Euro Finale

Well it's a wrap in Sheffield. I reported last week that Volosozhaar and Trankov won the Pairs title at Europeans and Pechalat and Bourzat took the Dance title.

The ladies title was captured by Carolina Kostner. This girl has had the worlds busiest schedule this season. She did three Grand Prix Events, the Grand Prix Final, now Europeans and she'll compete at worlds...not an easy schedule to keep. She's been dominant this season despite the fact she needs a little more technical umpf in her program (read: she needs a lutz). I guess when the field makes mistakes and you do what you do well enough, it get's the job done.



Kiira Korpi and Elene Gedevanishvili made their way to second and third. I have no idea who the Russian lady that finished 4th is...their team must be getting deep! Full Results here.



Amongst the men...Plushenko won...Plushenko Jr. was second...that is all...I'm over it. Full Results here.



Look at the top ten below. This is a tremendous group of skaters. I'm disappointed Brezina and Fernandez didn't do better...sad face.

Year End Wrap-Up

2011 Draws to a close...I call it the "Year of Chan." He certainly had a great year...a Canadian Title, a World Title, another Grand Prix Title, and recently named Canadian Press Athlete of the Year. He's going to win another Canadian Title (take it to the bank!)in Moncton next month (short of a withdrawal) and probably another World Title in Nice. I've been very critical of the judges overmarking of Chan this season, let's see if it continues into the Championship span of the season.

Speaking of Championships, several have taken place naming top skaters around the world National Champions. In France, Brian Joubert won another National Title. Take a look:



He went back to his "Matrix" program that brought him success in the mid 2000s. I am a bigger fan of the more artistic Brian that tried to peek out over the last couple of years but he was having no luck with results so he's gone back to what works for him. Trouble is, there aren't any "component boosters" to speak of in this program so it doesn't have a hope or prayer outside of Europe. Pechalat/Bourzat also captured another French Title last week.

In Ostrava, Czech Republic, Tomas Verner bested Michal Brezina to win another Czech (and Slovak and Polish) Title:



One of the better skates from Verner in a while. Beauty of a quad off the top.

In Saransk, Plushenko did it again, I have no words.:



The ladies standings at Russian Nationals were a hot mess. Sotnikova won. Leonova (who looked to be on track this season) could only muster 3rd, Makarova was 4th, and seemingly immune to defeat Tuktamysheva was just 6th. Both Volosozhar/Trankov and Kavaguti/Smirnov skipped the event giving Bazarova/Larionov an easy win. Bobrova/Solviev took the Dance Title.

Finally to Osaka, Japan which had the most contested titles up for grabs. On the Men's Side, Takahashi held on to win after being bested in the free skate by Kozuka who finished 2nd and Hanyu who finished 3rd (Hanyu won the free skate). Nobunari Oda, whose had a terrible season after recovering from injury, did not compete. Despite the win, Takahashi's skate was marred by several errors. Here are all three performances:







On the ladies side Mao Asada, in what must have been a very difficult week after the recent passing of her mother, turned in a beautiful performance to win another Japanese Title:



While not perfect, you all but forgive her the last two jumping passes given the circumstances. Akiko won the silver and Murakami took the bronze.

Hope 2012 is great to everyone! Have a Happy and Safe New Year!

Twitter Tops

Last October I looked at the who was the Top Figure Skating Tweeps out there. With a season now behind us...I decided to take another look to see where things currently stand in the skating "Twitterverse."

Here is the current Top 10 Figure Skating Tweeps:

#10 Daisuke Takahashi (14,405)

#9 Mirai Nagasu (15,568)

#8 Fumie Suguri (18,046)

#7 Miki Ando (22,363)

#6 Evgeny Plushenko (22,841)

#5 Kristi Yamaguchi (25,464)

#4 Joannie Rochette (26,868)

#3 Evan Lysacek (63,752)

#2 Johnny Weir (95,794)

#1 Kim Yu-Na (356,355)

There have been some change in the results. Japanese skaters are showing up on Twitter and they have big followings. Miki Ando, Daisuke Takahashi, and Fumie Suguri have all made the top 10. Only Nagasu held her ground to stay in the top 10 with Belbin, Chan, and Abbott all getting the boot! Past Ando the placements are unchanged. Women have taken over with 6 in the top 10. Kristi remains the only "Pro" skater to be in the field. Now, all the skaters are single skaters (with Belbin's exit). And the Queen (Kim) is still queen...in a huge way.

I decided to look at the numbers in a different way. Rather than looking at # of followers, I looked at % increase in followers which painted a different story. How do they rank (excpet Ando, Suguri, and Takahashi who I didn't have info on last Oct.) by percent increase of followers?

#9 Evan Lysacek + 8%

#8 Patrick Chan + 31% (No Longer in Top 10)

#7 Kim Yu-Na + 34%

#6 Mirai Nagasu + 34.5%

#5 Johnny Weir + 37%

#4 Jeremy Abbott + 41% (No Longer in Top 10)

#3 Joannie Rochette + 44%

#2 Kristi Yamaguchi + 66%

#1 Evgeny Plushenko + 91%

Wow! The Olympic Champ is struggling! In a more and more socially connected world he was only able to increase his Twitter following by 8%...yikes. The bright-lights of Vancouver are fading...might explain his recent indication that he may be returning to competition. I feel like that was a poor quarterly earnings report.

The rest of the field has made nice gains...but one crushes them all...Plushenko! He's almost doubled his Twitter following. This shows he has a dedicated social core and with his subsequent return to competition I suspect this number will continue to rise as well.

