Plushenko: Lysacek not a champion without quad

[PhiLandShiR 18]

Sounds like Plushenko is being a spoiled sport about losing....

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MOSCOW -- Olympic men's figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek is not a "true champion", his predecessor and Vancouver runner-up Yevgeny Plushenko has told Russian media.

Plushenko, hoping to become the first man in almost six decades to win back-to-back titles, lost to the American by 1.31 points on Thursday.

"You can't be considered a true men's champion without a quad," the 27-year-old told Russian state television RTR.

Lysacek did not attempt a quadruple jump, considered the most difficult in figure skating, in either Tuesday's short or Thursday's free programs, instead wowing the judges with artistry and exquisite footwork.

"For someone to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around his neck with just doing triple jumps, to me it's not progress, it's a regress because we've done triples 10 or even 20 years ago," Plushenko said.

"Just doing nice transitions and being artistic is not enough because figure skating is a sport, not a show," he said.

"Of all the men who had competed tonight, only two -- myself and (Japan's) Takahiko Kozuka (who finished eighth) -- were able to land a clean quad.

Lysacek had contemplated including a quad in his routine, but concerns over how it would affect the left foot that he broke last year kept him from skating it in Vancouver. He had felt pain in that foot at U.S.championships and decided putting extra stress on it wasn't worth it in the long run.

"If it was a jumping competition, they'd give you 10 seconds to go do your best jump. But it's about 4 minutes and 40 seconds of skating and performing from start to finish," Lysacek said. "That was my challenge tonight, and I feel like I did quite well."

Lysacek's victory renewed the debate about whether figure skating is more about artistry or athleticism.

The weaknesses of Plushenko's routine were supposedly his transitions between elements and his other component scores. But he and Lysacek received fairly close marks in those areas.

It was in the technical elements, comprised of jumps, spins and footwork, that Lysacek edged out the Russian. Plushenko's quad was supposed to give him an edge in that category, but his grade of execution was not as high as Lysacek's. That was what proved to be the difference maker in determining gold and silver.

Lysacek was technically sound throughout virtually his entire routine, while Plushenko had some bobbles on landings and seemed off kilter in the air during some of his jumps. While he landed every jump, he lost valuable bonus points with the miscues and therefore lost out on gold.

Just 1.31 points separated the top two spots. Bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi was 9.13 points behind Plushenko.

[Rhiannercakes 14]

Yeah I heard this on tv yesterday.

He's just being a sore loser about not winning gold.

Apparently he hopped onto the gold medal platform before going to the silver one and he looked very bitter during the medal ceremony.

Can't accept defeat it seems.

[Peikko 1,575]

In a sport that's subjectively scored (not first past the post) you have to accept the judges decision or not compete, it's that simple.

[Jenn! 918]

He had such a sour puss on during the medal ceremony.

[Ali G. 37]

Is this guy related to Spook and Scandal?

[PhiLandShiR 18]

Plushenko seems to think that simply doing more than the next guy should make you the winner. Not how well you do it...

[littlecrazyangel 1]

Plushenko's skating was not as good as usual. He skated mush better at other competitions.

He lost a lot of money because he didn't get the gold medal.

I'm sorry for Johnny Weir because he deserved more.

[SMR 368]

In a sport that's subjectively scored (not first past the post) you have to accept the judges decision or not compete, it's that simple.

Figure skating isn't really a sport. It's an art-form and an exhibition.

But I don't think it's fair to state that if someone disagrees with the judges, they shouldn't compete. The judges' decision is subjective. They chose a polished but easier program over a more difficult program that was perhaps rough around the edges. The judging at the Olympics isn't really above reproach and a lot of times questionable, in my opinion.

I think Plushenko has a point that Lysacek isn't pushing the level of the sport like he is.

[Mary Lou 682]

Boo Effing Hoo Plushenko, can anyone say sour grapes

[PhiLandShiR 18]

Figure skating isn't really a sport. It's an art-form and an exhibition.

I agree...

I think Plushenko has a point that Lysacek isn't pushing the level of the sport like he is.

Just because Lysacek is not pushing the level of the .... sport.... does not make Plushenko a better skater...

