- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
It was a truly amazing run of competitions when Yagudin and Plushenko were both competing at or near their peaks. It was like a multi-year Battle of the Brians: glorious skating everywhere one looked. One key element in the skating of both of them was their training under Mishin. Gorgeous, immaculate jumps, and yet each somehow developed his own style as well. In terms only of style, my tendency is to prefer Yagudin, because he has an unadorned fluidity, whereas Plushy tends to be more florid and exuberant. On the other hand, Plushy has an advantage in his size, because he's long and lean, which gives him an elegance and command that doesn't come as easily to the smaller, more compact Yagudin. But Yagudin's more inward approach gives him a different kind of command. In a way, they remind me of Nureyev and Baryshnikov. Plushy is of course the more dramatic Nureyev, whereas Yagudin, like Baryshnikov, has that naturalness that makes one feel he's just strolling across the ice, and yet at the same time you can't take your eyes off him.
In a way, Plushenko's skating says, "Look at me!" and one is always rewarded by looking. Whereas Yagudin's skating says, "I'm looking at you." Who could resist that?
How could we resist it? Loved your take on these two legendary skaters; Evgeni and Alexei. to Olympia! When it comes down to these two, geniuses on ice, how could we ever prefer or deny one over the other! :yes: