Plushenko: Lysacek not a champion without quad

The silver medalist thinks the sport has regressed if triple jumps are enough to win

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.
(Information from Reuters was used in this article)

Good night,

Doug

P.S. Eugene, If you need a place to sleep when you return to Russia, you can sleep on my couch. I do have respect for your athletic abilities, not media games. So my door is open to you. I live in Rostov-on-Don.

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