Elvis didn't say Mao deserved to win because of one jump. He just said the gap should be closer, which is not different from what a lot of people here think.
Here's what's been bothering me about Elvis and everyone saying these things.
The current base values are not secret. Why did he and others not voice these concerns the last time the ISU convened? Doing it after the Olympics are finished when the current champions won using programs developed under the current system sounds like sour grapes. Even if it isn't, it SOUNDS like it.
I wish people would instead be specific, like "the specific judging I take issue with is the GOE on Evan's 2nd triple axel, which should have been -1.56 instead of -0.56 because he pitched forward so much, and Evgeny should have received +2 instead of +1 GOE on his double axel because of the height, and if they had graded GOE correctly Evgeni would have won."
I'm tired of hearing Elvis say that base values for quads and 3A are not enough, the media does not adjust base values, don't bring these concerns to them. Either say which specific GOE, levels, or PCs were not called correctly AND how that would have affected the outcome or don't address the results.
The judges didn't "choose" Evan or Yu-Na over Evgeny or Mao, it was the sum of many elements and I love the breakdown of the protocols and arguing over whether each PCs was right and debating whether edge or rotation calls were correct but that's where this discussion has to be, at the protocols, not the final result.
I understand the frustration of inconsistency across competitions on GOE, PCs, and edge and rotation calls, but I thought Kristi Yamaguchi addressed it well on the UniversalSports Review & Preview show when she said sometimes you are overscored and sometimes you are underscored but over your career it tends to even out. I know that's tough if you think you're underscored at the Olympics instead of some GP cup, but I would hope skaters would do everything within their control to not give the judges ANY excuse to underscore them with a program layout to maximize points within the CURRENT ISU system, and land every jump with the correct edge, rotation, and fast and smooth landings. With the example of Evgeny(not to pick on him but his silver is the one most talked about), he did not do that. He did not have as good a COP program as he could have and his skate could have been better. That was within his control, not the judges scores. Evgeny and other skaters should look back at his FS and figure out what he could have done or performed differently to get higher scores, not complain that the judging was subjective.