English newspaper texts about Plushy

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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 10 Dec 2009, 10:26

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-sho...1260417233.html
9.12 2009

Should the Olympics be Dismantled?

Are the Olympics out-dated? Should the competition enterprise be eliminated? Read on and see what you think...


It used to be that every four years the world would watch the athletic elite compete on the world's biggest sports arena – the Olympics....

.... One of the rules is that now professional athletes can join in the competitions. This allows tennis divas such as Serena Williams who earns millions of dollars on the professional circuit to compete alongside athletes who eke out a living as they train to compete in the Olympics. Now, even retired athletes can join in the competition. Former gold medalist and one-time figure skater, Evgeny Plushenko has announced he will likely come out of retirement to compete in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Once again, this reduces the Olympics to a competition that becomes less meaningful.

As someone who avidly enjoys certain sports, I don't want to watch someone who has already won the Olympics four years ago or even further back. One of the great joys of the Olympics used to be the wonder and speculation of who would be the next Olympic champion. If someone like Plushenko can come out of retirement, why don't dozens of former Olympic medalists do the same? The answer is clear; they know that their chances of winning are slim.
:-) ::yaz-yk: The issue is not the figure skater but the IOC which seems to have a very loose grip on its control of the games....
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 16 Dec 2009, 12:23

http://savefigureskating.blogspot.com/2009...d-sport-or.html
Saturday, December 12, 2009

Top Contenders Injured: Sport or Battlefield?

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With two months to go till the 2010 Winter Olympics, two of the male skaters considered to be among the top contenders for the title — Evgeni Plushenko and Brian Joubert — are sidelined with injuries. Meanwhile, world silver medalist Patrick Chan is having a rough season after recovering from a serious injury of his own. And 2008 world champion Jeff Buttle retired less than a year ago to save his body from constant injury.

It's too soon to know if either Plushenko, the reigning Olympic champion, or Joubert, the 2007 world champion, will compete in Vancouver. Both expect they will. Even in the best case scenario, however, the training time lost in these crucial pre-Olympic months may impact their ability to do successfully.

Sport and injuries have always gone hand in hand, and skating is no exception. Ice is slippery, blades are sharp, and human muscles and ligaments are not made of steel. But what's happening to the men lately is out of the ordinary — as is the difficulty of what they are attempting to perform.

Plushenko's injury is reported to have occurred while he worked on a mind-boggling triple axel/quadruple toe combination, something never done in figure skating. The quad and triple axel on their own are the two most difficult jumps in the sport. Put them together and you have 7.5 rotations in little more than it takes you to say "wow." And Plushenko is working on quad/quad combinations as well! The impact of halting these rotations on the skater's knees, ankles and hips is almost beyond our comprehension. When practiced over and over daily to achieve the consistency needed for competition, serious injury is almost unavoidable.

No other skater is attempting these particular combinations, but the top contenders are trying feats that are not too far off. While learning these jumps most competitors are not old enough to drink or vote. Yet they're punishing their bodies like never before attempting tricks that are nearing the limit of what the human body can do — or what it can withstand. Plushenko already had multiple surgeries on his knees. How many more can he endure? How many of today's skaters will get through their skating careers without doing lasting damage to their bodies?

One may well argue that at the age of 27 and in his second Olympics, Plushenko is old enough to make his own decisions and suffer the consequences. Fair enough. But in competitive sport individual achievement doesn't happen in isolation. Were Plushenko to compete and land his spectacular trick in Vancouver, others would surely follow in his footsteps. But unlike him, they wouldn't do so because they wished to, but because that would become the new standard. Few if any would succeed, but many would get injured trying.

This is not Plushenko's fault. He makes decisions for himself, not for the future of the sport. But the sport has a body overseeing it. Does the International Skating Union have no responsibility whatsoever to draw a line in the sand at some point? ("censorship"? :sh_ок: ) It's never easy to do so. But that doesn't mean an attempt shouldn't be made.

Many will ask, how do we know when we near the limit of the human body? Why didn't we stop with the double, the triple, or the triple axel? Why the quad? I argue that there is indeed something very different about the quad.

