2010 Winter Olympics: Men's figure skating long program

February 19, 2010 at 10:45am

After hours of boring, BORING snowboarding runs, we finally got to the men's long program after 10 p.m. EST. UGH! And then they had to interrupt it to give us the medal ceremony for...snowboarding. Hello, some of us have to work in the morning!

But you know what? It was worth the wait. The men's long program proved to be a great competition, with several really excellent performances, and a couple surprising moments. The results of the night were somewhat controversial - former Olympian Elvis Stojko referred to it as "the night they killed figure skating," to which I say, Bitch, please - but ultimately, I thought the medal placements were dead on.

I won't go over all the skaters prior to the final group, but it is worth mentioning the performance of American Jeremy Abbott, who started the long program in 15th place after his disastrous short. Unfortunately he had a rough long program, too, blowing his quad jump right at the start, doubling a triple, and struggling through his combinations. He seemed to get his mojo back about halfway through the routine, but it was �obviously not the routine he wanted to skate, nor the one he's capable of executing.

Canada's Patrick Chan came into the long in seventh place, and apparently has been under intense media pressure throughout these games, which had to have contributed to the errors in his performance on Tuesday. He skated to a montage from "Phantom of the Opera," and I have to point out that his costume was masculine and dignified, while still interesting. So many of the guys this year showed up in these bizarre costumes, dressed as skeletons or clowns or what-have-you. Patrick had a couple bobbles in the first half of the program, and started the second half by totally biting it on a triple axle. It looked painful from where I was sitting.

Michael Brezina of the Czech Republic was in ninth place going into the long. A lot of people felt he got ripped off in the short, since he skated more or less flawlessly on Tuesday. I liked his 50's-style routine so much more then his short program, which seemed a bit cheesy to me. He started off nicely, but about halfway through things visibly changed - the announcers speculated that he was running out of gas - �and he started changing his program substantially as he went along. That has to be tough. To his credit, though, none of it looked bad. And he didn't miss any of his jumps.

American Evan Lysacek came out in a skin-tight tight black body suit with a shiny snake curling all over the top. It was...weird. Evan was in second by just a few fractions of a point after the short. The commentators made a point of mentioning that unlike many of the other skaters in the top bracket, Evan did not have a quad jump in his program. So he basically had to nail everything else, which...he did. There was nary an error anywhere in his program. His jumps looked easy. He's a great spinner. During his connective passes he was just dripping with grace and power. He had one slightly off landing, but besides that the program was exceptionally clean. His long limbs really help with his musicality, and his footwork was impressive.

Next up was Japan's Nobunari Oda, in fourth after the short. He came out in a little tux outfit that was absolutely adorable. He skated to a Charlie Chaplin-inspired number, which the commentators did not think was a great idea, as it made him look more youthful than his competitors. He did so well in the first half of his routine that it was a real heartbreaker when he basically sat down after one of his jumps, and then had to skate over to the referee in the middle of his program because his skate lace broke. He had an automatic two-point deduction for stopping, and then he had three minutes to fix the problem, which he did. What a shitty thing to have happen in the middle of his Olympics, especially since prior to that he was doing so well. I haven't seen anything like that since the infamous Tonya Harding situation in 1994.

Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland impressed the shit out of me with his footwork in the short. He planned two quads for the long program, which seemed awfully ambitious. The first one he landed with a hand on the ice for balance, and he nearly sat down following the second one, but he hung on to them. Good for him. The commentators kept discussing how tight he was during this performance. Scott Hamilton referred to the program as "flat."

Daisuke Takahashi was the final member of the Japanese contingent; he came into the long in third. He totally bit it on his quad jump right at the start of the program. He recovered really nicely, and his program had a little bit of everything: lots of personality, some incredible precision footwork, and loads of energy. He was clearly a crowd favorite, and he totally won me over. He's a very fluid skater, and he makes everything look so effortless. As lame as it sounds, he just seemed filled with joy. Honestly, I liked the program better than I liked Lysacek's. If he hadn't blown the quad in the beginning, to me, he should have taken the lead. But since he got no points for the blown jump, he came in like 10 points behind. Well, there you go.

