Thursday, February 14, 2002
Yagudin for gold
Russian primed for win as sun sets on careers of Stojko and Eldredge
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Team Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- Elvis Stojko went through his paces at the Salt Lake Ice Center yesterday, without his usual gusto.
In his last major international competition (unless he decides to go to the world championships next month), the three-time world champion seemed a little bit sluggish during practice, as if the politics of figure skating had finally got to him.
Throughout his stellar career on the international circuit, the Terminator never caught many breaks from the judges. He essentially won world titles on the strength of his technical wizardry. At times, the Richmond Hill skater was so far ahead of the competition, particularly during the early and mid 1990s, that the judges had no choice but to score him first. All things being equal, Stojko usually got the bum rap.
Tuesday night's Olympic men's short program was no different. Stojko, 29, spun out on his quadruple toe jump in the short, although the rest of the program was terrific.
Russian wunderkind Evgeni Plushenko, meanwhile, fell completely on his quad, a required element in the short program, and was placed fourth. Plushenko, last year's world champion, can still win a medal with a decent long tonight. Stojko has virtually no chance.
And with the pairs judging story still all the rage here, there has been little outrage as a result of the men's scoring. Many people are unhappy with Stojko's placement, but worse than that was the length of the shaft given to another Russian, Alexander Abt, who was placed fifth, and generally out of the medal picture, despite a brilliant short that included a clean quad toe/triple toe combination.
Unless the International Skating Union decides to place nine French judges on the panel tonight, the gold medal is Alexei Yagudin's to take home. Plushenko, 19, has a much better long program than Japan's Takeshi Honda and American jump machine Timothy Goebel, who are second and third heading into the long. The one man who can seriously challenge Yagudin is Plushenko, but the younger Russian can't win gold unless he wins the long and if the top three, but particularly Yagudin, crashes and burns.
Yagudin, a native of St. Petersburg, appears primed to secure a fourth world title, something no skater has done since American Scott Hamilton (1981-84). His Man in the Iron Mask soundtrack long is artistically brilliant and the Russian has demonstrated amazing consistency with the technical side of his routines.
Yagudin, 21, is a huge fan favourite in Canada, probably the most popular singles skater north of the border next to Stojko. He also is a favourite with the judges (with good reason). On top of that there's a feeling in skating circles that he deserves an Olympic gold. In Nagano four years ago, Yagudin became ill and was forced to undergo intravenous (IV) transfusions before the free. He placed fifth.
"I was spending all my time in my (hotel) room or in the hospital," Yagudin said. "I didn't go anywhere and I didn't see anything. We're in the United States now and I live here. It's comfortable."
And so, while the viewing audience likely will see the coronation tonight of the new Russian prince of skating, they'll also get the opportunity to witness two greats, Stojko and American Todd Eldredge, skate into the sunset in the final meet of their great careers. Eldredge, the 1996 world champion, believes it's appropriate that he and his longtime rival go out together.
"It should be a lot of fun," the Chatham, Mass., native said. "We've had such a great time competing against each other and I have such great respect for him and his skating.
"He has been through a lot of difficult things in his career as well. And he's just a great guy and a great skater."
2002 Games Figure Skating Coverage
