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[cekoni]

http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure- ... Mroz-third

Lysacek leads Skate America after the short, Mroz third

It was supposed to have been a battle between two of the top skaters in the world in the men’s event at Skate America, but only one of those skaters held up his end of the bargain. World champion Evan Lysacek was not mistake-free, but his program was strong enough to top the leaderboard amongst a mistake-prone men’s field. 2008 European champion Tomas Verner, however, made mistakes on all three jumping passes and plummeted to the bottom as a result of the errors.

Lysacek comes into Skate America after winning the silver at Cup of China two weeks ago, and he is looking to do well enough in Lake Placid to grab a spot at the Grand Prix Final. His triple axel was his only error, underrotating it and garnering a downgrade and negative Grades of Execution (GOE). With a score of 79.17, he has built up a lead of over six points above the rest of the field. But with his closest rival at the bottom of the leaderboard, it is his Skate America to win or lose in the free skate.

The surprise of the short program was young Frenchman Florent Amodio, who looks to be one of the up-and-coming stars in the skating world. He skated a clean short en route to a second place finish with a score of 72.65. His Program Components Score (PCS) was the third highest of the field, above skaters who have many more years of experience than he does. The question now is whether or not he will be able to pull off a medal in the free skate. The odds are certainly in his favor if he can repeat the magic that he showed in the short.

Coming back from a disappointing Rostelecom Cup, U.S. silver medalist Brandon Mroz skated a solid short program to put himself in the bronze medal position. His two most difficult jumps both had turnouts on the landing, but the errors were minor enough that he still received a good amount of credit for the jumps. Like Amodio, Mroz is also part of the next generation of talented male skaters, and it would not be surprising to see the two of them continue to battle head-to-head for medals at international competitions.

Verner had a skate that was reminiscent of his free skate meltdown at the 2008 Worlds. He had a bad fall on an underrotated quad toe, doubled his triple axel, and doubled his triple lutz, losing almost 20 points in his base value alone, negative GOEs notwithstanding. His 55.90 was over 25 points fewer than what he had earned at Trophee Eric Bompard four weeks ago, putting him in an unimaginable 11th place going into the free skate.

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

- Other texts about Lysacek and Men's SP:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/sport ... ating.html
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article. ... y=ice_news
http://www.boston.com/sports/other_spor ... next_leap/

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article. ... y=ice_news
http://blog.taragana.com/e/2009/11/13/w ... ica-60516/

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http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure- ... lowout-win

Lysacek takes Skate America gold with blowout win

World champion Evan Lysacek won his first Skate America title today with a strong performance that pulled him over 33 points ahead of the rest of the men in the competition, none of whom were able to put together a clean free skate. The two men who joined Lysacek on the podium were unexpected names, however, with Canadian Shawn Sawyer winning the silver and fellow American Ryan Bradley taking the bronze.

Lysacek had another strong performance, an improvement on his skate at Cup of China, where he finished second behind Nobunari Oda. He had seven clean triples, with his only error on the triple salchow. His score of 158.55 is the second best free skate score of the season, right behind Oda and immediately ahead of Evgeni Plushenko’s free skate score at Rostelecom Cup. His gold medal in Lake Placid guarantees him a spot at the Grand Prix Final.

Three-time Canadian bronze medalist Sawyer had a terrific and musical performance that featured seven triple jumps. His opening triple axel was downgraded due to underrotation, but the rest of his program was solid. His score of 137.96 allowed him to take advantage of the mistakes of his competitors to move up to second place, giving him his first medal at a Grand Prix competition.

Bradley earned his second career Grand Prix Final with a strong free skate, being the only two-quad program in the field, that brought him up from eighth to third overall with a total score of 198.12. After having mediocre performances at his first two competitions, this bronze medal should go a long way in helping him gain momentum toward the U.S. Championships, where he will be vying for one of the three Olympic spots.

2008 European champion Tomas Verner fought through the flu and pulled up from 11th place to fifth place. His fatigue was clear in the lack of energy he exhibited toward the latter part of his free skate, but he was able to complete six triples and finish third in the free skate. His fifth place at Skate America, however, will most likely prevent him from qualifying for the Grand Prix Final.