Prior to Johnny Weir going out on the ice, the commentators had a lengthy debate as to whether or not he should attempt the quad that he'd been working on all week in practice. They all agreed that he should not, that he should focus on skating a clean program. He apparently decided to go conservative, and stick to a triple, which he landed perfectly. I have never been a big Johnny Weir fan - I think he has a tendency to be outrageous for the sake of being outrageous, and his personality often overshadows his skating - but I thought he performed really admirably. He had one small slip out of a spin early in the routine, but he did end up skating an almost entirely clean performance filled with lots of artistry. He performed so, so well - the best I've ever seen him skate - and it was a nice ending to his Olympic career. The crowd was deeply unhappy with his scores, in which he remained in sixth place. So again, people who fell place higher than someone who skated clean. Announcer Sandra Bezic explained that people have argued that Johnny's program was not difficult enough, but she felt that the program and the skating deserved more credit. I would tend to agree.

The leader after the short program, Evgeni Plushenko, was up last and started out by nailing a quad toe/triple toe combination, but he nearly fell on his subsequent triple axle. In fact, he struggled with the landing on most of his jumps. That said, I thought his artistry was much more apparent than it was in the short, and his footwork looked much better to me. But I wasn't a huge fan of the program itself. The last minute of it contained absolutely no jumps. There were parts where he was trying to be "sexy," but to me it came off as very creepy, very "I'm here to eat your children." The commentators argued strongly that his program was nowhere near as complicated as Evan's, and that his jumps were also not close to what he's capable of achieving. And apparently the judges agreed: Evan won the gold by more than a point.

Since then there has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth, exclaiming that Plushenko got robbed. And no, he did not get "robbed." I think what it comes down to is what you think good ice skating should be. Should good ice skating be programs so stuffed with tricks that the competitors can barely land them? Or should skating be thoughtfully conceived, varied programs that show off a skater to his best ability? In other words, do you want programs filled with skaters struggling to land jumps, or, more realistically, falling on their asses? Or do you want programs that show people at the height of their craft skating flawlessly?

I'll tell you what I want: I want to watch the Olympics and see people skating beautifully. I don't want to watch the Olympics and seeing skater after skater biting it on jumps they can't realistically execute. This is supposed to be the best of the sport of figure skating, and yet the majority of the men in last night's competition fell. This is the best of the world? Really? I cannot remember an Olympics with more falls than this one. I'm all for impressive tricks - but only if the skaters can execute them. Plushenko DID land all of his jumps, including his quad, but he struggled with almost every one of them. I don't want to see struggling. I want to see mastery, I want to see perfection. That's what Evan served up, and I think that should be rewarded.

Plushenko reportedly said that you shouldn't be able to win gold without performing a quad. That's bullshit. It's that kind of one-upsmanship that has led to these insane luge and ski courses being built that are outrageously difficult, and have led to more wipeouts in this Olympics than ever before. I feel like I'm watching NASCAR this year, waiting to see who's going to crash next. That isn't what the Olympics are about. At least, not to me.

Comments for "2010 Winter Olympics: Men's figure skating long program" (24)

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emily said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 11:30am

Your article was dead on! I have never felt like ten o'clock was so late at night before but I'm sure it was the excitment. I do feel that Johnny Weir got low marks though, he skated a (almost)clean beautiful program and the emotion was there unlike with some of the other performers. Great Work with your article!

jayjay said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 11:32am

I totally agree. This is the first time I've paid attention to the Winter Olympics, and I was really surprised to see so many people falling. They shouldn't be reaching for the unreachable. The whole point is to just do their best, and be realistic about their abilities. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to watch the final skaters last night, but I do think that Weir should've gotten more points. I mean, artistry and showmanship is not a bad thing. A loud personality on the ice should be applauded or at the very most, not have an effect on his scores. especially not a negative effect. And Patrick Chan's costume was my favorite by far.

