- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
"Can Todd Eldredge close the gap on Alexei Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko?" That was a question I asked myself when I attended the 2001 Worlds in Vancouver. I was there when Todd skated with a flying speed, faster than his rivals if not everyone in the competition, and with passion and desire throughout his three phases of competition (qualifying, short, free). I was there when the audience gave him a standing ovation and booed at the scores he received for his near perfect free skate wherein the only "error" was his downgrading the opening quad to a clean triple (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZyj0DM_5o). Alexei Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko had already skated earlier. "The judges are missing the point about Presentation," said the commentator. I was there. I knew then that a new judging system was needed.
Can Takahashi close the gap on Patrick Chan?
Well, if Takahashi has a near perfect skate as Todd had in 2001 Worlds and is still beaten in PE by someone who has three visible flaws, then I will say another new judging system is needed.
A clean Eldredge couldnt even ever beat Stojko without a quad (if he did all his triples). Of course he was never going to be competitive with Yagudin and Plushenko.