U.S. silver medalist Brandon Mroz had the exact opposite experience than he had at Rostelecom Cup, when he imploded in the short and recovered in the free skate. After skating a solid short that put him in third place, he had a rough free skate, not getting credit altogether for one of his jumping passes because he exceeded the number of combinations and sequences that he had done. He dropped to eighth place overall.

MEN (final standings)
1. Evan Lysacek USA – 237.72
2. Shawn Sawyer CAN – 203.91
3. Ryan Bradley USA – 198.12
4. Florent Amodio FRA – 197.58
5. Tomas Verner CZE – 194.06
6. Kevin Reynolds CAN – 190.23
7. Adrian Schultheiss SWE – 185.07
8. Brandon Mroz USA – 174.00
9. Yasuharu Nanri JPN – 168.84
10. Andrei Lutai RUS – 167.79
11. Jialiang Wu CHN – 164.26
12. Igor Macypura SVK – 144.02

[cekoni]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/sport ... .html?_r=1

Lysacek Heads American Field of Olympic Contenders

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — When the tall, dark and talented figure skater Evan Lysacek glided by a crowd of fans at Skate America during practice Friday, eyes and cheers followed him.

“Ooh, he’s the world champion,” one mother said to her young daughter, who was staring at Lysacek. “That means he’s the best.”

Lysacek, 24, is the men’s star at this week’s Skate America and showed it Friday when he finished first in the short program, with 79.17 points. Going into Saturday’s long program, he has a comfortable lead over France’s Florent Amodio, who scored 72.65.
The performance, a passion-filled skate to “The Firebird” by Igor Stravinsky, added to Lysacek’s résumé as the 2010 Olympics grow closer. He also won the world championships last March to become the first American man in 13 years to win the men’s single skater’s title. He is a two-time national champion. At the 2006 Turin Games, he was fourth.
But even with those sparkling qualifications, Lysacek is not the hands-down favorite to win the gold at the Olympics in Vancouver in February. For the first time in a long time, there is too much competition in the men’s field for one individual to stand out.
“I don’t think anyone is the one to beat,” Lysacek said.

On the women’s side, Kim Yu-na of South Korea is considered a near lock to win gold in Vancouver because of her recent dominance. Kim, 19, set a women’s scoring record when she crushed her competition at the world championships in March, then broke it last month at a Grand Prix event in Paris.

But in the men’s field, there is a list of skaters — even right here in the United States — who could win an Olympic medal.

“You look at the last two Olympics and there has been one or two dominant guys, but now you have six or seven dominant guys,” Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist turned skating commentator, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “It’s hard to say that there’s a favorite coming in. This is the most complex and the most difficult winner to pick than in any Olympics I’ve ever covered.”

Lysacek is one of those men. Johnny Weir, a three-time United States champion and a former bronze medalist at the world championships, is another. Also, Jeremy Abbott, the 2009 national champion and the winner of the 2008 Grand Prix final, is enjoying an upswing in his career.
Of the top 15 ranked men in the world, five are Americans, according to the International Skating Union world rankings.
“If there were only two or three guys trying to make the team, it wouldn’t be much fun to watch, would it?” said Ryan Bradley, who finished fourth at last season’s United States nationals and was eighth here Friday.

The international competition, however, is also strong, led by the Canadian Patrick Chan, who finished second at the worlds, and Japan’s Nobunari Oda, who won both his Grand Prix events this season. In his new long program, Oda plays a peppy, playful Charlie Chaplin who easily reels off triple jumps and lands triple axels.

The top medalists from the 2006 Turin Games are also in the mix. Evgeni Plushenko of Russia is back after taking more than three years off since winning the Olympic gold. In the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, his first international event since the Turin Games, Plushenko won gold.

Switzerland’s Stéphane Lambiel, the two-time world champion who was second to Plushenko in Turin, is also back after a break.

But to Frank Carroll, Lysacek’s coach, no skater is going into Vancouver with an advantage.
“There aren’t that many stars in the sport anymore who can carry it with their name and cash in on it at the Olympics,” Carroll said. “The sport is much more geared toward technical things now.”
Even as the reigning world champion, Lysacek will have “no edge whatsoever” going into the Olympics, Carroll said.

So Lysacek will have to work as hard as ever to become an Olympic champion. That includes putting forth a solid performance at Skate America here, where he is competing against the Czech skater Tomas Verner, who is ranked No. 1. Verner, though, finished 11th of 12 skaters Friday after performing what he called “a disaster program.”
“It was like skating a program with no jumps at all,” he said of his bungled jumps.
But by the Olympics, Verner said, he would be ready to hit all those jumps — and more.