Incredibly, the jump was first landed in competition nearly a quarter of a century ago. Yet how many clean quads are being landed even today for every 100 that are tried? A handful is probably an overestimate, and there are no more than a few skaters in the entire world who can land quads on anything resembling a consistent basis. By comparison, within less than five years after the first clean triple axel was landed all top men were doing it. Doesn't that difference tell us something? Moreover, those who land the quad are not necessarily the best skaters overall.

That's why we have to remember that the Olympic motto of "Swifter, Higher, Stronger" is not as applicable to figure skating as it is to other Olympic sports. Skating has the unique distinction of being a blend of athleticism and art — a judged sport, not one measured by a timer. We may each assign different weights to skating's inseparable identities, but we can't dismiss either entirely. But if the current trend towards maximizing points under the new judging system continues, all efforts will go into landing increasingly-superhuman tricks. Performing them cleanly and with sensitivity to the music, choreography, and audience enjoyment is becoming but an afterthought.

If this trend continues unchecked, figure skating will lose its identity entirely and become merely gymnastics on ice, with half the sport's competitors sidelined with injury at any given time. Maybe that's perfectly legitimate for the glory of sport. But it's not in keeping with the spirit and beauty of figure skating — and the sport is already paying a heavy price. TV audiences are dwindling, sponsors are turning their backs on skating, tours are folding, and professional skating is but a memory.

Fans never flocked to the sport to see a quad. Ninety-nine percent of those watching can never even recognize it. But they can appreciate a rousing performance, the likes of which we only see once in a blue moon these days. If the ISU doesn't care about these young people's health, maybe it should check its bank accounts and reconsider if these quad combinations are worth the toll.
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 17 Dec 2009, 11:25

http://theevillewithin.blogspot.com/200 ... eckup.html

Olympic Checkup

The end of the Grand Prix Final marks the end of the fall season. Now we turn towards national championships and the Olympics....

Men: This podium is the most wide open. I see 8 contenders which means 5 will get their hearts broken.
Right now, Evan Lysacek and Plushy seem to be the least likely to leave Vancouver empty handed. Even as reigning world champion, Evan seems to feel no pressure which is probably his best asset. Being consistent helps to. However, if Jeremy Abbott, Nobunari Oda, Daisuke Takahashi happen to all strike it hot on February 16 and February 18, Evan may be out of a medal. Johnny Weir is in the mix too although he doesn't seem to be scoring as high as the others when he's on. Then there's Brian Joubert who recently had foot surgery. He's been erratic the last couple seasons but if he's on, he might just snatch up a medal. Patrick Chan didn't have a stellar start to his season but hopefully he's been able to recover from his injury. He still has triple axel problems but his skating skills are undeniable. He may get on the podium on that alone. And we can't forget about Stephane Lambiel. He's a bit of a wild card since we haven't seen him September or October. Europeans will be a good gauge to see where he is....
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 17 Dec 2009, 11:41

Actually - translation from Japanese language :-) .... book in which is mentioned Plushy :-):
.........................................-----------------------------

http://www.shinshokan.co.jp/figure/index_figure.html

"Beautiful warriors on the ice" Tamura Akiko

"Figure skating world," Tamura Akiko nonfiction journalists familiar with figure skating in!
Plushenko, Lambiel, Joubert, Weir, check Raisa, Daisuke Takahashi, Nobunari Oda, Takahiko Kozuka ... vividly depicts a male figure skater in their heated battle unfold the aim of the Olympics....


Some "details" about book... :mi_ga_et:
http://absoluteskating.proboards.com/in ... e=3#195393
namiki:

I've just started reading .
The book introduce Men's skaters and has some story of backstage in media world.
Johnny VS Evan, Jeff & Chan & Brian's Quad talking battle, Daisuke's comeback, Oda's challenge, Plushenko's comeback, Lambiel as a artist on the ice etc....

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You can buy this book here: :mi_ga_et:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%B0%B7%E4%B8 ... d_sim_b_47

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--------------------------------------------

kudryavka: :plush39:

The writer Ms. Tamura, who lives in USA since 1977, had published another figure skating book in 2007, which included SLC Olympics scandal. She wrote such a thing about SLC Olympics:
"Strangely, Canada is somehow often related about problems of judging. And, American TV stations push it to earn the ratings. It is a completed package. Usually, Canadian are friendly. But they change like mob suddenly for their athlete's victory."
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Of course, I bought her new book "Beautiful warriors on the ice" at GPF arena. I'm guessing that she'd rather stand by Russian/European side than Canadian/American...

