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Plushenko edges Stojko for men's title
There was a standing ovation, flowers covered the ice, and Elvis Stojko bowed in appreciation to an adoring crowd.
"It felt great," Stojko said after his solid performance. "It's another step up."
All nine judges had him first. Most in the capacity crowd of nearly 5,000 assumed the three-time world champ from Richmond Hill, Ont., would be wearing another gold medal when the night was over.
But Evgeny Plushenko had yet to skate, and when he did the 16-year-old Russian outperformed Stojko to win the $30,000 US first prize at the Sun Life Skate Canada International meet Saturday night.
Stojko was second, for the 30th international medal of his career, and earned $18,000, while Szabolcs Vidrai of Hungary won $10,000 in third spot.
Jayson Denommee of Asbestos, Que., was seventh and Jeff Langdon of Barrie, Ont., eighth among 11.
In the women's event, Elena Liashenko of the Ukraine was first, Fumie Suguri of Japan second, and top-seeded Irina Slutskaya of Russia third.
Keyla Ohs of North Vancouver, B.C., finished 10th in the field of 11.
The meet ends today when ice dancers Shae-Lynn Bourne of Chatham, Ont., and Victor Kraatz of Vancouver perform their new free dance for the first time.
Stojko, 26, was fourth at Skate America in Detroit eight days ago. It was his first competition since winning Olympic silver despite a painful groin injury. Now, that injury can begin to be phased out of reports on Stojko's comeback. It's not much of a factor anymore.
"The body's stronger, the whole package was stronger (than Detroit)," he said. "I can't ask for anything more at this point.
"The situation with the groin in the last month, I mean I jumped so far ahead in the last number of weeks . . . It's been a rough road, but I'm getting there slowly."
Beating younger skaters is his biggest challenge now.
Stojko landed six triple jumps in his 4 1/2-minute free-skating program. He tried a quad, and got around for four revolutions, but it didn't count because he two-footed the landing.
"I'm just trying to get it back in shape and get it going under the pressure circumstances of a competition," he said of the quad.
All nine judges gave him 5.8 of a possible 6.0 for technical content. For artistry, he got five 5.8s, three 5.7s and one 5.6.
Alexei Mishin, Plushenko's coach, had watched.
"I told Evgeny, 'Stojko skated well, but not unbeatable,"' Mishin said. "He's not in best condition yet, so Evgeny had a chance to beat him."
Stojko watched from rinside as Plushenko landed six triples plus a perfect quad toe loop -- in combination with a triple toe loop.
He got seven 5.9s, a 5.9 and a 5.7 on the technical side, and five 5.9s and four 5.7s on the artistic side.
"He pulled out all the stops and went for it," said Stojko. "That's great -- that's what it's all about."
Seven judges had Plushenko first while two had Stojko first.
Plushenko won world bronze last March when Stojko didn't compete because of the groin injury, and he proved with this win that he'll be a serious contender at the Helsinki worlds next spring.
"Elvis has been an example of an athlete I should emulate," Plushenko said through Mishkin, acting as his interpreter during the post-event news conference. "I am working not only to beat world champions but Olympic champions.
"This is my goal."
Mishkin had some bad news for Plushenko's rivals.
"He's very far from his real possibilities," the coach said. "He can be better.
"This is an important period for him. He is growing so quickly now -- 11 centimetres in the last year."
Stojko begins a cross-Canada show tour later this week. His next meet is the Canadian championships in Ottawa in January.
"We'll work on things back home for the nationals and get everything tightened up," he said. "We'll make changes that won't be based on results.
"I make changes on how I feel my programs should evolve and on how I sense or how my coaches sense they can be better."
In the women's free skating, Liashenko and Suguri each landed five triple jumps, and the Ukrainian prevailed in a 6-3 split of the judging panel.
Slutskaya, the world silver medallist last March, cleanly landed only four triples.
"I was not ready for this competition," she said. "It is the first meet for me this season and I need more practice."
Ohs, 19, fell on her opening triple toe loop jump. She put a hand to the ice on her next triple, and stepped out of most of the others. By the end, she had not cleanly landed even one triple jump.
"I think I tried too hard," she said afterwards. "It's a matter of realizing, 'Keyla, this really isn't that hard.'
"I could come out of this feeling battered, but I'm more determined than ever to make it in the end. At nationals, this will not be what happens."
Results
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) -- Results Saturday in the Skate Canada figure skating:Women's Singles
Final standings
(Free skating result in parentheses)
1, (1) Elena Liashenko, Ukraine, 2.0 placement. 2, (2) Fumie Suguri, Japan, 2.5. 3, (3) Irina Slutskaya, Russia, 4.5. 4, (4) Laetitia Hubert, France, 6.5. 5, (5) Amber Corwin, Hermosa Beach, Calif., 9.0. 6, (7) Alisa Drei, Finland, 10.9. 7, (8) Diana Poth, Hungary, 10.0. 8, (6) Yulia Vorobieva, Azerbaijan, 10.5. 9, (9) Zuzana Paurova, Slovakia, 12.5. 10, (10) Keyla Ohs, Canada, 15.0. 11, Zoe Jones, Britain, 16.5.
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Men's Singles
Final standings
(Free-skating result in parentheses)
1, (1) Evgeny Plushenko, Russia, 2.0. 2, (2) Elvis Stojko, Canada, 2.5. 3, Szabolcs Vidrai, Hungary, 5.5. 4, (5) Ivan Dinev, Bulgaria, 8.0. 5, (4) Takeshi Honda, Japan, 8.5. 6, (7) Evgeny Pliuta, Ukraine, 8.5. 7, (6) Jayson Denommee, Canada, 9.5. 8, (9) Jeff Langdon, Canada, 11.0. 9, (8) Michael Hopfes, Germany, 12.0. 10, (10) Markus Leminen, Finland, 15.5. 11, (11) Daniel Hollander, Huntginton Woods, Mich., 16.0.