By then, every male skater at the Olympics will bring forth everything he has, pulling out his triple-triple combinations, his artistry and his quadruple jumps, if that is what it takes to impress the judges. At this point, with three months left until the Winter Games, figuring out who will sew all those elements together to win the gold medal is nearly impossible.

“I look at the men’s field going into Vancouver, and all I can say is, ‘Wow!’ ” Hamilton said. “There is so much talent and so much depth. Anything can happen.”

[Kudryavka]

Only part of Plushy

-----
2009.11.17
Daisuke Takahashi interview
http://www.asahi.com/sports/column/TKY200911170351.html

- What did you think about three competitions, which were held before NHK trophy?
- I felt that quadruple jump was already common jump. Plushenko-san ("san" is a honorific suffix) didn't take part in any competition for many years. But he didn't make me imagine any error in jump. Honestly, I felt down a little bit. I thought that he is not like others, is he a monster? is this really a competition? - He seemed to be relaxed and he was able to appeal. It may be a difference of the champion and an ordinary man. I want to skate confidently like that.

[cekoni]

Only part of Plushy

-----

NIce ... "he is monster"

P.S.. please, kudryavka - in future, any news about Plushy put in his "main" subforum

[cekoni]

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/figure-skating/n...ot+olympic+gold
By Beverley Smith, The Globe and Mail Posted Thursday, November 19, 2009

Kurt Browning on Chan's shot at Olympic gold

Four-time world champion Kurt Browning says the race for the men's gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics is currently so confusing and fraught with so many questions, you could "spin the wheel, throw the dart'' right now.

Still, even though Patrick Chan hasn't competed yet this year because of injury, Browning would still include him in his top three.
"He's just so good, for all the right reasons,'' Browning said of Chan, 18, of Toronto. "I just think he's one of those skaters that changes from one circle to another in a way that is so pleasing that it becomes a transition,'' Browning said.
"He's so pleasing to the eye and almost everybody feels the same way when they watch him skate. It's how he works the body and how he flows over the edge [of the skate blade], and how he'll roll a shoulder. It's just his way. And he almost can't help it.''

Also, Browning says Chan's quad is "right there,'' and he can use it as a tool in practice. "Even if he just lands it every once in a while and just sort of elevates himself to their level [men who do quads], it keeps the wolf at bay a little bit.''
It would be good for Chan to land a quad, Browning said, because for him, becoming the first man to land a quad in competition was momentous. "It's a .7-second high that lasts a lifetime,'' he said. "I hope he does it, just for him.''

And Chan has such quality that he's one of only three or four teams or skaters that render he and Tracy Wilson silent when they're in the CBC commentatary booth.

There are about eight men, maybe 10, who could win the gold medal in Vancouver, said Browning.

The 2007 world champion Brian Joubert of France finally redeemed himself with a victory at NHK in Japan, but Browning said: "I was dangerously close to wondering if Joubert was going to squirrel his talent into the ground.
"You don't want to lose him. He's really exciting and fans love him.''

Two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland is happy to be back after missing action for a couple of seasons, but he's dealing with chronic injuries.

And Browning wonders if 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko will continue to get high presentation marks? "I think he was really smart to step on the ice, get some big jumps done, get some people talking,'' he said.

Tomas Verner of Czech Republic looks like a contender, but he finished only 11th in the short program at Skate America last week, although he was ill with the flu.
Nobonari Oda of Japan, is taking a front-running position after winning his two Grand Prix this season.

Everyone awaited the return of the talented Daisuke Takahashi of Japan, but he finished fourth in his first Grand Prix, underrotating three jumps in his long program (including his quad) and falling twice.
He returns to make amends here this week against Chan.
Takahashi has the highest total score ever recorded by a man - 264.41 - and is the only man ever to outpoint Plushenko.

Chan has competed against Takahashi only once, Lambiel twice and Plushenko never.

He hasn't met Takahashi since the 2008 world championships in Sweden, when Takahashi went as the favourite to win. Takahashi missed last season because of injury.

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

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/figure-skating/n...urns+undeterred
By Beverley Smith, The Globe and Mail Posted Thursday, November 19, 2009

Chan returns to ice, undeterred

Canada's budding skating star, Patrick Chan, is back after dealing with a calf injury. And he's back, at Skate Canada this week, with his difficult routines and his candid comments.