She says that she's really pleased with Zhenya's return, almost cry! :-) But I guess that she had no time to write more deeply about Zhenya. Her book was published in early December. His successful return happened suddenly for her, who was not his "believer"...

These are her online columns...

http://www.jsports.co.jp/press/column/a ... 44106.html
27.10.2009 14:44
#2 Rostelecom Cup 2009/2010
...
Return of the emperor Plushenko
There was a rumor about Evgeni Plushenko's comeback for a long time. Then, he really returned to amateur competition for the first time in 4 seasons since he won at Turin in February, 2006. Both short program and free skating, he landed 4+3 toe combo. The only mistake is Lutz became double in short. He got 240.65. It was far behind his personal bet 258.33 at Turin. But he has declared that he plans two quads in free in Vancouver. The possibility of his third Olympic medal becomes more likely...

http://number.bunshun.jp/other/figure/column/view/4419/
11.12.2009
Sum up confused figure skating world for the Games
.....
(Why Daisuke Takahashi continues to attempt a quad, even if he couldn't make it clean.)

Evgeni Plushenko of Russia, he returned to amateur competition in this season. He landed perfect 4+3 in both short program and free skating at Rostelecom Cup. He has a satisfactory artistry and experience. He won the silver medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics and the gold medal at the Turin Olympics. He has much experience and doesn't lose his equilibrium even at the decisive games. Takahashi must be acutely aware that a safe strategy without a quad is no use against him. ..... Ladies have a similar situation ... Quality of elements are more important than difficult techniques in CoP. That tendency rises year by year. But if there is a skater who has both the difficulty and the quolity, other skaters must improve in both to win. Moreover, the skater is Evgeni Plushenko in men, and Yu-na Kim in ladies...

:mo-ro_zi_vo:
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 25 Dec 2009, 06:16

http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure- ... -Nationals
December 24, Figure Skating Examiner, Jackie Wong

Plushenko and Voronov heads above the rest at Russian Nationals

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Evgeni Plushenko (RUS) leads after the short program at Russian Nationals and is chasing his eighth title.
Photo: AP/Ivan Sekretarev


There was no doubt who the frontrunners for the two Russian men’s Olympic spots were today in the short program at the Russian National Championships. Reigning Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko broke the 100-point barrier with his performance, while reigning Russian champion Sergei Voronov was not far behind with a score in the mid-90s.

With a solid short program that included his trademark quad toe-triple toe combination, Plushenko bolted into the lead with a score of 100.09. His short program score is unheard of in international competition, surpassing his own world record international score of 90.66. It was earned in part due to the competition-specific bonuses that were given to skaters who successfully completed a quad in their programs. Even with the huge score, the program was not perfect, with a turn-out on his solo triple loop.

Voronov is out to prove that he deserves the second spot at the Olympics after a solid Grand Prix series. His program was cleaner than that of Plushenko, and his 95.64, which also included the quad bonus, puts him within striking distance of the gold. In third going into the free skate is Artem Borodulin, who is over 11 points behind Voronov with an 84.42.

Another familiar name is competing in the men’s event this week. Artur Dmitriev, Jr., the son of two-time Olympic pairs champion Artur Dmitriev, is one of the young men’s skaters in the event. He is currently in 17th place.

MEN (after the short program)
1. Evgeni Plushenko – 100.09
2. Sergei Voronov – 95.64
3. Artem Borodulin – 84.42
4. Konstantin Menshov – 80.66
5. Ivan Tretyakov – 78.63
6. Denis Leushin – 78.40
7. Artem Grigoriev – 70.12
8. Sergei Dobrin – 68.58
9. Nikita Mikhailov – 67.40
10. Vladimir Uspenski – 66.04
11. Gordey Gorshkov – 63.81
12. Mark Shahmatov – 63.56
13. Stanislav Kovalev – 61.49
14. Artur Gachinski – 59.84
15. Zhan Bush – 58.91
16. Aleksander Uspenski – 58.86
17. Artur Dmitriev – 53.15
18. Konstantin Milyukov – 52.22
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 26 Dec 2009, 09:59

http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2009/rn_ms.shtml
December 24, 2009, Article and Photo by Anna Kondakova

Evgeni Plushenko takes first in Men's Short

2010 Russian National Figure Skating Championships


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Evgeni Plushenko currently leads the Men's discipline by just over five points after the Short Program at the 2010 Russian National Figure Skating Championships.