Why has Kristi Yamaguchi gained so many followers? Does someone know something I don't?

Twitter Wars

Whose winning the Twitter War? Who has the most followers? Whose every word are we hanging on too? I have been in a top 10 mood so here are the Top 10 Figure Skaters (by followers at time of posting) on Twitter:

#10 Jeremy Abbott (@jeremyabbottpcf) - 9,980

#9 Tanith Belbin (@TanithJLB) - 10,641

#8 Patrick Chan (@PChiddy) - 10,947

#7 Mirai Nagasu (@mirai_nagasu) - 11,644

#6 Evgeny Plushenko (@Evgeniplushenko) - 11,947

#5 Kristi Yamaguchi (@kristiyamaguchi) - 15,356

#4 Joannie Rochette (@JoannieRochette) - 18,698

#3 Evan Lysacek (@EvanLysacek) - 59,069

#2 Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) - 70,024

#1 Kim Yu-Na (@Yunaaaa) - 266,581

So my thoughts...

Pro vs Amateur - As far as skating goes, Twitter is dominated by eligible skaters with Kristi Yamaguchi being the only established professional/veteran in the group. Kurt Browning, Scott Hamilton, and Brian Boitano did have followers in the thousands ranging from 5,072 to 7,484.

Johnny vs Evan - Johnny, despite not winning an Olympic Medal and a stint on Dancing with the Stars, has about 10,000 followers more than his arch nemesis (strong words?) Evan Lysacek. A credit to Johnny's inherent ability to simply create buzz and media sparkle. He seems perfect for Social Media.

Singles Club - All but one of the top 10 are singles skaters. Tanith Belbin is the only paired skater to break through. She must have done something right! And that begs the question...why is Tanith so much more popular than Ben and his 4,034 followers?

Vancouver was the Twitter Olympics - All the top 10 with the exception of Yamaguchi competed in Vancouver.

Boys vs Girls - Doesn't seem to be any gender bias on Twitter...5 boys and 5 girls make up the top 10. #equality

10,000 Threshold - Poor Jeremy Abbott is on the only skater in the top 10 not above 10,000 followers...can we get him there. Prove that Pigs Can Fly, follow Jeremy on Twitter! UPDATE: We ran a little Twitter campaign an voila...Jeremy is now above 10,000. Now he's going for 20,000...look out Joannie Rochette!

Popular! - Mirai Nagasu's appearance on this list suprises me. She came to Twitter a bit later than a lot of the top skaters yet has garnered quite a following in a short period of time. I love the 2008 National Champ and reigning U.S. Silver medalist...and apparently so do all of you!

Flag Representation - Twitter's top figure skaters are largely North American. 60% are American, 20% Canadian, and 10% each for Russia and S. Korea. Question...where's Japan?

The Queen - S. Korea's Kim Yu-Na really is the Queen. 266,581 followers and climbing. She destroys the rest of the Twitter competition!

That Simple?

There is buzz around the Internet that Evgeny Plushenko has been reinstated as evidenced by his participation in the Japan Open Competition.

It's not quite that simple.

Ineligible skaters can compete at the Japan Open (I presume this is why they call it 'Open'). The Japanese Federation invited skaters to compete, both eligible and ineligible. Plushenko and Buttle were invited to compete and both the Canadian and Russian Figure Skating Federations were notified of their participation but this does not grant them eligibility. The Entries section of the announcement for the event states:

The eligible skaters will be invited through respective ISU Members. The ISU Member
that the ineligible skaters formerly represented will be notified of their participation. The
list of entries is on the attached Exhibit A.

But...Plushenko has written the Russian Federation and asked for reinstatement. He was stripped of his eligibility by the ISU after passing up the World Championships and doing shows instead without consent from the Russian Federation. He had the opportunity to appeal but didn't. But now he is asking the Russian Federation to help him out in getting his eligibility back.

"Today I wrote a letter to the figure skating federation chief Alexander Gorshkov. I’m asking the ruling body to contact ISU to help me restore my amateur status. I received a personal invitation from the organizers of the tournament in Japan, which is due to take place there on October 2. I'm currently preparing for this tournament and believe that ISU will allow me to compete there."

The ISU did allow him to compete...but it didn't restore his eligibility status to compete in regular ISU competition (i.e Cup of Russia, Europeans, Worlds, etc.).

I have a hard time seeing how Plushenko gets his eligibility back. If he had appealed when he had the chance I'm near certain he would have managed to wiggle out of it but now it seems like everyone's hands are tied. If he does get his eligibility back it will have to be some 'behind-closed-door' back room deal.

And the plot thickens...

ISU Rules Plushenko Ineligible

Lost between all the news yesterday about Kim Yu-Na was the ISU officially ruling that Plushenko is now ineligible.

Back in June the ISU stripped Plushenko of his eligibility citing that he had illegally performed in shows in March and April without consent from the Russian Skating Federation. Plushenko was given the chance to appeal the decision but took no corrective legal action.

In a press release, the ISU said Plushenko is ineligible for "any ISU activity." For now, this includes the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

The funny part is Plushenko still wants to compete. He says he will take some time this summer to consider his options and make some decisions concerning his future competition plans this fall. But I'm not sure what options he has at this point. Looks like Sochi likely isn't in the cards for him.

Who Won the Rivalry?

Part of what makes figure skating great are some of the amazing rivalries that have existed. I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the rivalries fresh in our mind and decide...who won?!?!

Also, click on the links in this post for some fun YouTube trips down memory lane!