Yesterday, he had some words for Olympic defending champion Evgeny Plushenko of Russia, who has made a comeback this year after three years away.

Plushenko won his only Grand Prix event, in Russia, with 240.65 points, the second highest score for a man this year in the series.
Chan's record is 249.19 points, set at the Four Continents Championships last year. His score at the previous world championships, when he won the silver medal, was 237.58. Evan Lysacek of the United States won the title with 242.23.

"Really, I don't care," said Chan of Plushenko's score.

But he missed competing against Plushenko - he had to skip the Grand Prix in Russia because of his left calf injury - and he regrets it dearly, wondering how he would have stacked up against the Olympic champion, who got high presentation marks despite, as many say, lacking presentation.

Chan laughs when asked about Plushenko's memorable gesture during the long program in Moscow, throwing his finger in the air, to show that he was still No..1.

"It wasn't like I didn't practise that day because I was so upset," Chan said.
"It was silly. I think it was disrespectful on his part.

"But he was in his hometown. When you're in your hometown, you feel so comfortable you can do that. I can somewhat understand."

Chan agrees that Plushenko's routines lacked a lot of transitional moves - he sailed from jump to jump without complications in between - but "he could get away with it because he's a former Olympic champion, and he's in Russia and in his own country and he's got judges that really appreciate his skating," Chan, 18, said.

"But I think, slowly, judges will realize that it's still pretty early in the season, and come the Olympics, it will be different."

He said Plushenko has changed a lot of his program since Cup of Russia. And, he doesn't think Plushenko realizes there are other skaters who have evolved since the Russian took a break.

Still, Chan said he was happy to see Plushenko back - and healthy.
"I respect him for coming back, at his age. I know how difficult it is," he said. Plushenko is 27.

Chan said he is excited to compete this week because "trust me, it sucks really bad to sit back and watch other guys compete when you're sitting at home, hearing about it," he said.
Since his injury, Chan has had to cut back on the number of jumps in training, and for two weeks, he largely lost the chance to practise triple Axels and quads.
He still feels twinges when he does triple Axels, triple toe loops and quad toe loops. "I get really nervous sometimes," he said. "I don't want to tear it again."

He won't do more than five quads in a session, and if he pops three Axels, he'll stop and go on to something else.

But he says he feels great. "It's nothing like when I first injured it," he said. "I couldn't even stand on my leg when I first hurt it."

You won't see a quad from Chan at this competition, and Chan says he can't guarantee that there will be a quad in his routine by the Vancouver Olympics, but he continues to practise them. He says his body will tell him how much he can do. He'll play it by ear.

Still, his injury has made him aware of how unimportant the quad is, Chan said. Judges watch for quality, on how jumps are landed and held. If a skater holds a great landing, he can bump up his score with bonus points so much that it makes up for a quad, Chan said.

"Hands down, I believe [a quad is not necessary to win in Vancouver]," Chan said.

Men who did quads last year, such as Nobunari Oda and Evan Lysacek aren't doing quads this year. Oda has won two Grand Prix, one with the highest score this year: 242.53. Lysacek has been first and second in his two events.

For now, Chan is itching to show off his new programs, which haven't been seen by international judges. Although his short program uses the same music as last year, he said it has been so drastically altered, nobody would recognize it.
And his new long program shows off fewer complex transitions in favour of more performance highlights, something that is new for him.

"I'm so excited to show you guys how much I've improved from last year," Chan said. "I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it.''
----------------------------

... and similar, little "wider" Chan's interview...
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports-headlines/ci_13826502
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-features/n..._medium=twitter
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/program+give...2330/story.html


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

How I hate those people, who roll 2-3 "toxic" sentences ... and then this pour in to sugar, that they looked "fine", but still pronounced all the insults

[Gal4onok]

"Really, I don't care," said Chan of Plushenko's score. искренне лукавит, если не сказать больше)))

Chan agrees that Plushenko's routines lacked a lot of transitional moves - he sailed from jump to jump without complications in between - but "he could get away with it because he's a former Olympic champion, and he's in Russia and in his own country and he's got judges that really appreciate his skating," Chan, 18, said. - молодому человеку 18, а заносчивостииии... ...выиграл для начала хотя бы один чемпионат мира....