In the Men's event, Evgeni Plushenko posted an unprecedented score of 100.09 (54.05/46.04) points (including +3.00 bonus for landing a clean quad-triple combination) to win the short program.

The 2006 Olympic Champion also produced a strong triple Axel, but turned out on the landing of a triple Lutz out of steps. He previously doubled the Lutz in his short program at the 2009 Rostelecom Cup in October.

"Today it was not my fault," explained the skater at the post-event press conference. "After landing, my blade was caught in the tracing on the ice and I could not move freely to compensate for the rotational momentum. So I was just turned around and there was nothing I could have done. I have to say that the quality of the ice here is less than perfect. You could see puddles of water in the corners and besides the ice is somewhat brittle. But it's a valuable practice for everyone. It means that in the better conditions we will be able to skate even better."

Compared to his performance in October, the student of Alexei Mishin has improved the overall flow of his program to Concerto Aranjuez, as well as the speed of his spins. However, despite his record breaking score, Plushenko (who missed 1.5 weeks of training because of a meniscus injury) was rather modest in his assessment of himself.

"I think it was far from perfect," Plushenko elaborated. "I am satisfied with what I was able to do given the circumstances, and I am very grateful to judges for awarding me a bonus. But I have merely done my job here today. I'm satisfied, but I know that I can and should do better. My goal is to skate clean. I know that it is not easy, but this is what I hope to do at the Olympics. What I did today is not the way I want to skate at the Games, but I guess it is good that I have some things to on work on in the near future."

When asked about whether or not his victory at Nationals is a foregone conclusion, he admitted that he is fairly confident that he will be included in the National team for the European Championships and Olympic Games.

"As long as I'm healthy, I think we could safely say that I'm in," said Plushenko. "My personal goal is to skate clean and to show good results, but I have to say that the other guys were also great today. If they could skate like that at the international level, I would be able to retire in peace. However, it begs the questions why have they not skated like that before? Perhaps I have shaken things up a bit by my comeback. But as I have said they did great. I especially want to single out Sergei Voronov. I'm very happy that my friend and formal rival Alexei Urmanov has such a student."

Voronov, who struggled with consistency for the majority of last season and had a rather slow start of this season, drew the last starting number. His performance to the Skryabin's Revolutionary Etude was one of the highlights of the event. The defending champion landed an excellent quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination (picking up additional +3.00 points for it), a triple Axel, and a triple flip. However, what set his skating in St. Petersburg apart from his previous performances, was the level of confidence and commitment which he demonstrated in every move. He received 95.64 (53.28/42.36) points and is the only skater who remains within reasonable distance of Plushenko's score.

"It was hard to skate last," confessed Voronov, "especially after my rivals had skated so well. But I was able to pull myself together and deliver 100%. I have not seen Plushenko's performance, but the score speaks for itself. However, I did not concern myself with scores or placements. I knew my real task was to conquer my own nerves."

Artem Borodulin is distant third after an upbeat and engaging performance to Kalinka. He landed all his planned jumps, including a triple Axel, which often caused him troubles in the past. The skater earned 84.42 (44.53/39.89) points from the judges and an ovation from the audience throughout the program.

At the post event press conference the student of Elena Buyanova was very much down-to-earth. "I am very happy with the way I skated today," said Borodulin, "but Sergei and Evgeni landed quad-triple combination, which is something I do not have yet. I'm working on it, but the success rate in practice is not good enough to include it into the program. So today they were better, but I think we did have a good competition here."

Borodulin also admitted being impressed with Plushenko's skating. "I saw him today and it was a thing of beauty. The jumps and the overall presentation. It was a pleasure to watch it."

