I thought as much. If he returns next season (which I'd be very surprised to see) - his second comback is gonna look just the same.
This is an interesting point. Considering his beautiful triple axle, I wonder how comfortable a Salchow is for him. There are a few overlaps in the techniques of the jumps and it could make for a strong Salchow. I wonder if he's attemtped the quad Salchow much.
I remember watching Johnny at some old Russian Gran-Prix event, when he still was with Priscilla, and TAT was commenting, and she said: "Johnny does two different quads in practice, toe and salchow, but his character blocks him from taking advantage of it".
I think he really needs to question why he wants to compete - is it because he misses the limelight/name recognition or because he misses competing.
I again remembered one thing I watched - in his show, Be Good Johnny Weir, was this scene where Galina criticized him in practice and compared him with Baiul and to his advantage... And Johnny's comment was, if I remember it right, 'I don't like to be compared to anybody, it doesn't light a fire in me to prove myself' - I remembered that because hearing such a confession from an athlete was weird... What is a sports competition if not a comparison of athletes? And to be honest - Johnny's competitive history shows pretty clearly that he is not indeed a great competitor. And it's exactly, I think, what Tarasova meant by the above comment.
I think he returned to gain a little more media attention, maybe the amount of invitations to skating shows began to decline, I don't know...
True that Yuna's comeback is amazing, but remember that Yuna was like the best jumper when she was competing, capable of 3 different types of triple-triple combinations (3T/3T, 3F/3T, 3Lz/3T), and she can execute lutz & flip correctly, not to mention the crazy height & distance her jumps got.
She landed a triple lutz jump in August in some ice show in Korea in August despite the teeny rink, so obviously she still had all her jumps when she decided to return to competition. I'm not sure if Evan and Johnny still have consistent 3A, 3Lz & 3F, etc.
I think Yuna knew that she's going to try two Olympic titles. I think she carefully maintained her shape, and I doubt that the only jump she made in shows was triple toe, like in some other skaters' cases. On the other hand, by not competing she maybe saved herself from new injuries... She's very smart, that's why her costumes and her skating are so amazing))
How could Evan relive his old glory if he couldn't win?
I think Evan could win... This Gran-Prix final gave me some thoughts - I saw lack of clean performances. And that's the door open for great competitors like Evan or Plushy, since they can deliver a clean performance under pressure. But unfortunately, Evan does have injuries and a triple axel problem, so... His win and successful return is unlikely I think