[Вера]

Перевод.
http://community.livejournal.com/fsnews/76780.html

Патрик Чан о Плющенко и квадах

Сегодняшней короткой программой на Skate Canada господин Чан торжественно вступит в свой новый сезон.
Как известно, первым его турниром должен был стать кубок Ростелекома, однако, сославшись на травму, Патрик в Москву не приехал. Видимо, в связи с этим канадского фигуриста до сих пор гложет некая соревновательная неудовлетворенность, поскольку буквально на днях он все-таки решил выяснить свои отношения с Евгением Плющенко. Правда, по сложившейся уже традиции, не на льду, а в прессе.

Итак, выдержки из канадской прессы.

Источник 1
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD9C2TL0G0

«Я не думаю, что он в курсе существования других фигуристов, развитие которых не стояло на месте за время его четырехлетнего отсутствия», - заявил Чан в четверг. «Поэтому он явно не ожидает, что многие фигуристы, включая меня, ушли далеко вперёд с тех пор, как он выиграл олимпийские игры».

Плющенко вернулся на поле боя с прокатом, который не оставил сомнений в том, что он вновь стал одним из серьезных претендентов на золото. И после произвольной русский утроил выходящую за рамки выступления демонстрацию того, что он снова первый – ударил себя в грудь (?) и вскинул палец в победном жесте.

«Это, конечно, изрядно подстёгивает к тому, чтобы показать себя с лучшей стороны здесь, на Skate Canada»,- говорит Чан. «Я не обвиняю его. Я думаю, что это сошло ему с рук, потому что он был на домашнем этапе».

Канадец также отметил, что ничего, кроме уважения, к Плющенко не испытывает.
«Я взволнован, что у меня есть возможность посоревноваться с ним», - говорит Чан. «Он великий спортсмен, я с юности равнялся на него и до сих пор равняюсь».

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

Источник 2
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/figure-skatin ... undeterred

Чан смеётся, когда его спрашивают о памятном жесте Плющенко во время его произвольной программы в Москве – вскидывании пальца, означающем номер 1.
«Мне жаль, что я не выступал в тот день из-за недомогания» - говорит Чан.
«Это было глупо. Я думаю, это было непочтительно с его стороны».
«Но он находился в своем родном городе. Когда вы находитесь дома, то чувствуете себя настолько расслабленно, что можете себе что-то позволить. Но я все равно до конца не понимаю».

Чан согласен, что в программе Плющенко не хватает связок – он просто ездит от прыжка к прыжку без всяких переходов – но «это осталось для него без последствий, поскольку он действующий олимпийский чемпион, он выступал в родной стране и у него были судьи, которые действительно ценят его катание», - сообщает 18-летний Чан.
«Но я думаю, что судьи постепенно поймут, что сезон только начался, и на олимпийских играх всё будет по-другому».

Вы не увидите, как Чан прыгает квад на этих соревнованиях, и Чан не гарантирует, что вставит квад в олимпийскую программу, но он продолжает тренировать его. Чан считает, его тело само подскажет, что ему делать. Он будет «играть на слух».

Благодаря своей травме Чан пришел к выводу, что квад абсолютно не важен. Судьи смотрят на качество прыжков – на докрут, приземление. «За хорошее приземление можно получить такие бонусы, что это компенсирует любой квад», - говорит Чан. «Я полагаю, что квад не нужен, чтобы победить в Ванкувере».

[Scarlett]

«Я полагаю, что квад не нужен, чтобы победить в Ванкувере».

Я надеюсь этого не случится, что победитель на Ои будет без квадов Даже если это будет не Женя, но пусть тогда достойный во всех смыслах.

[Вера]

Даже если это будет не Женя,

Как это не Женя?! Только Женя!

Вы не увидите, как Чан прыгает квад на этих соревнованиях

Дык мы и акселя пока не увидели Шестое место после короткой на родном этапе - это сильно Патрик, соберись! Ты выглядишь глупо.

[Ирина]

Дык мы и акселя пока не увидели Шестое место после короткой на родном этапе - это сильно

Так не только акселя и с кучей других ошибок и вообще везде покачивался,пошатывался.В общем,

Патрик.... Ты выглядишь глупо.

"А Моська, знать она сильна , коль лает на слона".(с) А.Крылов