The most pleasant surprise of the evening was how Konstantin Menshov was able to put together a clean and inspired program, finishing fourth with 80.66 (44.01/36.65) points. In the past, the student of Evgeni Rukavitsin was known mostly for his inconsistency (he managed to finish 27th in the short program at the Winter Universiade last winter, before winning the long program to pull up to 7th place overall) and his skating earlier this year did not bode well for future success. However, the experienced skater's performance in front of an enthusiastic home crowd was easily his best ever. Not only did he land all the jumps, including a quad toeloop-double toeloop combination (which earned him +2.00 bonus) and triple Axel, but he truly sold his playful routine, never breaking his rapport with the audience.

"The improvement you see today is the result of the work we started two years ago," explained his coach afterwards. "We have invited a new choreographer, Olga Glinka, and she completely changed the way he worked on the choreography and overall movement. But things like that do take time, so it's only now that he is able to show off the difference in competition."

Ivan Tretyakov is currently fifth with 78.63 (42.03/36.60) points. The 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist did not attempt a quad in his program to Toccata and Fugue, but he landed a solid triple Axel, triple flip-triple toe loop combination, and triple Lutz.

Denis Leushin is a close sixth with 78.40 (41.15/37.25) points. He also landed a clean triple Axel, but underrotated the second jump in a triple loop-triple toeloop combination. In terms of choreography and presentation, he was among the best in the field.

Artem Grigoriev, who has missed most of the autumn due to injury, is seventh with 70.12 points.
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 26 Dec 2009, 11:22

http://www.tltnews.net/2009/12/25/yevge ... rld-record
· 2009-12-25 18:46

Yevgeni Plushenko won with world record!

Figure skating championship of Russia started in Saint-Petersburg yesterday. The competition was marked by two sensations in men skating!

Yevgeniy Plushenko, the 2006 Olympic champion, shockingly won the short programme! Nobody doubted in his victory but the way he made it was wonderful. When Plushenko finished one element not pure, the spectators were a bit disappointed. But it was the bad ice that was the reason for it. So, judges decided not to lower the points for Plushenko’s skating. And when the points were summed, it appeared to be that Yevgeniy Plushenko won the competition with the world record – 100,09! Even skater’s coach Aleksey Mishin was shocked for a moment. But soon he became passionless again and said that the main start would be in Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Another sensation happened in the last demonstration when Sergei Voronov showed the second result – 95,64! Sergei Voronov is trained by Aleksey Urmanov, the 1994 Olympic champion. The coach was really happy with Voronov’s result. And Sergei also looked to be a little surprised. Now Sergei Voronov has good chances to go to the Olympics in 2010 in company with Evgeni Plushenko, Sovetskiy sport reports.
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 28 Dec 2009, 12:45

http://goldenskate.com/articles/2009/rn_ml.shtml
December 26, 2009, Article and Photo by Anna Kondakova

Evgeni Plushenko takes back title after 4-year hiatus
2010 Russian National Figure Skating Championships

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Evgeni Plushenko won his eighth national title at the 2010 Russian National Figure Skating Championships.

Evgeni Plushenko of St. Petersburg (SPB) won the men's 2010 Russian National title with a powerful, but flawed performance of his tango routine. Sergei Voronov (SPB) finished in second overall, while Artem Borodulin (MOS) maintained third place for the bronze.

Plushenko popped his planned opening quad toeloop into a triple, but immediately landed a clean one afterwards. He was not able to land his second triple Axel on the first try, and fell out of a triple Salchow landing immediately after the successful execution of that jump later.

"I went for the second quad because I missed the first one and had to do it to rectify the situation," explained Plushenko. "I am happy that I was able to land a triple Axel in the end. Perhaps there was a certain euphoria right after it and this is why I fell on the Salchow."

The student of Alexei Mishin was rather critical of himself at the post event press conference. "On the scale of five, I'd say it was a weak three. It's impossible to win any major competition skating like that. I will work on it more and train more. But to some extent it's a blessing in disguise. There was a lot competitions and I was skating better and better on every one of them, so it's natural that there is a decline. The good thing is that it happened now, before the Europeans. I plan to do two quads at Euros: a quad-triple and quad solo."