Josie said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 11:46am

I couldn't agree more!
I wished Patrick Chan had done better as we have seen him performed brilliantly prior to his injury. I think skating on home ground was actually not an advantage for him, and for this matter, for all Canadian skaters, as there's such immense pressure and expectations on them. I think it had affectected Jessica and Bryce and Patrick the same way, they all had this heavy, heavy burden to do well on home groud to bring the nation pride. In my opinion, Patrick should still be very proud of himself as he is only 19, and to be skating at this level at this age is very impressive. Maybe it's not such a bad thing that he didn't medal, for this will probably keep him skating(he mention he was going to retire to study Economics at York University)and we may see a more experienced and brilliant Patrrick at the next Olympics!

Carol Birkland said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 11:48am

Most of this commentary is right on - especially the part about not wanting to see a bunch of people fall. When this new point system was developed, it did not take a rocket scientist to imagine that every skater - regardless of his./her abilities - would want to get the most points so they would push themselves to jump, spin, etc., at levels beyond their capability. So we see people falling, stumbling, skating slowly and just plain struggling. Who wants to pay money to see this? In the end - especially the short programs - the skating has begun to look all alike and somewhat boring.

In my view this competition was not a great one. Evan did what he had to do, but I did not see a lot of "heart" in it. Effective? Yes....emotional....no. He did not bring me into that program.

I saw Oda's program early last year and thought it was a winner. I disagree with the commentators. But last night, he was going through the motions. Too bad about the skate lace, but unlike last fall, he was not really into his program.

Stephane Lambiel is the real heartbreak here. Everybody wants him to win because when he is on, his skating is breath-taking. He lives his programs. They are one long beautiful line from beginning to end. But last night his body was there, but I do not know where his heart and spirit were.

The first part of Takahashi's program left me cold. Why did he try the quad? The last part was very, very good.

Plushenko...what can you say? I don't know what planet he has been living on. Has he not been watching figure skating for the last few years? How could his coach and his so called "choreographer" plus the Russian Skating Federation allow him to bring this program to the Olympics? The only answer can be a blinding ego. Ever since he competed in the Russian Grand Prix last year (where he shamelessly "show boated") until Europeans (in Tallinn - I was there), he and his coach Mishin acted like the Olympic gold was there's and every other skater was a fool. Well, he looked the fool last night actually believing that all of this hip swiveling, hair shaking, posturing, flirting and blowing kisses at the judges, etc., was going to make up for a clunky, unimaginative program. Clearly he was in need of a good dose of reality which, thankfully, he got.

Karen said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 11:49am

Excuse me, but if they did not force people to sit through snowboarding to watch anything worth watching, no one would! I would rather serve a sentence in hell watching an endless curling tournament than watch one overgrown 10 year old doing everything (s)he can to keep from growing up! Comments on the skating (when it DID finally happen) are spot on!

VC said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 11:53am

Author, Go watch ballet on ice then ! To become the Olympic champ w/o even trying a quad ?! It's pathetic !

Eric said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 12:03pm

VC: If ballet on ice features people skating their best and not falling all over the ice like a bunch of rank amateurs, then maybe I'll do that.

Carol Birkland said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 12:12pm

Sorry.....forgot one thing and an important one. Johnny Weir. He has never been one of my favorites but last night he was the one skater in the last group who, in my view, created an emotional connection with the audience. You could feel the honest spirit of the guy and for that he should be complimented.

VC said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 12:19pm

Eric, I believe with such logic you should not watch any sport...

VC said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 12:44pm

Great article by three-time world champion figure skater and two-time Olympic silver medalist Elvis Stojko "The night they killed figure skating" on Yahoo.com:
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/figure_skating/news?slug=es-thoughts021810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Elvis Stojko: The quad separates men from boys.

Antonia Lisle said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 1:30pm

I agree with what has been said about the skaters falling. I have been watching skating for a long time and I don't think the best of the best should be falling in the Olympic finals because of what the emphasis in scoring is on. I also think Johnny
Weir skating was wonderful,and was woefully underscored. It shouldn't matter what his life is about off the ice. I don't understand the Olympic committee's scoring.

GB said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 1:36pm

Couldn't disagree more about snowboarding vs men's skating though I agree about the NASCAR concept of watching for the crash instead of the event itself. That said, I tire of watching a bunch of feminine guys covorting around and bouncing on their butts across the ice. I'm suggesting coed luge doubles for the next Olympics.

