Tomas Verner opened the show with a nice quad toe loop, though not the combination he had planned, giving hope he might put out at least one good program here, but it was not to be. He missed both triple Axel attempts, and singled a triple flip with an edge call, in a performance that was flat and uninteresting. The former European Champion is now a shadow of his former self.
In the remainder of the warm-up there were several season best performances, with most of these attempting either quad toe or triple Axel. Most of these were not successful, the exception being Adrian Schultheiss who landed quad toe loop and a triple Axel - doubel toe loop combination. His program to "Teardrop" and "Insane in the Brain" began interestingly but soon became tedious and repetitive. Except for a minor error in his final jump combination, it was a clean performance which pulled him up to 13th in Free Skate after having been 22nd in the short.
Vaughn Chipeur had a season best performance to an excruciatingly boring performance to "Go Chango," "Harlem Nocturne," and "Topsy," which did not speak well to how the rest of his season must have gone. Three of his jumps were scored negative, with two triple Axel attempts popped to singles.
The second warm-up saw only a modest improvement in the skating.
Stephan Linderman, the former World bronze medallist badly missed on his first two triple-triple combinations, and then went on to double the rest of his jumps, except for a double Axel - triple toe loop combination. It was a boring and lifeless performance that left him exhausted by the end.
Arten Borodulin placed one spot higher in the Free Skate compared to the short, where he was 12th. He had errors in three jump elements in the middle of the program, but still managed a lively performance with good expression to a tango medley. The layout of his program could use some work, but with the two programs here he impressed with his potential and his flair for performing.
Jeremy Abbott redeemed himself after a painful short. His jumps were still MIA, with major errors on quad toe loop, triple flip (downgraded) and double Axel. His performance was otherwise together, and managed average component marks of 7.9. He placed 9th in the long after being 11th in the short.
After a disastrous short that put him out of the running for a medal, many wondered if Brian Joubert would show up for the Free Skate. After his performance it was clear he had not. He had two quad toe loops planned. He fell on the first and omitted the second, changed to a triple toe loop. He stepped out of a triple Axel attempt, had an edge call on a triple flip, and a triple loop was also poorly landed on the toe. His performance looked distracted and dispirited, with component marks that averaged only 7.4. Both he short and the long showed Joubert to also be a shadow of his former self, who would have been better served at this competition if he had bagged the quads and focused on giving otherwise all around solid performances.
Following the ice cut, the third warm-up got down to more serious business as there were a few skaters in this group who had a numerical chance for a medal if they gave a solid performance and anyone faltered in the last group.
The always engaging Takashiko Kozuka opened with a two footed quad toe loop, but kept his focus through the middle of the program, landing three jump combinations, including triple Axel - triple toe loop. In the second half, however, he had errors on the landings of triple Axel, triple flip and triple loop all in succession. Still, it was a season best performance with average component scores of 7.4.
Florent Amodio had a season best performance skating to music from the "Amelie" soundtrack. It was overall a nicely presented skate, but with several jump issues that pulled down his technical score significantly. A lack of speed and weakness in Transitions also hurt his scores dropping him from 11th in the short to 15th in the long.
Patrick Chan needed a strong clean skate to reach medal contending marks. He delivered the strong, but not clean. He stepped out of triple Lutz, and fell on triple Axel, and landed six other triples cleanly. He achieved level four on three spins and one step sequence, and level three on the second step sequence. It was a brave effort, but in the end not enough to move up to the podium. His 160.30 score was his season best.
Evan Lysacek was first to skate in the last warm-up and needed the best skate he could deliver in order to overcome Evgeni Plushenko's theoretical advantage in jump points. He delivered a season best performance that was nearly clean, with only minor errors landing a triple Axel on the toe and an edge alert on triple flip. Both of these elements were scored slightly negative. His spins and steps were called level four, except for one step sequence at level three. They were fast and well executed. When he was finished it was clear that this might be the gold medal performance he was looking for, but there were five skaters yet to skate, with Plushenko skating last. Afterwards Lysacek said he spent the rest of the warm-up watching the group on a monitor back stage.
