximum.

Yup, I mentioned that in my initial post, that his less than ideal performances have been due to injury, and hence why I'm more skeptical about his chances in Sochi than in 2010 when he never really showed any signs of having lost consistency or injury after returning to the ice.
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
Along with his Euros 2013 SP I'm also considering his performance at the 2012 Japan Open, where he had a FS with multiple errors, including a fall (http://www.jsfresults.com/InterNational/2012-2013/jo/data0105.pdf). And he wasn't as sharp as usual at 2013 Russian Nationals where he won (Plushenko's SP had a 4T-2T, Plushenko's FS had errors on his quad and 2nd lutz, along with no level 4s in his SP or FS; Voronov actually outscored him on TES in both segments). At the 2012 Russian Nationals that he won his SP had a shaky quad and 3Z-2T, and in his FS he botched both lutzes. Still great Nationals performances, but not the level of consistency he's capable of pre-2012.

I'm hoping he takes sufficient time to recover. It's always great to see him in a competition as it incites all the other guys to bring their best programs, and Sochi wouldn't be the same without him.

Plush was injured, as Yaya said. And remember since Vancouver Plush has competed in a total of five times. Nat Rus 2012, ECH 2012, Japan Open 2012, Nat Rus 2013 and ECH 2013 WD.
I'm worried about his health, not his result in Sochi.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Plush was injured, as Yaya said. And remember since Vancouver Plush has competed in a total of five times. Nat Rus 2012, ECH 2012, Japan Open 2012, Nat Rus ECH 2013 and 2013 WD.
I'm worried about his health, not his result in Sochi.

Please read my post just above yours as well as my initial post where I said that his poor results were likely due to injury. I'm also worried about his health, and hope he'll be healthy enough to compete in Sochi, too. His result won't probably be very good, but even showing up would be remarkable -- his 4th Olympics as a men's singles skater in this day and time!
 
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