Evan Lysacek’s gold medal upset causing some drama at 2010 Vancouver Olympics

Saturday, 20 February 2010 13:06

Americans pulling away with medals count

BY BRAD NOLAN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

N.J. AT THE GAMES

The drama builds in Men's Figure Skating after American Evan Lysacek won Gold on Thursday beating reigning Olympic Champion Yevgeny Plushenko. Lysacek topped his Russian competitor but just 1.31 points. Some including Plushenko highly doubt that Lysacek's performance was better than the reigning Olympic champ. The Russian Figure Skater was quick to point out that he had landed an incredibly hard four-rotation jump and Lysacek had not even tried.

Many call in to question the new style of judging that was put into place after a scandal rocked the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The new system of judging put more weight on athleticism as opposed to technical skill.

While Plushenko landed one of the most challenging jumps in the sport, Lysacek was able to win with a more athletically demanding performance. Plushenko, who has been around the sport at its highest levels considerably longer the Lysacek, favored the old system of grading. Were the judges in the right? You be the judge.

MEDALS COUNT (CLICK)

In other Olympic competition, The United States stretched its lead even further on Friday earning a pair of medals in Men's Alpine Super G. Alpine Skiers Bode Miller and Andrew Weibrecht were able to come in second and third in the event. The time between Gold medalist Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and third place's Weibrecht was a slim .31 seconds. Miller finished just .03 seconds ahead of his teammate.

In Men's Hockey, Anaheim Duck, and Finnish Forward Teemu Selanne set an Olympic record on Friday by hitting the 37 career point mark in Olympic play. The feat, which took place during a win against Germany, pushed him over top of the previous record hold Valeri Kaharlamov of the Soviet Union. The US Men's team has Saturday off but will resume play on Sunday against home nation Canada. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Sunday on MSNBC.

The United States now holds an impressive 20 medals. Six gold, six silver, and eight bronze will be coming home with Team USA from British Columbia. The games are still young however with 52 medal rounds still to come with a total of 156 medals still to be earned.

Saturday will see a total of 18 medals handed out in six different events. Lindsey Vonn will have her shot at a second gold during the Ladies' Alpine Super-G, while Speed Skater Apolo Ohno will have a shot at being the most decorated Winter Olympian in history during the Men's 1000m Short Track Speed Skating event that is scheduled to take place on Saturday night.

Sunday will see another 18 medals handed out. Men's 15km biathlon will start the day followed shortly by the delayed Men's Alpine Super Combined Slalom. The Woman's 12.5km Mass Start Biathlon starts at 4 p.m. eastern in Vancouver.

Comments (5)

Plushenko was robbed, probably because the american was privileged.
It's a shame for figure ice skating around the world

The fact that Stojko or Plushenko thinks that a greater attempt at athetlicism - the quad jump - guarantees Gold over all the other elements needed to be executed in the sport is somewhat silly. It harkens back to the schoolyard days when brute strength always prevailed - the stronger kid would always win out. These guys put a premium on having the 'guts' to not be a sissy. What's next a triple-dog-dare to do a quad? These guys are a couple of grown up bullies who are crying because their perceived athletic dominance, their macho personas, were not enough to get them the ultimate Gold. Plushenko thought he could just 'skate' through the last minute and half because he's so damn manly. He didn't need a footwork routine, he only needed the first three minutes to win the 4 and half minute long program. He's that amazing. Please. It wasn't enough to charm the judges this time, or in Stojkos case, two other times previous. The judges saw something better this time - and not by much mind you - but enough to award Lysacek the deserved Gold. Frankly, their (Stoj and Plush) routine styles dazzle with athletic ability and raw power but lack a certain grace and astheticism. It is the difference between driving an Aston-Martin or driving a Corvette. One takes the turns better and one is better on the straight aways. Stojko is obviously not happy with his Silver Medals and shows extremely poor taste in raining on the parade of Lysacek who skated by all the rules and was the smarter competitor. The sport is Figure Skating, not Quad Jumping, so one must skate figures and moves and jumps and show great footwork. Lysacek did this. He skated the much smarter routine and skated it beautifully. Plushenko's obvious Golden Boy treatment by the Russian authorities led to an arrogance that kept him from getting the Gold. Much like the rich kid who is never told 'no' at home, he got a wake up call out in the real world when he was told 'no' by Olympic judges. Stop whining. You got beat. Be a man. Learn some foot form and come back with your quads and and your foot forms and a greater appreciation of what it is to compete in the Olympics. Other athletes are there to win, too. They don't just think it is to be given to them. Stojko, I wish you the best, but it's time for you to be gracious or just shut up and go home.

I love the changes in judging which encourage more of an artistic approach and well-rounded performance on the ice. Evan is the stronger skater hands down. Besides that Plushenko was not at his best- neither during nor after the competition. The clear winner won.

I am glad to see figure skating being judged on the complete program, not just jumps as it had been for too long. Skating is sport, but it is also art, and the new scoring focuses on the skater as a complete package, not just how many jumps he can squeeze into a skate or the complexity of the jumps. There is so much more to a beautiful and skilled performance than jumping and I'm glad to see the skating federations finally recognizing that.

Evan definitely deserved the Gold. Thank goodness judging looks at the entire performance and not just how many jumps were done. I was always disappointed when "how many jumps" were the rage. Why bother with the music if the entire routine was simply going back and forth across the rink with jumps at each end? Plushenko's performance was flat, his performance between his jumps was not very deep, and even the jumps he did were not smooth and beautifully executed. His behavior afterwards has been totally disgusting. I was shocked to see Elvis Stojko;s comments but then I remembered that jumping and the quad or not doing the quad was how he got known - and if he gives up on jumping as the primary goal, there's not much left to his own skating talents....

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Evan Lysacek’s gold medal upset causing some drama at 2010 Vancouver Olympics

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