Nobanarki Oda gave a decent performance, landing eight triples, two of which were scored negative. On element 9 (triple loop) he popped the laces off the hooks on his right boot and had to stop to correct the problem, and received a two point deduction because of the interruption. His Chaplin routine was pleasant enough, but not a medal contending routine.
Stephanie Lambiel skated next, and with a strong performance had a chance to move up to the podium. It was a gutsy attempt with two quad toe loops attempted. On the first he put a hand down, and on the second he had a poor landing, but was still able to squeeze in a double toe loop to complete a combination and avoid the 20% +SEQ penalty. Three other jump elements had issues and were scored negative. Despite the technical problems it was a well presented program with the second highest Program Component score. With a season best of 162.09 points he placed third in the long, but was not not quite good enough to reach the podium.
Daisuke Takahashi, who was third in the short, and essentially tied with Lysacek and Plushenko, gave it everything he had in his quest for the gold. He opened with a quad toe loop attempt on which he fell. To his credit, he remained focused and delivered a fast, engaging, entertaining skate. On a triple flip - triple toe loop combination, the toe loop was downgraded, and on two triple Lutzes he received edge alerts. His Program Components averaged 8.45, the best of the event. For Takahashi, the difference between gold and bronze was the fall and downgrade on the quad toe loop, and the downgrade on triple toe. These two errors alone lost enough points to miss the gold medal. Though he dropped to fifth in the long, he gained enough points to hold third place overall.
Johnny Weir was another skater who needed a strong clean skate and some help from those ahead of him to move up to the podium. His "Fallen Angel" program was well presented and highly emotional, his best performance of the routine this season, with a season best score. His opening triple flip, as is often the case, had an edge call that cost him at least 1.2 points, and he had an odd exit from a flying sit spin, though he still completed enough of the spin for it to be called level 3. His total element score was fourth best of the group, and his components average 7.7. Weir placed sixth overall behind Patrick Chan, whose program we found much less expressive and interesting. Weir outscored Chan in TES, but not in PCS.
Last to skate was the reigning gold medallist Evgeni Plushenko. The scoreboard showed he needed a season best performance, but by only two points, so the gold was well within his reach. In the Short Prgram Plushenko looked nervous during the warm-up, but was solid in the performance. In the long, he again looked nervous in the warm-up, but this time did not deliver the solid performance he needed. He was tentative at first, and had to fight for every landing. A solo triple Axel was scored negative, and two other jumps and one spin received a few negative GoEs. The Free Skate to "Tango Amore" was more entertaining than the short and includes several moments were he engages the audience, but the program did not reach the level of emotion and intensity expected from a gold medal performance. It was speculated that Plushenko would attempt two quad toe loops, or might add a second if it seemed he needed it when he took the ice. In retrospect he did need it, but afterwards he said throwing a second toe loop was never in his plan. Apparently all the talk of two quads and the roles of quads in men's skating were so many preliminary head games.
At the end of the program Plushenko thought he had delivered enough to win the gold as he strutted around the ice sheathing his invisible sword. But the judges did not agree, with Lysacek and Plushenko receiving the same PCS of 82.80 and Lysacek scored higher in TES, 84.57 to 82.71.
During the anthem and the photo-op afterwards Lysacek was nearly giddy with excitement while Plushenko was distant and uncooperative. He was not attentive during the anthem, and left the photo-op early. He arrived at the post event press conference late and left early. He tried to make light of the results, but it seemed a mask to hide bitter disappointment. Fans can decide for themselves by listening to the post event press conference audio.
At the press conference Plushenko implied he might continue competing, and the following day Lysacek indicate he would continue competing and might stay until 2014. In winning the Gold medal, Lysacek is the first reigning World Champion to win the Olympic gold medal. The jinx (if you believe is such things) is broken!
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| Evan Lysacek -- First | Evgeni Plushenko -- Second | Daisuke Takahashi -- Third |
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| Johnny Weir | Jeremy Abbott |
Copyright 2010 by George S. Rossano