Alexei Yagudin vs Evgeny Plushenko: Yags v Plush. It seemed for a while these two where winning everything...and when one didn't win, the other got second place. It was ridiculous. It was even like their coaches would have snide little remarks about the other skater. I remember at one point Alexei Mishin (who in Yagudin's early days actually coached him) saying how Yagudin's best days where back in the junior ranks and Tatiana Tarasova called Evgeny Plushenko "plastic" at one point (what did that mean?). It all came to a head at the 2002 Olympics and fortunately for Yagudin, Plushenko decided to crash and burn on his quad combo in the short program leaving a free and clear gold medal path for Yagudin. But who wins this rivalry? I think if you look strictly at the competition between them, Yagudin's World Championship 3-peat wins over Plushenko (1998, 1999, 2000) combined with that Olympic Gold and I think Yagudin is the clear winner. If you take a look at their careers as a whole, Plushenko has certainly been more successful having medaled in three consecutive Olympics. I think rivalries are more than simply competition against one another but careers as a whole and what you are able to achieve above and beyond your chief competitor. WINNER: Evgeny Plushenko

Michelle Kwan vs Tara Lipinski: When Tara hit the stage in 1996 with that quick program set to music from the "Speed" soundtrack and finished 3rd at U.S. Nationals, I was sure we were looking at a contender for Olympic Gold in 2002. Not to be, she quickly rose to the level of Michelle Kwan (who won her first national title in 1996) and a rivalry was born. Michelle owned the 1996 season, winning the 1996 World Title as well...Lipinski finished 15th. But 1997 was an entirely different story. Things looked like they would continue as they had the year prior...Kwan had easy wins on the Grand Prix while Tara just had okay performances. The tides turned for Tara at U.S. Nationals where Michelle Kwan suffered a major meltdown and finished 2nd (the meltdown wasn't so much in the placement but in the terrible performance) allowing Lipinski...at 14 years old...to take the title. Michellle's storm cloud above her head stuck with her as she lost to Lipinski at the Champion Series Final (now Grand Prix Final) and at the World Championships. All of this set up an Olympic year showdown and both skaters where hungry! Michelle Kwan looked good on the Grand Prix but then suffered an injury causing her to withdraw from the Champion Series Final where Tara easily clinched a victory. At Nationals, Michelle Kwan turned in one of the most memorable performances in U.S. Nationals history to take that title. The short program at the Olympics couldn't have been any more suspenseful with both ladies skating flawlessly. But the much decried triple loop-triple loop from Tara Lipinski sealed the deal in the free and she took Olympic Gold. Ultimately, however, its about a career as a whole. WINNER: Michelle Kwan

Johnny Weir vs Evan Lysacek: The recent Twitter drama has me about sick of this rivalry. I wouldn't even call it a rivalry really if the media didn't make it so. Maybe it became a rivalry at the 2006 Olympics when Lysacek got ahead of Johnny for the first time (he finished 4th to Weir's 5th)? I don't even feel like it was a real rivalry until 2008 when they tied at U.S. Nationals but Evan won the tie-breaker to take the title. Then it was like, "Oh it's on bitch!" Johnny still seemed to be getting the better end of it during the Grand Prix in 2008. Evan failed to make the Grand Prix Final while Johnny took the Bronze. At Nationals they both lost out as Jeremy Abbott won the title, Evan only finishing 3rd and Johnny, well, not even on the podium. But that's when Evan kicked it up a notch, narrowly missing the Four Continents title in 2009 but then running away with the World Title. Johnny made a good run at Evan in the Olympic Season but didn't have the chops to keep up. Evan won the Grand Prix Final, Johnny third. While Evan again lost the National Title to Abbott, he was second to Johnny's third. And of course Evan scooted out of Vancouver with Olympic Gold...Johnny was 6th. I'm somewhat certain we are done seeing these two compete against each other in the competitive arena but their rivalry or what I would actually call a bitch-fest continues. They just keep trying to media-up one another and it's getting old. The last stunt Evan pulled about not being sure if Johnny was a girl was in poor taste...but Johnny's has pulled some zingers of his own. WINNER: Evan Lysacek on the condition he stops the bitch-fest.

Kim Yu-Na vs Mao Asada: This is the hottest rivalry in skating currently. This rivalry is so intense their fans are often ridiculous about it. I mean, computer servers have been shut down over these two. They are both so magnificently matched in talents and abilities. It's just crazy. They've been trading titles back and forth for the past three years and you never know which one will win if they are in a competition together. Mao has two World Titles to Kim's one but Kim has the Olympic Gold to Mao's Silver. I guess we can give Kim another point for having the World Record score, but then Mao is in the Guinness Book of World Records for Triple Axels completed by a woman in a competition. In the end, its ridiculously close between these two! WINNER: Undecided...I don't think we can call this one yet but Kim Yu-Na is ahead by just a smidge.

Brian Boitano vs Brian Orser: The storied Battle of the Brian's between American Brian Boitano and Canadian Brian Orser is one of the biggest rivalries in skating history. Both equally matched in skill and ability, their rivalry came to a head at the 1998 Olympics in Orser's home country of Canada. Brian Orser also had won the previous season's World Championship ahead of Boitano and entered the competition as the slight favorite. After the short program, both were nearly tied but a bobble on a triple flip in the free skate allowed Brian Boitano to slip through and win the title...and the Battle of the Brian's. But picking a winner of the overall rivalry between these two is tough. While Boitano has the Olympic Gold, Orser has two Silver's. You do have to give points to Boitano because he competed in a third Olympics (Lillehammer) while Orser only competed in two. Does Orser get points for coaching Kim Yu-Na? Boitano for having a show on Food Network? WINNER: It's a tie! Disagree...well it's my blog!

