Takahashi: Japan's golden boy on the importance of being 'gorgeous'

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

In a fair World Takahashi would be the 2010 Olympic Champion, 2010 World Champion, and 2012 World Champion today. Actually in a fair World he would never have gotten the major injury he got and dominated skating the way people expected him to for a few years following his 2008 4CCs performances.

The 2010 World Championships is the only one on this list that he should have won (and even that one he won without doing a successful quad). He should have won the 2012 Worlds FS, but had a downgrade in the SP, UR in the FS and only 1 quad (to Chan's 2 quads) in the FS, so a loss makes sense mathematically (even if his errors weren't a glaring fall). The 2010 Olympics he should have certainly been behind Plushenko and Lysacek in the FS, but I don't think he should have been behind Lambiel and Chan, which would have still been a bronze for him.

 

[Blades of Passion]

At 2012 Worlds his downgrade in the SP should have only been a < and the < in the FS should have been no call at all. I would have put him 1st in both segments.

Takahashi at the 2010 Olympics was definitely the best to me. His level of skating was far superior to Plushenko and Lysacek in the speed and depth of edge and he gave the best performance, with the best and most difficult choreography of the three. His PCS really should have been like 8 points higher in comparison. He also got hammered by undeserved < penalties.

A case can be made for 2007 Worlds too.

 

[evangeline]

Takahashi's SP at the 2010 Olympics alone should have given him a big cushion going into the LP considering how much better his SP was in literally all aspects of PCS than what Lysacek and Plushenko skated to.

 

[mikeko666]

Takahashi didn't deserve "e" on ether of two 3Lz or "<" on 3F+3T while Lysacek deserved "e" not "!" on 3F and definitely "<" on his second 3A in FS at the 2010 Olympics.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

At 2012 Worlds his downgrade in the SP should have only been a < and the < in the FS should have been no call at all. I would have put him 1st in both segments.

Takahashi at the 2010 Olympics was definitely the best to me. His level of skating was far superior to Plushenko and Lysacek in the speed and depth of edge and he gave the best performance, with the best and most difficult choreography of the three. His PCS really should have been like 8 points higher in comparison. He also got hammered by undeserved < penalties.

A case can be made for 2007 Worlds too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2eMAmXfZrk&t=4m10s That was very obviously a downgrade (pause it at the moment his blade makes contact onto the ice on the 2nd jump). Even the commentators acknowledge the <<.

As for his under-rotations in the 2010 Olympics:
4T< was well under-rotated -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdvFS0EZ4mY&t=6m36s
3T< looks under-rotated -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjQBh3MAaFU&t=33m17s

I agree that he had the best programs in terms of quality of performance - for which he was given the highest PCS in the FS - but to say he should have won over Plushenko with an under-rotated fall on a quad and a 3-3 that was much inferior to Evan's 3-3, is a pretty audacious statement. Thanks to the fall (worth 0 points with the deduction and no 70% rule), even if his PCS were a full 8 points higher than Lysacek (so 6.3 points higher than it already was) and his 3T wasn't marked as under-rotated (so almost 3 points higher -- say 8.88 points instead of 5.88 points, given that GOE would still be negative given the landing), mathematically he still would have lost to Lysacek and barely beaten Plushenko.