The 2006 Olympic Champion rearranged his program on the flight without previously consulting his coach. "I had a triple Axel-triple flip sequence, but decided not to do it because the Axel turned out to be a double."

He posted another record breaking score of 171.50 (79.00/92.50) points for first place in the long and, with a total score of 271.59 points, easily won the event.

When challenged by the media about his marks, Plushenko was quick to point out that he is not the only one to score a notch or two above what he is getting internationally. "I am not the only one who has high scores here. Look at the second place in the Short Program - he got 95. Borodulin got 82. Do you think he skated like 82? It's only natural, it's Nationals."

Borodulin finished second in the long program with 150.50 (67.70/82.80) points, but with a total score of 234.92 points, placed third overall behind Voronov. Though the skater popped his planned triple Lutz into a single in the second half of the program, he otherwise was very strong and landed both his triple Axels - one in combination with triple toeloop. The 20-year-old also landed four other clean triples and got the second highest program components score for his sharp and powerful interpretation of the tango.

"I have done nearly everything I've planned," said Borodulin afterwards. "My only mistake was missing a triple Lutz. Perhaps I was a bit carried away by the fact that I landed two hard jumps and thought that everything else would be easy in comparison."

Konstantin Menshov (SPB) delivered another good performance in which he landed a quad toeloop-double toe loop combination and a triple Axel, but he popped the second planned quad into triple and only did a double loop later in the program. The student of Evgeni Rukavitsin posted the second highest technical score of the night, but relatively low program component marks kept him off the podium.

Menshov received enthusiastic support from the home crowd, and while his routine to the music of the Saw II soundtrack had great energy and attack, he lacked the impact of his more experienced competitors. He scored 148.05 (70.97/77.08) points for a third place finish in the long and fourth overall (228.71 points).

Voronov maintained his second position overall (240.01 points) despite finishing only fourth in the long program with 144.37 (63.77/81.60) points. The skater had to fight for the landing of his quad toeloop, then he stepped out of his first triple Axel and fell on the second one. The mistakes discouraged the student of Alexei Urmanov, and even though he pulled himself together to finish strong, the middle of his routine to Schindler's List fell flat.

"I would like to congratulate Evgeni and Artem," Voronov later said. "They skated well today. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for myself. There were mistakes, there was a fall, but I kept fighting till the end. I can honestly say that I've done my best. I was not under pressure [after an excellent performance in the short]. I suppose I was just too tired."

Denis Leushin (MOS) finished fifth in the long program (138.81 (65.83/73.78)) and overall (217.21). He did not attempt a quad and fell on the second jump of his triple Axel-triple toeloop combination. He also stepped out of another triple Axel attempt, but he had rather strong presentation skills and expressed the character of his program well.

Ivan Tretyakov slipped to sixth place after an error-filled performance to music from the Charade soundtrack. He did not attempt a quad Salchow, which he has landed in competition before, and popped an opening triple Axel into a single.
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 29 Dec 2009, 09:29

http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/...k_193862Hj.html
Dec 26, 2009

Olympic champion Plushenko sets new world best mark

Saint Petersburg (AFP) - Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko set a new world best total mark of 271.59 points to win his eighth domestic title at the Russian championships.

The 27-year-old scored 171.50 points in for his free skating performance, skated to Tango Amore by Edwin Marton at his hometown Jubilee ice palace.

"I can mark my performance with three points of five - maximum," Plushenko said as he geared up for the 2010 European Championships as well as another Olympics assault in Vancouver in February.

"I was practicing only one week before the Russian championships. Now I need to rehabilitate completely ahead of the European championships to gain my top form for the Olympics."

On Friday, Plushenko enjoyed a great start with a personal best mark of 100.09 points for his short programme performed to Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo, beating his previous best at the 2006 Turin Games.

But Plushenko was still far from satisfied with his short programme.

"To be honest it was not perfect skating," Plushenko said. "I was just doing my work."

"I would like to thank the judges for the bonus but it definitely was not the presentation of true Olympic level. But now I know what direction I shall move to reach it."

Sergei Voronov performed well with his 95.64 points for his short programme also surpassing Plushenko's mark from Turin. But on Saturday Voronov failed to stay in the race for the title receiving only the third best mark for his free routine.
He remained second overall, five points ahead of Artem Borodulin of Moscow, who won the bronze medal....