Tonya Harding vs Nancy Kerrigan: The knee whack heard round the world got everyone to tune in to what was going on between these two prior to the 1994 Olympics. But these two in fact did have a history prior to the 1994 U.S. Nationals. Both had a National Title under their belts prior to 1994. Both had a smattering of medals from various international events including the World Championships (that includes the 1991 U.S. sweep of Yamaguchi/Kerrigan/Harding). Tonya had something Nancy didn't have though...a triple axel. After the attack on Nancy at the 1994 U.S. Nationals, Tonya went on to win the title but at the Olympics it was a sad story for Tonya. Her entire career seemed to crumble in front of her and finished 8th while Nancy soared to Silver, narrowly missing the Gold in a 5-4 judging decision. Details of the attack had come out prior to the Olympics, Connie Chung was following her everywhere, she couldn't get her shoe-lace on her boot tied, it was a press nightmare everywhere she went, and she couldn't keep it together. On March 16th 1994, Tonya avoided jail time by pleading guilty to conspiring to hinder an investigation, was stripped of her National title, and banned from all future eligible competitions. WINNER: Nancy Kerrigan...as if it could go any other way?

Did I call it right? Would you call it differently? Weigh-in!

Loss of Eligibility

Plushenko's grand designs on competing again in Sochi may be dashed.

During the ISU June Congress, the ISU yanked his eligibility:

Decision of the ISU Council on Eligibility of Mr. Evgeny Plushenko (RUS)
Based on evidence presented the Council has concluded that Mr. Evgeny Plushenko breached the ISU eligibility rule 102, paragraph 2, i) of the ISU General Regulations and as a consequence has become ineligible under paragraph 7 a) of that rule. The evidence has proved to the satisfaction of the Council that Mr. E. Plushenko, a skater and member of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR), skated in exhibitions held in March and April 2010, in Russia and other countries, without the express prior authorization of the FSFR. Such activity is a breach of the ISU eligibility rules and results in the loss of eligibility

.

But Plushenko has recourse. He has 21 days to file an appeal if he so chooses with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. He must do this and win the appeal if he hopes to compete at an ISU event in the future. A similar situation occurred last season when Joannie Rochette performed on the show "Thin Ice," however, she obtained an exemption allowing her to keep her eligible status, Plushenko did not.

UPDATE: FSFR has released an official statement.

Why do you hate Evgeny Plushenko?

Oh where to begin...

I don't hate Plushenko.

*Did I hate it when he threw a hissy fit about losing Olympic Gold in Vancouver - yes

*Do I find myself often disliking his style of skating - yes.

On the flip side...

*Do I respect him as a competitor and appreciate his contribution to the sport of figure skating, especially his technical contribution - yes.

*Do I recognize that he has impassioned fans and is a sport icon in Russia, much like Kim in Korea or Kwan in the U.S. - yes.

Look, I'm critical of him. I think that he has several deficiencies that he often gets a pass on. But I also recognize that what I see as deficiencies, many see as strengths.

It's not hate...it's difference of opinion.

Have a skating question?

Debate: Plushenko Deserved the Gold?

Last week I asked, "Who was more deserving of Olympic Gold...Lysacek or Plushenko?"

Plushenko won the poll 57% to Lysacek's 34%...8% felt another skater deserved the Gold Medal.

Okay...

Now I ask those who voted in support of Plushenko...Why was he more deserving of the Gold?

Be prepared to defend yourself in the first ever official Axels, Loops, ans Spins Debate!

Spilling the Beans...

Everything I wanted to say in Vancouver but didn't...

So, I'm going to say it, yell at me if you want..."I'M OFFICIALLY SICK OF EVGENY PLUSHENKO! I'M DONE!" In the aftermath of his not so shocking loss at the Olympics, I just kept saying in my head..."Will he shut up already?" I hate nothing more than a sore loser. And Elvis Stojko's nonsensical babble about how figure skating is hurt by Plushenko's loss didn't help the situation either. Fine Elvis, go watch hockey. If that's the boost of testosterone you need and it gets you out of my hair...more power to you! I get that Plushenko and Stojko think the quad is like the 'Holy Grail' of figure skating but after the quad, Plushenko's technical performance was not great in the men's free skate...it wasn't great at all. But of course none of that should matter because if you do a quad you should win...ugh. Did anyone notice that he did two triple axels in his exhibition...just to show he could land them without a struggle. I think just to infuriate me he was threatening to make another comeback in Sochi. It's bad enough he'll be in Torino at World's. Good grief!

What was up with Belbin and Agosto missing out on the Bronze medal? What? And they couldn't even be upset about it because it was their training mates that edged them. Even their coach, Natalia Linichuk, had that look in her eyes..."You guys were clearly way better but the judges are propping them up...sorry." The even sadder part about it was that everyone (media, announcers, press) just went with it...like it was an agreed upon deal. "Okay, we won't complain that Tanith and Ben get screwed so long as North America goes 1-2." Ummm...North America should have went 1-2-3! Rogge will have to forgive me if I disagree with his assertion that the figure skating judging in Vancouver was "impeccable."



Finally, Grades of Executions were making me so mad at the Olympics. Why is that when a skater from, oh I don't know say, Turkey, does a perfect triple salchow she gets no positive grades on the jump? But when a skater from, oh I don't know say, U.S. or Japan or Canada or Korea or Finland, does the same jump, the positive GOE's flow like Manna from the Gods. While in Vancouver a "very knowledgeable voice" showed me some shocking trends and revelations in the current judging system. I'm going to go on record now and say that I think the point system is, while flawed, not a totally bad system, but the people behind the judging monitors from all corners of the globe, are often greasy scoundrels!

