1999 World Championships

Men

Notes on the Long Program

The long program was again Yagudin vs. Plushenko for the top two spots and everyone else fighting for the bronze medal.

Elvis Stojko skated first in the last warm-up.  He landed a quad toe loop - double toe loop, but only five triples.  It terms of presentation, it was a good effort by Stojko standards, but it was clear after he skated that his medal hopes depended on several skaters remaining in the group having problems of their own.  At the start of the competition Stojko claimed he was now back at 100% in recovering from his groin injury, but for the last section of the program he looked drained.  Whether this is due to being undertrained or simply the effect of age catching up with him one can only speculate but by the end of the program he looked beat and beaten.  Ultimately he placed fifth in the free skating for a fourth place finish.

Alexei Yagudin skated next.  He performed his "Lawrence of Arabia" program to perfection.  He landed a quad toe loop and eight triple jumps.  His presentation was nearly as strong as his technical effort and was noticeably improved over last year.  He earned the only mark of 6.0 for this competition thus far, for technical merit from the Polish judge.  In wining the gold medal he repeats as World Champion, having won the title for the first time last year in Minneapolis..

Alexei Urmanov had the opportunity to move up, but there were too many errors in his Latin free skate for this level of competition.  He started off with a poor landing on triple flip and then landed a clean triple Axel.  A subsequent planned triple Axel - triple toe loop was turned into a triple-double.  After landing triple Lutz he doubled a triple loop.  He improvised a second attempt at triple loop in substitution for a planned triple toe loop and then finished up with a triple Salchow - triple toe loop jump sequence.  With seven triples is was a great effort, but going up against skaters with nine triples and quads in their programs it was not enough and he ended up dropping to sixth in the long to finish fifth overall.

Next to skate was Evgeny Plushenko, the leader after the short program.  Plushenko put a hand down on his opening quad toe loop attempt.  He then went on to land eight triple jumps including triple Axel - triple toe loop and triple Lutz - triple toe loop.   Afterwards he said that had he landed the quad toe loop he would have won the free skate and the event, but that is not likely.  While his jumps were comparable to Yagudin's the overall quality of Yagudin's skating was higher.  Plushenko's presentation was also strong, but again Yagudin had the edge in that area also.  Six of the nine judges had Yagudin ahead of Plushenko in the second mark and the remaining three had them tied.

Following Plushenko, Andrejs Vlascenko skated a dynamic program, but with just four triple jumps and several errors he dropped from sixth after the short to tenth in the free skate for a ninth place finish.

Last to skate was Michael Weiss.  Although Weiss does not have a consistent quad - having landed only one in competition over the past two years - Stojko's performance left the door open.  Weiss met the challenge.  He opened by two footing a quad toe loop attempt and then went on to skate a clean program with eight triples including triple Axel - triple toe loop and triple flip - triple toe loop.  He was fast and secure, skating with confidence through he entire program.  His fine effort resulted in a third place finish in the long for a third place finish on a six-three split with Takeshi Honda.  Honda, who skated in the third of four warm-up groups, skated well landing a quad toe loop of his own.  His eight place finish in the short program, however, was too much to overcome and he placed sixth overall.

Timothy Goebel moved up from 13th after the short to 12th overall with a 12th place finish in the free skate.  Goebel landed a quad Salchow - triple toe loop combination - the first time that combination has been landed in international competition.  He also landed five other triple and many thought his placement was a little low and that he should have been placed above Vlascenko and Dmitry Dmitrenko, both of whom made several errors in their programs.  Trifun Zivanovic did not have a good skate in the long program and dropped to 16th in the free skate and 16th overall.  The combined placements of Weiss and Goebel total 15 with gives the U.S. two spots in the men's event next year.

Notes on the Short Program

The men's event is unfolding much as expected coming into Worlds.  The top two Russian men, Alexei Yagudin and Evgeny Plushenko are battling for the gold while Levis Stojko, Michael Weiss, and Alexei Urmanov are the primary contenders for the bronze.   Yagudin and Pluchenko wach won their qualifying group and in the short program they placed 1-2.  Yagudin and Plushenko attempted the same jumps and similar spins and both skaters gave lively, spirited performances.  It would have been a very close call between them, but Yagudin stepped out of the triple toe loop in his triple Luzt - triple toe combination which gave the result to Plushenko.

Elvis Stojko abandoned the short program he had been doing this season and went back to last year's Koto drums number.  It was a stronger performance than at Four Continents, but he two footed his quad toe loop attempt.  For his combination he landed triple Lutz - double toe loop.  It was good enough to take third place and left him in contention for a medal, but under the new rules he cannot win the gold by winning the long program, without getting some help.  Both Yagudin and Plushenko must place third or lower in the free skate for Stojko to win the gold by winning the long program.

Close behind Stojko in the standings is Micheal Weiss.  Both he and Stojko received three second place ordinals and their relative placements were the result of a 5-4 split of the panel.  Since U.S. Nationals Weiss has trimmed his Beethoven long prodram from last year, turning it into a short program.  He landed triple Axel, triple Lutz, and triple flip - triple toe loop.  It was a strong, confident performance.

Alexei Urmanov placed fifth in a dramatic program, but of lesser difficulty than the leaders.  He landed triple Axel - double toe loop, triple Lutz, and double Axel.   During his circular footwork sequence he also had a brief stumble for a minor deduction.  He still has a chance for the bronze medal, but he has his work cut out for him if the difficulty of his long program is not up to the standards set by the current leaders.

Timothy Goebel placed 13th using his short program from last year, giving up the "Zorba the Greek" routine he used up through U.S. Nationals.  It suites him a lot better than the "Zorba" program, a conclusions he also reached after Nationals.  He landed triple Axel - double toe loop, triple Lutz, and double Axel.   Trifun Zivonovic placed 15th.  He landed triple Axel despite a poor landing edge, but double a planned triple Lutz, and two footed the toe loop in his triple flip - triple toe loop combination..  It seems unlikley either of these two skaters can move up far enough in the long program for the U.S. to hold on to three spots for next year's Worlds.

The only quad landed in the short program was delivered by Zhengin Quo who placed   sixth in the sort.  It was the first quad jump landed in a World Championships short program.

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