[Peikko 1,575]

Figure skating isn't really a sport. It's an art-form and an exhibition.

But I don't think it's fair to state that if someone disagrees with the judges, they shouldn't compete. The judges' decision is subjective. They chose a polished but easier program over a more difficult program that was perhaps rough around the edges. The judging at the Olympics isn't really above reproach and a lot of times questionable, in my opinion.

I think Plushenko has a point that Lysacek isn't pushing the level of the sport like he is.

Figure skating is physically challenging hence it is a sport.

Plushenko might have a point regarding the progression of the sport, or he might not - but the fact is that in this instance, the judges marginally preferred a more polished performance over one that had one or two harder technical elements that were not particularly well executed. Had he performed his more difficult technical elements with more style, he would have won - on the day he didn't have what it takes.

[Texanadian 10]

Plushenko was skating around for 1 entire minute at the end of his performance doing NO jumps of any sort.

[Pooky 3,878]

Figure skating is physically challenging hence it is a sport.

Plushenko might have a point regarding the progression of the sport, or he might not - but the fact is that in this instance, the judges marginally preferred a more polished performance over one that had one or two harder technical elements that were not particularly well executed. Had he performed his more difficult technical elements with more style, he would have won - on the day he didn't have what it takes.

In a nutshell ...

Plushenko was skating around for 1 entire minute at the end of his performance doing NO jumps of any sort.

Ummm, so was Lysacek. It's what all of them do once they have completed all the technical elements of their program. BFHD.

[SMR 368]

Figure skating is physically challenging hence it is a sport.

Plushenko might have a point regarding the progression of the sport, or he might not - but the fact is that in this instance, the judges marginally preferred a more polished performance over one that had one or two harder technical elements that were not particularly well executed. Had he performed his more difficult technical elements with more style, he would have won - on the day he didn't have what it takes.

When I say that figure skating isn't a sport, I am not trying to demean it in any way. I am well aware that it is very challenging. I just think that sports should have some way of objectively determining the winner beyond the opinion of a judge. While admittedly all sports have referees, the referee in most sports is called upon to determine what happened, not who was better. That is, the referee determines whether the ball crossed the line, but the rules themselves determine the winner. In these sports, if what actually happened could be determined objectively, a referee would be unnecessary. In ice skating, you would still need a judge.

If the only requirement for a sport is that it is physically challenging, ballet, break dancing, playing the bagpipes while marching, marching bands, and wilderness survival would all be sports. While these are all fine endeavors, the inability to determine a "winner" without a judge makes them not sports in my book.

To the point about Plushenko and ice-skating, I don't feel the judges are beyond reproach or that questioning them is out of line. Anybody who doesn't remember should read about the judging scandal in 2002. I'm not suggesting necessarily that I think the judges in this case (in 2010) are corrupt, since it seems fair to say the decision could have gone either way. However, the figure skating committee has done a pretty good job of simply pushing the whole 2002 scandal under the table without really addressing the issues.

Anyone who has watched ice skating for more than eight years remembers when they displayed individual scores from each of the judges. As a result of the scandal, now they just show a total. There were some excuses made for this about how it takes pressure off individual judges, but in reality it reeks of simply reducing transparency and declaring rule of the judging committee by fiat, instead of actually addressing the corruption.

My point is that the figure skating judges aren't necessarily worthy of being defended absolutely. Eight years ago when the Canadians complained and moaned about the unfairness of the judging, nobody accused them of unsportsmanlike conduct or told them to accept the judges or not compete. The fact that the judge appears to have been in reality corrupt does little to derail the parallel with Plushenko since the Canadian pair didn't know of the reality of judging irregularities beyond the fact that they thought they skated better and were marked lower. Plushenko could reasonably feel the same.

[Eveline 9]

Plushenko's skating was not as good as usual. He skated mush better at other competitions.

He lost a lot of money because he didn't get the gold medal.

I'm sorry for Johnny Weir because he deserved more.

Yeah that.

I had never heard of Weir before but I like that guy...he's 'special' too

I'm happy for Lysacek, he deserved Gold.