----------------------------------------------

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091226/157385408.html
26/12/2009

Plushenko wins his 8th Russian figure skating championship

Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko won the Russian Figure Skating Championships on Saturday to become an eight-time national champion.

Plushenko, the 2006 Olympic winner and three-time world champion, scored a record of 271.59 points and was followed by Sergei Voronov with 240.01 and Artyom Borodulin, 234.92 points.

In October, Plushenko won an easy victory at Moscow's Rostelecom Cup, his first international skate since taking gold at the Torino Games. He announced in March he would return to the ice after a self-imposed absence to prepare for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

But the champion was not happy with his performance today.

"I did not do all I had planned because of an injury and because I missed more than a week of training," he said, assessing his performance at "three on a five-grade scale."

Plushenko was reported to have knee problems, which prompted his retirement after his stunning performance in Torino.

Plushenko said his mistakes today will spur him to train more ahead of the European championship and the Vancouver Olympics.

He said he hopes to perform two quadruple jumps in his free skating program in Vancouver.

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http://rt.com/Sport/2009-12-27/pluschenko-....html?fullstory
Published 27 December, 2009, 13:24

Pluschenko claims eighth Russian championship

Figure skater Evgeny Pluschenko has set yet another world record and claimed yet another Russian national title.
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The 2006 Olympic champion was awarded a combined total of just over 270 points for his short program and free skating. The new mark is seven points higher than the previous best.

And it was more than enough to secure an eighth national gold for the 27-year-old.

On Thursday, the St. Petersburg resident also set the record for becoming the first man to get more than 100 points for a short program.

Pluschenko had undergone knee surgery two weeks before the tournament, which raised concerns over his fitness for Vancouver, but his outstanding results on home ice have so far proved otherwise.

“As for the Olympics – we plan to do better than I did today, try to avoid injuries and perform on a high level and not to make such bad mistakes like I did today. I am very glad I was able to do another quadruple jump though. It was very good training. I had three successful competitions before the Russian championship. And maybe its only for the best that I had to overcome an injury to compete here, so that I could start training in fresh and leave all the mistakes behind me and deliver the gold in Vancouver,” Evgeny Pluschenko said.

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http://loopaxles.blogspot.com/2009/12/tale...-nationals.html
December 28, 2009

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.....

.... 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....

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/go-fi...article1413419/
December 28, 2009, Beverley Smith

Plushenko's 'record' offers more judging questions than answers

Evgeni Plushenko is still king of Russia.

But the world? We don’t know yet.

The sports pages yesterday hailed that the defending Olympic champion from the Turin Games had set a world best mark of 271.59 points in winning his eighth Russian title at his national championships on Saturday. But good thing that the International Skating Union doesn’t count domestic scores in its records, because sometimes the home side gets a little overenthusiastic before a big event, particularly an Olympic Games. And Russian judges are the most devoted, even ebullient, of all in regards to supporting their own before they go off to war.

If Plushenko’s score was to be considered an actual world record, it would mean he had blasted the top mark set by the expressive dervish Daisuke Takahashi of Japan, who stunned everybody at the 2008 Four Continents Championships with a 264.41 score. And that was a mark handed out by international judges, with no nationalistic cards to play (hopefully).

(Also last Saturday, Takahashi won his fourth national title with 261.13 points, and he was disappointed with his performance, downgrading a quad to a triple, stumbling, and then fumbling his way out of another triple later. So high scores there, too, but with Takahashi, they have a lot of content to mark.)

And how did Plushenko skate to earn such a mark as 271.59, which is 7.18 points higher than the actual ISU record? Not bad for a guy who had an old war wound surface in the weeks before the national event, probably from training unthinkable jump combinations, like a triple Axel-quadruple toe loop (You can watch it on Plushenko’s website, evgeni-plushenko.com, and if you ask his coach Alexei Mishin nicely, he might let you see it on his iphone.) He was able to train only a week before nationals, and is faced with getting painful shots into his joints to deaden the pain en route to the Olympics.

But his performance wasn’t great enough for a score like that.

