- Joined
- Oct 23, 2005
slutskayafan21 said:I definitely dont agree about Goebel being a frontrunner for silver, even if he gets back to his old form. Others can kill him on the PCS scores, and the spin scores. I agree on Plushenko being pretty safe for the gold. Lambiel, Takahashi(because of his SA performance), Sandhu(because of his GP performances so far), Buttle, and if he is healthy Weir, would be the top contenders for silver and bronze at this point. Joubert has become very inconsistent and he relies on his jumps alot anyway, he and Lysacek, Goebel, Lindemann, Li, and the 2nd Russian male, would be the real long shots if the aforementioned group all really falter.
By the way I fully expect Takahashi to get the lone Japanese spot, even Honda's best non-quad skating didnt score very well at Skate Canada, his stature in the sport has dropped, and once he adds the quad he will become less consistent.
I also fully expect Lysacek, Weir, and Goebel to get the 3 U.S spots unless Weir does not recover from his injury.
I see what you mean about Goebel, although I am still wondering where he will stand if he is consistently hitting his quads and is able to perform them at the Olympics, even with lower PCS scores.
Takahashi and Honda are both wonderful skaters and it is unfortunate that there is only one spot on the Japanese team. You don't feel that the Japanese federation will hold Honda up even without a quad because of his prior experience as a long time competitor? If not, I can see Takahashi winning the spot easily as you said.
It saddens me to see skaters end up in situations like Honda, Goebel, and even Michelle Kwan. They've each been to the Olympics at least one time before and stayed in the game to try to accomplish their Olympic goals the next time around. Unfortunately, each has faltered in recent years and none of them have been able to get back to the form they were in years ago during their first Olympic experiences. They are now easily overtaken by younger/newer skaters that are at the top of their form. Goebel got a bronze in 2002, and I remember everyone thinking that he and Plushenko would be the front runners in 2006. Now every time I see Goebel skate it's looking more and more like the OIympics are over before they have even started for him, and unless he can nail those quads(a long shot, he hasn't been hitting them)he surely will go home from Torino empty handed. The same thing for Honda. He was SO close to the podium in SLC, it's a shame that his skating has dropped off since then to the point where he is in danger of not even making the Olympic team. As for Michelle Kwan, I was extremely disappointed in 1998 when she was defeated in Nagano by Tara Lipinski. However, I was sure that the SLC gold in 2002 was hers for the taking, and was shocked when she ended up with the bronze. Now with Cohen, Slutskaya, and others on the scene and with her 4th place finish at Worlds last year, it is looking more and more like 1998 was Michelle's best chance for the Olympic gold medal that will forever elude her.
It's really too bad....