Okay, I guess I’m a few days late with this post, but a certain sore loser from Russia won’t shut his trap, so why should I? I’m talking about Evgeni Plushenko, the silver medalist in men’s figure skating, who has spent the days since his loss (if one can call a silver medal a loss) bitching about the winner, American Evan Lysacek. Most of Plushenko’s criticism centers around one fact: Lysacek didn’t do a quad, and Plushenko did. In Plushenko’s mind (and in the mind of some commentators, such as noted mullet-loving Canadian figure skating great/he-man Elvis Stojko), the quad should be the sine qua non of men’s figure skating. In their minds, the sport hasn’t advanced in decades, while other sports have moved ahead in leaps and bounds—just compare this year’s halfpipe routines to ones from four years ago.
But figure skating is an old sport, one in which technology can’t do much—I don’t think any revolutionary skate design is going to multiply skaters’ hang times. The increases in athletic ability are bound to be pretty small. So it’s hardly surprising that Lysacek’s performance wasn’t leaps and bounds ahead of one from twenty years ago. Lysacek has pointed out that skating isn’t all about one jump, it’s about two performances which include jumps, but also lots of other elements—not only the artistic elements, but also spins and footwork. While the casual fan like me may not understand all of those technical things—and let’s be honest, you have to be paying very close attention to tell a quad from a triple anyway—they’re a part of the sport, and in that part, Lysacek surpassed Plushenko. Also, it’s worth noting that in the artistic scores, Lysacek and Plushenko were exactly tied, even though Plushenko has complained that “just doing nice transitions and being artistic is not enough.”
There’s this constant struggle between the artistry and the athleticism of figure skating. Actually, I should say there’s a struggle between advocates on the opposite sides of the issue, since figure skating at its best is obviously a great blend of the two. Stojko (in the article linked above) said that the new judging system wants “more feathers, head-flinging, and so-called step sequences.” But if there were no artistry, would anyone watch figure skating? Olympic sports like trampoline are pointless—it’s just people jumping up and down. Men’s floor exercise is completely uninteresting compared to women’s floor exercise. The artistic element may not be everyone’s cup of tea—I for one could do without the obnoxious flamboyancy of Johnny Weir—but the sport is infinitely more intriguing and entertaining because of it. And besides, the sequins and the dancing make the sport more appealing to the female half of the population.*
In any case, Plushenko is a whiny baby who probably would’ve won if he’d had the guts to put more of his jumps in the 2nd half of his program. The scoring system gives a 10% bonus on every jump in the 2nd half of the long program, and Lysacek used the system to his advantage, packing tons of jumps into the last two minutes of his routine. The theory is that it’s more difficult to skate on tired legs; perhaps Plushenko lacked the athleticism and stamina to do a quad late in the program. He just wasn’t as good as Lysachek was on that night, and he needs to get over it. The only gold medal he deserves in 2010 is for whining. Of course, he has some stiff competition from Vladimir Putin in that competition. Putin too needs to shut up and go back to governing his decrepit, corrupt trainwreck of a country as he longs for the glories of his old Soviet days, back when the USSR was good at the Olympics. Now Russia sucks so bad the US even beats them at the Winter Olympics.
* Yes, this is an overly broad stereotype (pun intended), but you can’t tell me there isn’t a lot of truth in it.
I was there – Plushenko was waaaaaay more than 1.8 points worse than Lysacek on that night. Plushenko’s big point-getter – the quad-triple combo – was shaky, he barely hung onto it, and the Degree-Of-Execution score proved it. As you mentioned, Evan won because his technical score was higher, but his artistic score should have been higher, too! Plushenko carried no speed through a program that lacked severely in interesting choreography. He felt jerky – speed up and jump, lose speed trying and look awkward trying to do something besides jumping, rinse, repeat. Lysacek’s program was flowing and emotive – go back and watch it and look at how he pulls emotion out, particularly in the last minute of the program.
If there was a judging mistake here, it was in Plushenko’s favor!
I’d agree with you for the most part. I thought about bringing up some more details about the scores, but the grade of execution scores on jumps were pretty much a wash, even if it seemed like Lysacek was a bit more solid on his jumps. The big technical difference was the bonus points. And artistically, yes, I’d agree with you, but it seems so much of those scores are based more on reputation than anything else. The judges expect certain people to score better on the artistic portion, and judge them accordingly.
i’m with Nathan on this. so Plushenko did a fancy jump. big woo. so?
i was bored threw out the entire routine.
also, kudos to Lysacek for his sportsmanship in his followup interview. it speaks volumes of his character.
*johnny weir is an excellent figure skater. i just have a hard time watching him. he’s too over the top for my taste.
I completely agree that Lysacek is a total class act off the ice. The way he’s handled himself has been fantastic. Bob Costas was trying to goad him into saying something controversial on national television, but he just kept deflecting the questions.
i noticed that (bob costas) as well.
K – did you happen to see how Apolo Ono handled himself?
after he came in third the other night, he was asked if he wished he could do it over again. he said he’d love to, but what’s done is done and he’s just happy to have been in the race.
he’s impressive.
Kevin, here is the official results page – expand each skater’s scores to see element details
http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-figure-skating/schedule-and-results/men-free-skating_fsm010101eh.html
The base value of Lysacek’s elements was 74.93, slightly lower than Plushenko’s 75.03, but Lysacek’s GOE added 9.64 points, whereas plushenko only earned 7.68. Breaking it down a bit further, on the jumps only, Lysacek’s GOE was +5.24, Plushenko’s was +4.44.
I wouldn’t call it a wash…the total GOE difference (2.04 points) is about as significant as Evan’s advantage in the second-half bonus (3.23 compared to Plushenko’s 1.53 for 1.8 points difference). On jumps only, the GOE difference was 0.8 points.
Yes, I’m a nerd.
As for the grace with which our guys have handled themselves: Ohno and Lysacek have both been fantastic representatives for the US this year. In fact, with the exception of the idiot snowboarder who got sent home (Scott Lago, I think, and that wasn’t all that bad), the whole US Olympic team have conducted themselves in a way that has made me proud!
Yes, I know I made a grammatical error at the end there. I was typing fast. So sue me.
Evgeni Plushenko should hook up with Tanya Harding, they can piss and moan about what shoulda coulda happened and when no one gives a shit anymore, she can coach him in a boxing career.