Russia's Evgeny Plushenko is back on top, leading the pack again after 3 1/2 years retirement, with a clean high difficulty short program at the 2010 Vancouver Games. When's you're good, you're good. That's why the USA choosing committee gave the chance to Michelle Kwan (silver medal at the [COLOR=black]1998 Nagano Olympics[/COLOR] and a bronze medal in the [COLOR=black]2002 Salt Lake City Olympics[/COLOR])to make her comeback in the Olympics back in 2006 - experience counts. Plushenko nailed his quad at the start of his program, and in combo,

[COLOR=#000000]quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination. He leads with 90.85, over Evan Lysacek by 0.55 points - he did no quads. Plushenko's take on not doing any quads:[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000]

[COLOR=#000000][QUOTE] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000]The men's competition had begun to the backdrop of considerable controversy, with both sides lobbying in the media on behalf of their own style of skating. The North Americans were claiming that defending champion Plushenko was all jumps and no transitions. Plushenko countered by arguing that anybody who does not attempt a quad jump was hurting the sport.[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000]Plushenko skated early in the program last night, because his official ranking was still relatively low following an absence from competition of 3-1/2 years. His comeback this season had been nothing short of spectacular, however. And he said yesterday he would possibly add a second quad to his long program, "Depending on how I feel."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][/QUOTE][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000]Read more: [COLOR=#015fb6]http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/winter_olympics_2010/2010/02/17/2010-02-17_on_guard_skate_duel_set.html#ixzz0fs0OBOfZ[/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000]In third is Japan's Daisuke Takahashi with 90.25. So it's tight at top - the top 3 within one point - actually 0.6 points of each other, but Evgeny Plushenko is favorited to win, in the media. [/COLOR]

[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000]Next is the men's free skate, tomorrow (Thursday) February 18 at 8pm ET.[/COLOR]

And the Vancouver 2010 men's figure skating Olympic champion is...the reigning World Champion, USA's Evan Lysacek. He is the first American to win Olympic Gold since Brian Boitano in 1988, and the first for his coach Frank Carroll (former coach of Michelle Kwan, silver medalist of the 2002 Games). Results: Men Results after Long Program: 1. Evan Lysacek 257.67 2. Evgeni Plushenko 256.36 3. Daisuke Takahashi 247.23 Men Short Program 1. Evgeni Plushenko 90.85 2. Evan Lysacek 90.30 3. Daisuke Takahashi 90.25 No quads for Lysacek, but a clean long program. Evgeny Plushenko opened with a quad-triple toe loop combination and was awarded 14.6 points for it. His program was front loaded - with the last minute having no jumps. Daisuke Takahashi attempted a quad but fell, giving him only 1 point for that jump. To quad or not to quad...: [QUOTE]"It's not men's figure skating," Plushenko said contemptuously. "Now, it's dancing."[/QUOTE] [QUOTE] Lysacek practically admitted as much, saying that he had shown "a complete package" of skating moves, not just giant jumps. "If it was a jumping competition they'd give you 10 seconds to go and do your best jump," the American said. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] "We need to change the system, judging system, because quad is quad. If Olympic champion, he doesn't know how to jump quad, no, I don't know." His manager, Ari Zakarian, was more succinct: "We are going in the direction of becoming ballet on ice." He suggested that in the wake of this defeat, Plushenko might not compete when the games move to his native Russia in four years time. If "the quad is not going to be appreciated, probably (he) will never try to go for the Olympics," Zakarian said. "Now, he just finished (his program) and he says, 'You know what? That's it.' He says, 'I don't see any future here.'" Plushenko, asked later about those comments, said: "Who said? My manager? He lied to you, he is joking.'" [/QUOTE] Inside the Rings: Men gone wild in figure skating

Coach Frank Carroll: “This is just frosting on the cake for me,” said Carroll, who coached Linda Fratianne and Michelle Kwan to silver medals and Timothy Goebel to a bronze. “It’s not something I coveted after a while. It was something I thought maybe would never happen.” Evan Lysacek wins men’s figure skating gold medal, upsetting defending champ Evgeni Plushenko It's the second gold medal for Lysacek's choreographer Lori Nichol, who also choreographed the winning gold skating pair team Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo - they were all there in the waiting area as Lysacek found out he won gold. Silver medalist Plushenko, and bronze medalist Takahashi: [QUOTE]“I was positive that I won. But I suppose Evan needs a medal more than I do,” Plushenko said through a translator. “Maybe it’s because I already have one. But I have to share with you, two silver and one Olympic gold medal is not too bad.”[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]“I am happy with my performance today,” said Plushenko, who took off his silver medal as soon as he left the ice. “After 3½ years (off) you can win the silver, it’s not bad.” We likely haven’t seen the last of him, either. “I knew I would accept any outcome,” he said through a translator. “After this defeat, I’m not going to put my hands down and stop.” For Takahashi, third was as good as first or second. “To be the first Japanese man to win an Olympic medal, I am really proud,” he said.[/QUOTE] Some interesting quotes from Plushenko's coach, Alexei Mishin, on Yahoo! Sports: [QUOTE]“This is nonsense,” Mishin told Yahoo! Sports. “It is wrong. It is criminal. How can it be like this? They are killing figure skating and taking it back 20 years. They have robbed him of his destiny. “There is nothing we can do but we want to know what happened because this is not right. We will investigate. Someone needs to explain to me how this is possible. I cannot believe it.”[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Plushenko felt he had performed strongly enough to clinch gold with his routine and even jokingly motioned to step on to the top level of the podium during the medal ceremony. “I was certain I had won,” he said. Plushenko had previously claimed the quad and its variations are the future of figure skating. Mishin focused his accusations of thievery on the judging panel. “Any judge who thinks this is the right champion is a Cyclops,” Mishin said. “Without the quad, there is no difference between the men’s competition and the women’s. Why not let them skate together? Why not have it as a unisex competition in the Olympics?”[/QUOTE] Scott Hamilton and the rest of the commentators on NBC Sports were laughing at Plushenjo's joke of pretending to step on the top podium, but they didn't show that video coverage. Sounds funny. Where's the video coverage?! [QUOTE]“I looked at the performance of Evgeni and Evan, and I saw strengths and weaknesses in both,” Carroll said. “It was up to the panel to sift through it and see who came up with the most points. “There were things about Evgeni’s routine that were weaknesses. It was up for grabs and we didn’t know how they were going to go through it.”[/QUOTE] Coach: Plushenko was 'robbed' of gold - 2010 Olympics - Yahoo! Sports More defending from Carroll here: [QUOTE]“Plushenko was brilliant in the jumping. He did some brilliant, very difficult things,” Carroll said. “But if you think of his skating, he was very brilliant, then down. And very brilliant, then down. It was going in waves. Evan just sort of stayed in a straight line and kept going at a certain level from the start to the finish.”[/QUOTE] Evan Lysacek wins men’s figure skating gold medal, upsetting defending champ Evgeni Plushenko