That is all...I'll get off my soapbox now.

XXI Olympic Winter Games Figure Skating Mens Preview

An extremely deep field of men will vie for the title of Olympic Champion in Vancouver. Who do I see as the top 12 contenders? There is:

Jeremy Abbott (USA) - Jeremy enters this event as the reigning U.S. National Champion, a title he successfully defended in Spokane. Every time he has competed this season he has looked stronger and stronger. The move from Colorado Springs to Detroit to train with Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen is paying dividends. He has shown when he skates clean he is a force to be reckoned with. Not only does he have solid technical ability (including a quad which has looked rock solid in his free skate) but his component scores are always some of the best in the field. If he repeats what he did in Spokane, he might be the guy to beat.

Patrick Chan (CAN) - When he hits the ice the roar will be deafening! He enters these Olympics as one of Canada's top Gold Medal hopefuls and will have the support of the Canadian people. Like Abbott, he has a knack at grabbing top component scores but his technical ability has come into question recently as he has been working his way back from an injury early in the season. He also had a recent coaching shake-up with he and Don Laws parting on iffy terms. Patrick has reported that the quad will not be in his programs in Vancouver, nonetheless, he remains a threat for the top spot on the podium because of his artistic skill. Again, the home-crowd advantage can help or hurt; it will be interesting to see how Patrick handles the pressure.

Samuel Contesti (ITA) - While he hasn't had the season he had last year with a surprise European Silver Medal and a top 5 finish at Worlds, he continues to skate consistently and could be a dark-horse medal threat. He has crowd pleasing programs that will no doubt go down well in Vancouver and a new found consistency on triple jumps, but he lacks in the component score department. Still, if he skates clean, gets the crowd on his side, and others make mistakes he may find himself in the running for a medal. He has nothing to loose and everything to gain and that may be his biggest asset.

Brian Joubert (FRA) - He looked positively angry on the podium at the recent European Championships where he managed only the bronze medal. Since winning the world title in 2007 it seems like he can't catch a break. He lost Worlds in 2008 despite a clean skate with a quad. Dropped down to 3rd last year after some odd mistakes. He's had to pull out of two consecutive Grand Prix Finals. If all that wasn't enough, he had to deal with a foot injury in December. Oy! Still, he comes to Vancouver with one of the most consistent quads and loads of Olympic Experience. Hopefully, he learned some hard lessons from his failures in Torino that will serve him well in Vancouver. If he is as mad as looks about losing European's, he may come out in Vancouver swinging!

Takahiko Kozuka (JPN) - Part of arguably the strongest men's team (some might contend that Team USA is the strongest), Takahiko is one of several skaters that is easily capable of playing the role of spoiler at these Olympics. This season, however, hasn't been his best. He failed to qualify for the Grand Prix Final (an event that he took Silver in the prior year) and was just third at Japanese Nationals. Despite the recent downturn, his greatest strength is a lack of a weakness. He's solid technically as well as artistically. This season he's fiddled with putting the quad in his free skate, I think sensing he needs a little extra 'umph' to really be a medal threat. If he can complete that jump and skate well...watch out!

Stéphane Lambiel (SUI) - A member of club comeback, Stéphane enters the Olympics coming off a successful European Championships. While he only won the silver medal there, he debuted a well received free skate to music from the opera La Traviata. Lambiel's technical ability is suspect without a triple axel, but he is a brilliant artisan who can rake in the points in the component scores. He is also the most gifted spinner in the competition. He's proven himself to be a clutch competitor, often times pulling off great performances when the lights are on and the chips are down. Like many of the top competitors he has dealt with injury in the run-up to these Olympics. If he can get through the gauntlet of triple jumps, complete his quads, and charm the audience, I don't see how he isn't on the podium.

Evan Lysacek (USA) - The reigning World Champ has looked Olympic ready all season. The only time he looked vulnerable was at the recent National Championships in Spokane where a late decision to rearrange his free skate and add a quad led to some inconsistencies and just a Silver Medal. Nonetheless, he has stated over and over that his goal this season is Vancouver and it is there he wants to peak. Up until nationals he was simply cruising along with big wins at Cancer.Net Skate America as well as the Grand Prix Final. Many are touting Evan as the best chance the U.S. has at a Gold Medal and he is certainly garnering the most American media attention. If he can continue to be as steady as he has been most of the season, he'll give everyone a run for their money in Vancouver.

Evgeny Plushenko (RUS) - The 2006 Olympic Champ is looking for second helpings here in Vancouver and he is, for many if not most, the favorite to win Gold. He made his comeback at Rostelecom Cup with the confidence that only Plushenko can display. Many were unsure of how solid he would look after being away from competition for nearly four years and he waltzed back on the scene...with quad and arrogant #1 finger waves. He has been plagued with some slight difficulty with his knee but it didn't stop him from winning Russian Nationals and Europeans. Despite, in my opinion, having a one dimensional approach to choreography, the judges love him and if he manages a clean skate I can't imagine him not winning.

Nobunari Oda (JPN) - When Nobunari debuted his new free skate at Trophee Eric Bompard, I was impressed! Nobunari has found his stride this season with a beautiful Charlie Chaplin program that suits him brilliantly. He's one of only two skaters that have been successful at getting past World Champ Evan Lysacek; he did so at Samsung Anycall Cup of China. Even though he enters this competition as the #2 ranked man from Japan, I think he is a legitimate Gold Medal threat, especially if he attempts and lands the quad in his free skate. He missed making the Olympics in 2006 because of a scoring snafu at Japan's National Championships that ended up reversing the placement at the top and leaving him at home. This time, he gets to show the world what he's got.

Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) - He has had a roller coaster season to this point. A poor skate at home at NHK Trophy followed by a great skate at HomeSense Skate Canada. He then had another meltdown at the Grand Prix Final but rebounded with a great skate at Japanese Nationals. It's hard to predict where Takahashi will come out in Vancouver. The early season issues were attributed to his being off last season with a meniscus injury but stamina issues have continued to plague him. However, when he is in top form, he is hard to compete with. His program is also well suited to him and full of character and his footwork is some of the best in the world.

Tomas Verner (CZE) - I almost considered not including Tomas in this post and instead focus on his teammate Michal Brezina. Tomas started the season promising but it has been down hill ever since. After winning the Silver Medal at Trophee Eric Bompard, he was just 4th at Cancer.Net Skate America. Then he finished last at the Grand Prix Final, lost the Czech Championship to Brezina and finished a disappointing 10th at Europeans...a far cry from the win he was able to produce in 2008. It would be easy for anyone to write him off at this point but Tomas has an amazing resilience to adversity and an ability to put himself back together after disappointing performances. He's humpty-dumpty if you will. If he stays on his feet and rotates his jumps he has a shot at a medal, if he falters...he's toast.

Johnny Weir (USA) - He has already made the headlines and he hasn't even stepped on the ice. Johnny will take the ice with the distraction of having to deal with Friends of Animals, an animal protection group that slammed Weir for his use of real fox fur on his Free Skate outfit. He's decided to replace the fur with faux fur. In a statement he said:

I made this decision after several threats were sent to me about disrupting my performance in the Olympic Games and my costume designer, Stephanie Handler, was repeatedly sent messages of hate and disgust. I do not want something as silly as my costume disrupting my second Olympic experience and my chance at a medal, a dream I have had since I was a kid.

So far this season Johnny has been okay...not stellar. He barely made the Olympic Team with a 3rd place finish at U.S. Nationals. If he is going to be a medal threat in Vancouver he will have to up his game. He does have a flair for the dramatic so he may shock us all yet.

European Championships Wrap-up

The European Championships have concluded in Tallinn and there was plenty of interesting plot twists and turns to keep skating fans entertained.

The Pairs Free saw the defending Champions sub-planted. Savchenko and Szolkowy had botched side-by-side salchows as well as a missed throw triple flip. They did settle into their performance but the damage was done and they would have to settle for silver. Mukhortova and Trankov continue their solid season winning the bronze in Tallinn. The Gold, however, went to their teammates Kavaguti and Smirnov who had a tremendous performance to take the win. What is it about Tamara Moskvina teams...The closer they get to the Olympics the better they get! Also, Kavaguti and Smirnov were knocking on the door of Shen and Zhao's record total from the Grand Prix Final, just 1.10 points back. Volosozhar and Morozov were fourth and Bazarova and Larionov fifth.

The men's event saw the first showdown between Plushenko, Joubert, and Lambiel since the 2006 Winter Olympics. Joubert was the first of the three to skate in the free skate and had several mistakes and clearly lacked the same attack and intensity he had earlier in the season. You're forced to wonder if his foot injury played a factor in his conditioning for this event. Joubert, ultimately, would relinquish his title and take the bronze. Plushenko was the second of the big three to skate. He had a solid performance...hitting his quad toe-triple toe combo. He missed a triple flip late in the program but it hardly mattered. He ended his program to a rousing ovation and 10 years removed from his first European Title he took his 6th. The judges, did however, bring him back to earth. After another seemingly 'high' short program score score, he was marked far more conservatively and seemingly in-line in the free. Oddly, the post competition buzz was not about Plushenko, but rather Stephane Lambiel who debuted his new La Traviata free skate here and added his name to the list of serious Olympic contenders. Lambiel was not without jump mistakes but his program is charming and he delivered it with great ease. Still no triple axel, but he did accomplish two quads and several other triples. He also beat Plushenko in program components on his way to the silver medal. Michal Brezina was fourth and Samuel Contesti was fifth.

The Ice Dance competition got overshadowed by complaints that Domnina and Shabalin's Aboriginal Original Dance is offensive (add your opinion in my quick poll). It's become such a big story it was the lead headline at Yahoo! Yesterday! The 2008 European Champions lost that OD as well as the Free Dance but managed to hang on to win another European Title. But the question heading forward for them is what to do with this Original Dance...if they use this at the Olympics it could be a PR disaster for Team Russia but there is scarce time to scrap it for another one. The bit of positive news coming out of the dance event was Faiella and Scali who won both the OD and the Free Dance to take the silver medal with some gorgeous performances. They definitely had the crowd behind them. We may have figured out why Khoklova and Novitski skipped the Grand Prix Final, they showed up here in Tallinn with a new Free Dance set to The Firebird (popular piece this season). While far from perfect, they were good enough to hang on the bronze. Pechalat and Bourzat (who I had pegged to win) were fourth after a sloppy ending to their Free Dance and Kerr and Kerr where fifth.