Christopher Wong said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 2:23pm

Thank you for this insightful, wise article. You are dead on with your opinions.
Russia is being a sore loser because it can't cope with the fact the current judging system does not favor them anymore. The Code of Points system makes it an even-playing field for all skaters. It rewards the complete skater: one who has the jumping ability combined with the artistry. Plushenko USED to have the jumping ability but yesterday night he was off his game. He should be a man and admit that but he won't because he's an arrogant, pig-headed ignoramus like the rest of the Russian Skating Federation. Aside from his jumps, which overall were mediocre at best save his opening quad-triple combo, there was NO SUBSTANCE to his skating. The choice of music was horrible, the choreography was non-existent and the performance was just cheesy.
My advice to him: Retire. You're outdated and the sport doesn't need an arrogant, old-fashioned snob like you. Leave the skating to be done by the current crop. They just need more time to develop their jumps. Believe they'll be landing a quad in the near future. So stay in Russia and keep your opinion to men's skating to yourself, 'cause no one's buying it. You're just like a one-note pianist who only plays Chopin(that's taken from ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta - good on him!)

dellene said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 1:54pm

I truly believe that Johnny Weir got robbed of a bronze or silver medal . He had a excellent clean skate except for one slip on a spin . I believe that there was something on the ice that made him slip , possibly the shoelace that had broken from the japanese skaters boot who had skated earlier . It was the way he looked down at the ice after the spin you could tell it wasn't his fault . Even he looked for something on the ice . I believe he was also robbed of a medal because of his lifestyle it is truly a shame that he was so misjudged . He deserved a much higher score . It shouldn't be about the math it should be about the artistry . If you fall during a program you should not medal like the japanese skater that received the bronze . Johnny Weir should have taken home the bronze he had skated a much cleaner program .

Kristen said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 2:45pm

I couldn't agree more! I kept thinking the same thing last night. I want to see beautiful skating. If I wanted to see people falling all over the place, I'd go to my local rink. You don't go to an art show to see stuff painted by 3 year olds, and you don't go to a football game to see a fumble on every play. You want to see greatness, so this whole "you have to do a quad" thing is crazy talk. It's just a way for some skaters to make themselves feel better. Now Plushenko is a great athlete and a very talented skater, so I don't mean to take anything away from him, but his performance just wasn't as good overall and skating is about more than the ability to perform one jump. You know who I loved? Stephane Lambiel. He definitely needs to spruce up his technique, but he is a BEAUTIFUL skater. Gorgeous. He was my favorite to watch, and I look forward to seeing more of him.

fp said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 3:33pm

I disagree with the importance people are giving to the quad. Skating is more than just jumps. If not, why don't people just land a quad and go home and the judges can base everything on who landed the best quad. Also Evan didn't create the judging system, he just used it to his benefit by packing his program with what the judges determined to be vital. So don't hate, appreciate.

Darby H. Kilian said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 3:38pm

Thank you so much for your fair and intelligent reporting. I hate the politics of skating which detracts from the hard work that all of the skaters put into this event. My favorite has always been Johnny Weir and I agree that he was robbed of a medal. From all that I've seen, read and heard, Johnny Weir is discouraged by the politics, too, but he's a champ no matter what, and he puts his best (skating) foot forward despite his detractors (nasty and petty as they are). Thanks again.

Lou said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 5:15pm

planned elements (what the skaters plan to do and the order of execution) are submitted to the judges before the competition. I read somewhere that Plushenko missed one small jump in a combination...is that true? Judges are just grading you on what you say you can do!!!! Plushenko is just mad because he went into the Olympics thinking GOLD is his...arrogance is not what Olympics is all about. Respect for other's abilities and weaknesses, should be in every sport! Besides, it is called "FIGURE SKATING", not JUMP skating ...in SPEED skating....Speed is what counts... so "FIGURE" it out!

Maureen said on Feb. 19, 2010 at 5:50pm

Plushenko is an arrogant diva. His execution of his jumps was just sloppy. He is great at recovery and managed not to fall. .... Those who fall during their program should not medal.... Johnny got robbed.!! His performance was lovely.

