- Joined
- May 7, 2008
It's kinda funny how so many of us are formerly Team Yagudin but nostalgia is really making me love Plush these days. Also my respect for him grew ten fold after I heard he signed the petition opposing the anti-gay law in Russia.
I'm a far bigger Yagudin fan, but I don't see how anyone wouldn't be at least a tiny bit jealous of Plushenko's huge achievements and his status in Russia.
Also the whole daddy issues with Mischin.
I wish them both well in whatever they're doing now. I hope that Plush can find a niche outside the skating world to be successful in.
NOSKATES! Don't you understand? He is succesful what he is doing..much more than Yagudin.. and he has 4 sons..and they want two daughters too.. so he will be very busy..
Who has 4 sons?? Plushenko?? I thought he had 2 sons.
You know how people in Russia tired from Plushenko and his wife and constant scandals that follow them last few years. A lot of us are watching with disgust the development of their soap opera
You registered now..this is your task? Are you Zhirinovsky's man? I read many russian articles and opinions...very interesting situation...look at Zhirinovsky's life and principle, disgusting...and everybody knows he has a personal game with Yana...You know how people in Russia tired from Plushenko and his wife and constant scandals that follow them last few years. A lot of us are watching with disgust the development of their soap opera
They're probably like the Posh and Beckham of Russia. A lot of overexposure.
Russia didn't need his help. Even with Voronov they'd have a chance.
Emm ..mens competition was the first one out of all the disciplines, how would it work if Kovtun was 4th lets say in sp, earning 7 points, meaning that Chan and the two skaters above had already higher marks and the 3 discipnines after had the pressure to skate their best, when Team event started it was not such clear Russia would get the Gold, especially if they had Chan on Lp, or Abott skating to his potential, so leave aside the ticket sales, all the international media attention, the ambiance of the arena screaming "Zenya" all the time and him encouraging all skaters after him, prompting the audience to clap louder, the skaters themselves said that when they saw Plushenko killing it in sp they felt like doing their best not to let him down, he was the one having the most experience of Olys, he was a great leader on the team even if Bobrova was the captain. After he skated Fs they all went and hug, it was two disciplines out of their way, you could see them already relaxed in the booth celebrating, by Lipnitskaya's skate they had a party! As much I liked Voronov and Menshov at Euros, I think Plush did the best he could in Team event.
I also think he needs an oscar if he failed those axels on purpose, cause I literally heard a crack so to speak, I also think it needs guts to go and withdraw in front of home crowd, history repeating itself, I would prefer to splat than dare do this, anyway I dont believe he injured himself then, I think team event knocked him out, he was the only man to do both sp and lp, which would be fine if he was healthy enough. I find his critics really small and trying to belittle the power of will of this athlete, at this age and this condition he became competitive once more, if he really could skate he would, even if his skate is not on par with Hanyu and Chan, at least he would have fought for this Olympic medal which I cant say for almost anyone in the free.
I really do not understand why Plush gets all this blame. It was clear from the beginning, from the way the event was scheduled and the rule for replacements, that Russia had indeed some alternatives but all of them for the same result: the team medal. The Russian man, no matter who, was doomed to skate 4 programs (2 SP-s and 2 LPs) and, even worse, to compete 2 days in a row after having competed in both events in the team competition!
This has never happened before and no other skater had to skate so many events at one competition, with this schedule from hell! So why would anyone have these unrealistic expectations for Plush, a 31 y.o skater?
The Russian Federation absolutely knew this but took the best decision for the team, especially considering that the men SP was the first event and set the tone for the entire team. Plush did great, delivered and I am sure that the federation is happy. Moreover, this gold medal for Plush consolidated his legendary status which after all is quite pleasant for mother Russia.
Had Russia used the injury excuse to replace Plush with Kovtun, I am sure that all hell would have broken loose and might have antagonized the entire skating world, including the judges – not good at all for the other individual events.
The Russian Federation was astonishingly clever for not replacing Plush: he is now getting all the blame but the Federation is a delicate, innocent pansy
I agree with you on both points. First, it looks with hindsight as if Russia was assured of the team gold, but if things had gone down as you say, that might not have been the actual outcome.
More than that, Plushy galvanized the entire event and gave it more impact and validity. After all, this is the first time team skating has been featured. If more skaters had done a mediocre job, it would seem almost like a cheesefest and maybe unworthy of remaining an Olympic event.
And then there's what we know of Plushy's character. This is just not a guy who gives up, and he's especially not a guy who gives up his place in the spotlight. He has lived to skate for more than half his life. Now, as well as trying to defeat the rest of the world, he wanted the satisfaction of defeating Father Time and also his own physical problems. And he almost did it, too!