Yes, Yagudin's program was harder without the second quad couldn't have imagined the Olympic champion title in 2002. In 2006 Plush was miles from the other competitors in technic (the margin was 28 points to Lambiel). Thus he skated a clean program. But I wanted to see the scores in 6.0 system.
Yagudin was perfect in 2002.
And unfortunately Yagudin retired. I wanted to see Plushy's revenge in 2006.
It pains me to say this (as a fan of both Yagudin and Plushenko, as well as their era in general), but I don't know if Yagudin would've made it to 2006 even without the hip issue. Honda and Goebel didn't get there, and even Plushenko had quite a scare in 2005. I think men's figure skating owes a lot to their era, but it came at a heavy cost to the skaters themselves.
I'm surprised though so many people included Witt - IMO, she's nowhere near that podium if the other ladies skate halfway well. She had weak basic skating skills, half her programs were posing, and the jump content was also nothing to brag about. Of course if it's just by personal preference that's a different story, but if we halfway talk about how those ladies would stack up skating their past programs clean in the same competition... Witt would have no shot at all, IMO.
Yeah, by the premise of the first post, Witt would be rock bottom. IIRC, she landed four triples and they were toes and salchows.
That being said, if the premise were: "All these Olympic champions get reincarnated in the same era, grow up and train under the same system, and compete against each other once they reach peak age," my answer would be quite different. Witt, for instance--though lacking jump content/skating skills/complexity in programs by today's standards--was a steely competitor who knew exactly what she needed to do to win on the big stage. I mean, there's a reason she's one of only two repeat Olympic champions, and has more World titles than anyone in recent memory except Michelle Kwan.
Who knows if she could've adapted to the demands of COP, but in general, I tend to think great champions would've been successful regardless of what era you plop them into. Because with few exceptions, what makes a champion isn't eras/systems, but rather their own hard work, talent, and competitive mindset.
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