Wait, what?

He did. He didn't win the silver medal, he got the magical platinum medal reserved only for quad jumpers.

The medals themselves link up to the Sochi 2014 games website.

Love this quote from the news part of his site:

This Olympic silver is a real victory for the champion who's done the impossible - he is back proving he IS the best!

Huge thanks to Yahoo's Fourth Place Medal blog.

Need a quote?  Ask Evgeny.  Or his federation. 

After the competition:

"You can't be considered a true men's champion without a quad."

"For someone to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around his neck by just doing triple jumps, to me it's not progress; it's a regress because we've done triples 10 or even 20 years ago."

"Just doing nice transitions and being artistic is not enough because figure skating is a sport, not a show."

About the judging:

"When a person performs a quadruple jump, which is contested by a triple, and (both contenders) gain the same points, it raises questions."

We need to be jump happy. I wonder if he hates the ladies competition?

"Overall my basic position and attitude is that movement needs to go forward and never stop, never go back," the 2006 Olympic champion told the media. "I think people need to do lots of quads."

It's dancing not skating

"If Olympic champion doesn't know how to jump quad … I don't know," Plushenko said after the result. "Now it's not men's skating. Now it's dancing. That's my point."

Bring back the old scoring system!

"With the old system, I would have won," Plushenko told reporters. "The new system is a little different. The quad is not valued anymore.

Maybe Evgeny felt generous:

"I was positive that I won," Plushenko said. "But I saw that Evan needs a medal more than I do. Maybe because I already have one."

Actually you have three now Evgeny.  I guess that first silver is an afterthought.

His coach thinks a crime was committed.

"This is nonsense. 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

"Any judge who thinks this is the right champion is a Cyclops. 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?

Any gems I missed?

From the beginning  Ice Dancing pair Ben Agosto and Tanith Belbin have been exciting, full of electricity and fun to watch.  We knew they were headed for stardom.  But somethings gone flat with their choreography/partnership.  There is little personal connection between them lately.  We are not having fun or feeling much emotion from their routines.  In the beginning it was their sparkle and enthusiasm that grabbed us as well as their talent.  But Ben's sense of humor and playfulness has dulled,  Tanith could be skating with a robot, that's how much connection she shows toward her partner.  I hope that someone gets through to them before the Olympics.  Their routines are great, but they need to relate to each other, act like they care and relate more to the music, not just appear like its just another skating routine to get through.  I love them and i want to see them win.  They can do it.

www.fsuwarmers.blogspot.com

Continue reading this post »