The ladies event continued to show that European women's skating is in a slump. It was a verifiable splatfest! Carolina Kostner won the event with a less than stellar performace. She sat down on her triple loop but managed to hang on to some other jumps. Even despite the flaws she was clearly the best in the field. In a post event interview she said "she lost track" halfway through her program. Nonetheless, a win here gives her the Olympic Berth for Italy. Italian National Champ Marchei who was looking to nab the berth was just 8th. The silver went to Laura Lepisto who, after a gorgeous triple toe-triple toe combo, proceeded to double or mess up the majority of her remaining jumps. Her solid component scores helped the defending champion along to the silver. Elene Gedevanishvili slipped in for the bronze medal after a conservative but pleasing free skate (actually second in the free). She and coach Robin Wagner seemed pleased with the effort and score in the Kiss and Cry. Kiira Korpi was fourth and Sarah Meier moved all the way up to fifth.

All results can be seen here. Take a look at a couple of my favorite performances from the event below.

European Championships Preview (Men)

The oldest skating event on the books, the European Championships will be happening concurrently with U.S. Nationals. Like the men's field in Spokane, the men's field in Tallinn is equally impressive. An Olympic Champ, two Olympic medalists, three World Champions, three European Champions, two Junior World Champs, and too many national champions to mention will all battle to become Europe's best. As I see it, ten men (seriously...ten!) have a shot at taking this title (or at least medaling). Who are the ten I'm watching?

Kevin van der Perren - Poor KVDP has had a really rough go this season. At HomeSense Skate Canada he looked absolutely disgusted with figure skating. Hopefully a bit of break from competitive skating and the Olympics just around the corner can put him back on track. European's offer Kevin a chance to reintroduce himself as a serious contender prior to the Olympics. Kevin finished 5th at Rostelecom Cup and a devastating 11th at HomeSense Skate Canada.

Michal Brezina and Tomas Verner - Both of these Czech skaters have had quite different seasons thus far. Tomas, who was the 2008 Champ of this event, has struggled here and there this season. He made the Grand Prix Final (after Joubert withdrew with injury) only to finish last. Brezina, on the other hand, has made steady improvements and nearly made the Grand Prix Final himself. He went on to defeat Verner for the Czech National Title. Verner needs to turn his season around and Brezina needs to continue his upswing.

Brian Joubert, Yannick Ponsero, and Alban Preaubert - Team France is easily the strongest in the field. Europeans offers Joubert the chance to do two things: test his skating after coming off of mid season foot surgery and also test himself for the first time since Torino against both Lambiel and Plushenko. Joubert is without question one of the leading men heading towards Vancouver, a status he'll hope to keep coming out of this event. For Ponsero and Preaubert, this is likely the end of their season as neither is slated to compete in Vancouver or Torino (one may go to Torino but it's too early know). Both were bested by young upstart Florent Amodio at French Nationals and failed to gain an Olympic berth (Amodio isn't competing in Tallinn). Both, however, are solid competitors and may surprise here.

Samuel Contesti - Last season's surprise European silver medalist is hoping to continue his emergence into the top ranks of men's figure skating. He kept it together at last World's in L.A. to place in the top five and while not perfect has skated fairly consistently on the Grand Prix. He'll need to bump it up a notch to compete with the heavy hitters here in Tallinn. His programs are unique crowd pleasers but he'll need to hit all his jumps and improve his levels to make a run at the title.

Evgeny Plushenko and Sergei Voronov - Plushenko is no stranger to this event. Ten years removed from his first European Title (2000) he's going after win number six. He made his comeback at Rostelecom Cup earlier this season with great ease but has since struggled with some knee problems. Even still, he enters this event as the Russian National Champ and skating fairly well. One thing many people will be looking at is the score Plushenko receives for his programs. At Russian Nationals his (and teammate Voronov) scores were very (very!) inflated...it'll be interesting to see what his actual international scores look like and if that knee continues to hold up. Voronov is still looking to crack into the top echelon of European men, he's been knocking at the door for several seasons now.

Stéphane Lambiel - It's a complete mystery to me that he has never won the European Title. Like Plushenko, he has made a rather impressive comeback this season, albeit he was only gone for one season to Plushenko's three. Lambiel, as a result of Jamal Othman's dismal performance in L.A. hasn't been afforded the chance to really pit himself against any of the world's best skaters this season. This competition will be the first time to see how Lambiel fits into this complex mix of skaters. Lambiel has a knack at being seemingly unprepared but looking rather prepared when you least expect it. He's also a very organic skater that likes new challenges and competes well given those challenges. He's planning a new free skate, we may (or may not) see it in Tallinn (We will! La Traviata). I look at Lambiel as the wildcard here.

Interesting, the top three big names are all entering this event nursing some sort of injury. Joubert has his foot, Plushenko his knee, and Lambiel his hip. This may throw a wrench into things...then again it may not affect things at all.

A Tale of Two Nationals

Two big national championships took place this past week(end). Japan and Russia put their best foot forward and named national champions, solidified Olympic Teams, and gave us a few (very few) dramatic pauses.

Before the competition most had predicted that it would be smooth sailing for Kozuka, Oda, and Takahashi to make the Japanese Olympic Team but what wasn't so sure was how the three would place coming out of Nationals. Most assumed that Kozuka would get the bronze with the real fight being between Oda and Takahashi. Kozuka surprised all by sneaking into second place after Oda fell on a triple flip in the short. But in the free the world righted itself, with Kozuka slipping back to third and Oda and Takahashi going against each other. In the end Takahashi held on to win with clever choreography and some pretty spectacular (and some not so spectacular) jumping. All three men are Vancouver-bound.

4666 Miles Away in St. Petersburg Russia, the Russian ladies were a hot mess on the ice. Russian upstart, Alena Leonova who was the easy favorite to win this championship, faltered...repeatedly...and found herself hanging on to a silver medal. She almost fell to the bronze after Elizaveta Tuktamisheva won the free skate from 10th place and pulled all the way up to the bronze. The overall winner, Ksenya Makarova, was only third best in the free. Makarova recently placed fourth at the Junior Grand Prix Final in Tokyo.