Very diplomatic Evan Lysacek. In his interview he said that Plushenko has been a role model for him and that he doesn't take Plushenko's comments out of context.... When asked if he will compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia he jokingly said, 'we'll see if Russia lets me in'. :) If you compare Lysacek's and Plushenko's triple axels side by side you can see that Plushenko lands like a cat - he's a bit off in the air, tilted to the side - and Lysacek's is clean. So it comes down to how those points add up, as the scoring system isn't the perfect 6.0 system anymore, but details the points breakdown for each element, and how clean it is executed.

Former Russia President, current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin jumps in the ring with his support for Evgeni Plushenko, along with the rest of the Russian public: [QUOTE] The streets of Moscow were similarly boiling with outrage. Fans told ABC News that Plushenko was "stolen!" Even Russia's Prime Minister, and former President, Vladimir Putin jumped in the ring. He sent a telegram to the Russian skater, telling him "your silver is worth gold. You performed the most accomplished program on the Vancouver ice." [/QUOTE] Evan Lysacek and Evgeni Plushenko have become embroiled in a war of words following Lysaceks Gold medal win in Vancouver in Men's Figure Skating - ABC News I just saw Evan's interview on NBC Sports - he talked very good. Good winner. He also said that Evgeni congratulated him after the medals ceremony and so did he, as he should be proud of his skate and his silver medal - doing something not many could imagine, to medal at the Olympics after more than 3 years off.

Maybe it was Evan's girlfriend support that gave him the edge to skate such a clean long program?! [QUOTE] The couple switched roles this week when Liukin, 20, traveled to Vancouver to root for Lysacek. "To see his dreams come true was amazing," Liukin says. "It was nice to be on other side of things and be the support system, but I was nervous." "She been so helpful to me," adds Lysacek. "She has been through it herself. If I'm having a bad day, she tells me to have faith and to keep going. Sometimes your support system has more faith in you than yourself. And when she tells me things are going to be fine, I really believe it." [/QUOTE] Evan Lysacek & Nastia Liukin Are Dating - Couples, Winter Olympics 2010, Evan Lysacek, Nastia Liukin : People.com His coach Frank Carroll did say in an interview though that Evan works so hard that sometimes he has to tell Evan to come off the ice and that's enough practice! Related: http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards/gymnastics-news-blogs/115051-evan-lysacek-girlfriend-dating-nastia-liukin-olympic-gymnast-huffington-post.html#post119659

The new medal of the Vancouver Games - Platinum! Evgeni Plushenko awards himself the medal that is considered chemically a higher in value element than gold, platinum, instead of silver, on his official website. [QUOTE] Adding fuel to the fire that Yevgeny Plushenko has been a sore loser in his defeat to America's Evan Lysacek , the Russian skater's official website now features a brand new accomplishment. . . Although there are English and Russian versions of his website, this doesn't appear to be a translation issue. The text above his Salt Lake City Olympic medal reads "Silver of Salt Lake" while his Vancouver medal reads "Platinum of Vancouver". [/QUOTE] Evan Lysacek from before the website medal upgrade: [QUOTE] "All I know is he's been really positive to me and been a really consistent skater through the years, and I've tried to learn from that," Lysacek said Friday morning, still basking in the glow of his Olympic gold medal. "I guess I'm a little disappointed someone who I saw as my role model would take a hit at me in one of the most special moments of my life. "It's tough to lose. It's not easy, especially when you think, no matter what, you're going to win. It's a really tough pill to swallow," he added. "We'll just try not to take it out of context and give him the benefit of the doubt. And congratulations to him on his third Olympic medal." [/QUOTE] Plushenko awards himself new Olympic medal | NBC Olympics Evgeni's offiicial website: Åâãåíèé Ïëþùåíêî - Îôèöèàëüíûé ñàéò || Evgeni Plushenko - Official Site Well, now we know the correct spelling of his name is Evgeni, not Evgeny! A lot of the media/tv airings have had the 2nd spelling.