Plushenko won the short program with 100.09 points, a world best, too, even though he stepped out of a triple Lutz, and broke at the waist to land his other jumps. (Plushenko has the world record of 90.66, set in Turin.) Plushenko himself says his performance didn’t match the score he got, and he also shouldn’t have been getting bonus marks for execution. (Takahashi won the short program in Japan with 92.85 points, which would have beaten Plushenko’s world record - but it’s a domestic score. Takahashi went into the long program more than 12 points ahead of his nearest competitor.

Plushenko’s long program, to a tango that rarely became evident, was similar to his short. There were the endless crosscuts to gain speed, then the long windups to launch himself into jumps, when choreography and expression disappeared. The spins were ordinary, not crisp or fast. His famous Biellmann spin - invented by a woman and rare for a male - is long gone.

By comparison, Takahashi’s jumps come out of nowhere, suddenly, explosively. And boy, does this son of a hair stylist throw himself into a show with his whole heart. His footwork is swift and complex.

The wild and crazy marks at the Russian championships are a perfect illustration that scores cannot be compared from one competition to another, as the ISU hoped when they set up the expensive judging system system, because every judging panel is different. And the wild marks also illustrated that when judges are willing, they can do anything with the marks that they want, and the marks don’t have to reflect what actually happens on the ice.

Best place to throw on extra marks? In the presentation marks, and in the grade of execution marks for elements.

In his short program and long programs, Plushenko was getting presentation marks that ranged from averages of 9.00 to 9.32 out of 10, marks that are reserved only for the very best, the stars, the accomplished. Few get them. That means some of his hearth-home judges gave him marks in the high nines for his nearly non-existent transitions, his interpretation (of the tango?), his skating skills, his choreography.

Think the judging scandals of the Salt Lake City Games are over? Not by a long shot.

Our only hope is that when all of the skaters of the world get together, in front of international judges - that hopefully don’t exhibit biases in the world’s most important skating event - that these sort of performances aren’t rewarded. If they are, the sport is in trouble.
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Re: English newspaper texts about Plushy

Postby cekoni » 29 Dec 2009, 11:38

http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure- ... sian-title
December 26, Figure Skating Examiner Jackie Wong

Plushenko wins record eighth Russian title

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Evgeni Plushenko (RUS) won his eighth
Russian title today on his way to defending
his Olympic title in February.
Photo: AP/Ivan Sekretarev


2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko easily took his eighth Russian National Championships today with a total score that blew away the rest of the men by over 30 points. The results from this week’s Russian National Championships in Saint Petersburg will go toward determining the two Russian men’s Olympic spots in Vancouver.

Plushenko was not perfect in his free skate, changing his first quad toe into a triple but landing his second quad and a total of five clean triples. His jumping passes were somewhat tentative and he stepped out of his triple salchow toward the end of the program. His uneven performance could likely be the result of the reaggravation of his knee injury earlier this month. His free skate score of 171.50 was still the best of the competition by far, combining with his short program score to give him a final total of 271.59.

Two-time and reigning Russian champion Sergei Voronov had some struggles with his free skate after a spectacular short program. But he maintained his second place standing thanks in part to the lead he had going into today’s free skate. With his silver this week and his international performances this season, Voronov will certainly be rewarded the second spot on the Olympic team and joining Plushenko in Vancouver.

Defending silver medalist Artem Borodulin had a spirited free skate to finish in second in the free skate and earn the bronze.

MEN (final standings)
1. Evgeni Plushenko – 271.59
2. Sergei Voronov – 240.01
3. Artem Borodulin – 234.92
4. Konstantin Menshov – 228.71
5. Denis Leushin – 217.21
6. Ivan Tretyakov – 215.68
7. Artem Grigoriev – 197.49
8. Gordey Gorshkov – 193.83
9. Nikita Mikhailov – 192.96
10. Mark Shahmatov – 187.91
11. Vladimir Uspenski – 184.18
12. Sergei Dobrin – 183.87
13. Artur Gachinski – 179.99
14. Artur Dmitriev – 179.51
15. Aleksander Uspenski – 174.04
16. Stanislav Kovalev – 166.68
17. Zhan Bush – 162.18
18. Konstantin Milyukov – 141.96
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