The men's competition in St. Petersburg was a bit of a spectacle. Evgeny Plushenko, despite a flawed short program, scored a whopping 100.09 points. Everyone is quick to point out that scores at a national championships are inflated. But there is point inflation...and there is ridiculous...I file that score under ridiculous. Plushenko breezed his way to an easy victory with another flawed performance that earned a large score. The actual fight here was between Artem Borodulin and Sergei Voronov. Voronov had a flawed free skate and was beaten by Borodulin but managed to hang on to the silver. Voronov, too, had a huge score from the short program. I'd file that one under...excessive.

Also sealing up victories in St. Petersburg were Domnina and Shabalin who finally had a chance to show off their new programs. They were quite sloppy, understandably after being out of competition up until this point, but also pulled in a big ole score. I filed that one under...exaggerated. I'm a big fan of their Aboriginal OD though...it's fun. Bobrova and Soloviev were second, Rubleva and Shefer third. Khoklova and Novitski withdrew prior to the event. Kavaguti and Smirnov won another Russian Title. Mukhortova and Trankov were second with Bazarova and Larionov placing third.

Back in Osaka, I should note that Cathy and Chris Reed along with Takahashi and Tran won the Ice Dance and Pairs competition respectively.

The biggest of all the showdowns was the Japanese ladies competition which has been a bit of a cliff hanger to this point as to whom would make the Japanese Olympic Team along with Miki Ando (who secured a berth following her silver medal Grand Prix Final performance). Oddly, Ando finished fourth, off the podium at Japanese Nationals only adding to the intrigue of the Olympic selection. Securing the first spot was Mao Asada who breezed her way to an easy victory in the deep field. Triple axels in both the short program and the free skate put her well ahead of the field. Yukari Nakano and Akiko Suzuki were left to fight it out for the last spot. Yukari turned in a conservative free skate hoping to use her short program advantage over Akiko but Akiko turned up the heat and turned in another solid performance to surge ahead of Nakano for the silver, and earn a ticket to Vancouver.

The next big national showdowns come next month with Canada and the United States stepping up to the plate.

100.09

Here is Evgeny Plushenko's Short Program he performed today at the 2010 Russian National Figure Skating Championships. He scored 100.09. That is the highest total ever achieved by a male skater...nationally or internationally.



100.09...worth it? You tell me?

Breaking News: Plushenko Injured

Uh oh, did State of the Skate get her prayer request answered?

Evgeny Plushenko has reinjured his knee. Torn ligaments and a sore foot according to this site.

The injury forced him to miss a show as he and coach Alexei Mishin have decided to treat the injury and hopefully be prepared for Russian Nationals and ultimately the Olympic Games. "I hope that everything will be fine and I managed to recover to the championship of Russia" Plushenko told press.

Rostelecom Cup Surprises

Rostelecom Cup surprised me a bit. There were many unexpected moments.

Surprise #1: Pang and Tong. I thought their free skate was awesome. Maybe I’m a sucker for Man of La Mancha but I just loved this program. I feel they are in their comfort zone this season with their programs and I suspect they’ll be able to keep up with their Chinese counterparts. I thought they might get bested by the Russians here but they prevailed.

Surprise #2: Evgeny Plushenko. While I always thought he had a decent shot at winning this competition, I expected there to be a little rust after not competing at this level for so long. Well, he showed no rust at all and after his performance he has to be considered the early favorite for Olympic Gold. I was simply astounded by his performance level (see video below).

Surprise #3: Johnny Weir. On the flip side from Plushenko was Johnny Weir who didn’t look nearly as prepared as I expected him to be. While his programs are solid, I don’t think they have what it takes to be competitive with many of the other men this season. I was expecting a brand new Johnny this season and I feel I got more of the same. I’m feeling a bit short-changed here. He said he was mad in a post-event interview with David Pelletier…let’s see how mad he really is.

Surprise #4: Davis and White. Whoa! We had some stellar dancing last week in Paris from Virtue and Moir and people were already talking about them being shoe-in’s for Olympic Gold. Then, Davis and White bump it up a notch and hardcore bring it in Moscow. The lifts these teams are doing this season are crazy and I just love the competition that is being set up for Vancouver. Outstanding!

Surprise #5: Mao Asada. I just am sad for her. She probably is blessed with the most natural ability of any skater ever but something has gone terribly wrong for her the last year-an-a-half. There’s conflicting reports rather she will switch her SP or not (it would be a wise decision), she’s more than likely not going to make the Grand Prix Final after that 5th place finish, and even her spot on the Olympic Team looks iffy given that the Japanese Federation is doling out Olympic berths based upon the Grand Prix (Although I can’t imagine a scenario where she doesn’t make that team. Even at her worst she is capable of competing with the best.). Suguri and Suzuki all of a sudden are contenders here. Something has to give. I had her pegged as the easy winner here without Kim in the field and Miki Ando and four other skaters just waltzed over her like there was nothing to it.

Surprise #6: Ashley Wagner. Why she didn’t pull out the victory (Miki Ando did that with a rather bland performance to Cleopatra), she did put herself as a serious contender for one of the two Olympic berths the U.S. has for the women. She put down two great programs (work on those edge deductions) and not only earned some international props in the process but sub-planted the reigning National Champ Alissa Czisny (finished off the podium in 4th) in the process.

You can take a look at the full results here. This week the Grand Prix pit stops in Beijing, China.