Stephanie said on Feb. 20, 2010 at 12:23am

Evan won fair and square. He's trained hard for it, whereas Plushenko sauntered in as if he was guaranteed the gold because he could land quads. If you compare Plushenko's programs in Vancouver to the ones he skated to in Torino, you can definitely see a difference. If Plushenko skated yesterday the way he skated in Torino, he would have won. As for Johnny being robbed of a medal, I disagree. He was definitely underscored, in both the SP and FS, and I was upset to see him below Patrick Chan, whose scores I think were inflated because this is his home games. If there was any politics involved, it was that Patrick Chan got higher scores than he deserved in both the SP and FS. Daisuke Takahashi, however, came back from a HARD fall to land 7 clean triples, do some of the BEST and most intricate footwork all night, and deliver what I thought was the most entertaining, creative program. He deserved the bronze, and if he had opted instead for 8 clean triples and left the quad out, I think he would be the new gold medalist. If there's anyone I feel sorry for, it's Daisuke. He had the goods to win gold, he had been training just as hard as Evan, but unlike Evan who wisely left the quad out, he risked everything on the quad, and ended up throwing his chances away for gold or silver. I respect his decision to go through with the quad, as he seems to think it is necessary for his advancement. I just hope he does not regret it, as this is his last Olympics.

Eileen Baylor said on Feb. 20, 2010 at 1:02am

I thought Weir was fantastic. Might someone be prejudiiced due to his outlandish constumes? He made a slight mistake early on and that was it! He deserved better. He was graceful, entertaining and his choreograpy was fabulous. Who needs all these jumps? I'd much rather watch a creative, graceful program than watch all these jumps and flailing arms movements. Mr. Weir, you were great!

justine a said on Feb. 20, 2010 at 9:32pm

The Gold and the Silver Medals went to the right men's skaters. Evan won fair and square. He skated with excellence and landed all but one jump with perfect posture and grace. Evkeny landed the quad, but landed every jump after that with an awkward kerplunk, and he was all hunched over. If you watched the replays of each skater jumping side by side it proved that. Evkeny looked like he was holding his breath to hold onto every landing. Evan appeared confident and focused. The remarks by Elvis Stoyko are lame. Evan's execution was stronger than Evkeny's and that's what counts in the points scoring. Scott Hamilton's remarks were right on, as were the remarks of the author of the article. If Evkeny had won fair and square I would have been very happy for him. But the best man won. and anyone who can't see that is fooling themselves.

Maria said on Feb. 21, 2010 at 3:23pm

I was not impressed with judges as they were not objective when scoring. I thought they have to judge the performance and not to make political statements. Patrick Chen did not deserve this place. His performance was at 10 or 11 place. However, his costume was OK. Check Republic has right to be upset with judges as they unfairly scored their skater's short program performance. It is very hard to focus after that especially for young person. In the long program he still outperformed Chen despite the mistake he made.
I liked the bronze medal performance and I am sorry that he made that mistake at beginning. To me, he is the real winner.
Gold medal performance was uninteresting and safe. Yes, he did not make any major mistake but he did not shine either. His performance, look and style were boring.In my opinion, one of the most unattractive man on the ice won not the best man. Hey, he is form the USA he has to be slightly less ugly then Russian.
As for the Canadian skater , his time will come. He is good and young. 2010 were not his Olympics.

Patrick said on Feb. 28, 2010 at 5:18pm

I think Elvis Stojko's article is just complete sour grapes. He is still fuming over losing in 1994 and 1998. He was never a complete skater and couldn't master a program of a clear artistic vision. I also have issue with him talking about Brian Boitano's win in 1988. Seems like he is taking up Brian Orser's issues as well. Here's a thought: THERAPY I hope yahoo doesn't use him next time around because his type of childish article writing is bogus! Evan won because he played the scoring system and he did it well. The way of sport is that it always moves forward. The new scoring system is trying to level the playing field so the actual best skaters are placed as they deserve to be.

Great article! I will say they should make the guys wear more masculine costumes..

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