The figure skating competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place from February 14 to 25. Also on February 27, demonstration performances were held.

Representatives from China and South Korea won their first-ever Olympic gold medals in figure skating. The Olympic Games turned out to be extremely unsuccessful for European athletes, who were able to win only a silver and two bronze medals. Since 1972, the Europeans have won at least three gold medals, and they were left without gold only once, in 1960 in Squaw Valley, when three sets of medals were still being played out, and even then the European representatives won all three silver medals. The performance of the Russian team was also unsuccessful. The USSR national figure skating team made its debut at the Olympic Games in 1960, entering only two pairs and being left without medals, but then, starting in 1964, won a gold medal, and since 1988, at least two. For the first time since 1964, Russia failed to win a gold medal in pair skating, and for the first time since 1994 in men's singles.

In pairs skating and women's singles skating, the favorites of the competition became champions, and there were no surprises in these types of programs. In the dances, two couples, also considered favorites, played for gold and silver. Only the situation in men's single skating, where Evgeni Plushenko, who missed three competitive seasons, returned and had a real chance of becoming the first (after Dick Button) two-time Olympic champion in men's single skating, was unusual. But Plushenko took only second place, losing to Evan Lysacek. According to the new rules, Lysacek won a fair victory. However, Plushenko traditionally fell into hysterics, which was actively taken up by his many fans. After many interviews with stories about the “conspiracy” and his own greatness, Evgeniy at the award ceremony boorishly climbed onto the step intended for the gold medal winner. The story ended in complete farce - through his official website, Plushenko presented himself with a platinum medal on behalf of the fans and then proudly posed with it.

Unlike previous Olympiads, where the bias of judges was repeatedly noted, in Vancouver there were no special complaints about the judging. The only example cited was the judges' favor towards Canadian Patrick Chan, which in any case did not affect the distribution of medals.

All winners:

Men's single skating

1. Evan Lysacek (USA)
2. Evgeniy Plushenko (Russia)
3. Daisuke Takahashi (Japan).

Women's singles skating

1. Kim Young Ah (South Korea)
2. Mao Asada (Japan)
3. Joannie Rochette (Canada).

Pair skating

1. China
Shen Xue
Zhao Hongbo.

2. China
Pan Qing
Tong Jian.

3. Germany
Alena Savchenko
Robin Szolkowy.

Dancing on Ice

1. Canada
Tessa Virtue
Scott Moir.

2. USA
Meryl Davis
Charlie White.

3. Russia
Oksana Domnina
Maxim Shabalin.

Olympic Encyclopedia. Winter Olympic Games. Volume 2. Vancouver 2010 Svinin Vladimir Fedorovich

Figure skating

Figure skating

The figure skating competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place from February 14 to 25. Also on February 27, demonstration performances were held. Already at the second Olympic Games, a new scoring system was used, introduced after a big refereeing scandal in pairs skating at the Games in Salt Lake City.

Representatives from China and South Korea won their first-ever Olympic gold medals in figure skating. The Olympic Games turned out to be extremely unsuccessful for European athletes, who were able to win only a silver and two bronze medals. Since 1972, the Europeans have won at least three gold medals, and they were left without gold only once, in 1960 in Squaw Valley, when three sets of medals were still being played out, and even then the European representatives won all three silver medals. The performance of the Russian team was also unsuccessful. The USSR national figure skating team made its debut at the Olympic Games in 1960, entering only two pairs and being left without medals, but then, starting in 1964, won a gold medal, and since 1988, at least two. For the first time since 1964, Russia failed to win a gold medal in pair skating, and for the first time since 1994 in men's singles.

Men's single skating

The competition took place on February 16 and 18. 30 skaters from 20 countries took part. The best 24 based on the results of the short program were allowed to perform the free program.

The 2006 Olympic champion and 2002 Olympic silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko, who missed three competitive seasons after his victory in Turin, returned and had a real chance of becoming the first two-time Olympic champion in men's single skating since 1952 (after Dick Button). The 2006 Olympic silver medalist, Swiss Stephane Lambiel, also took part.

After the short program, three athletes - Plushenko, Evan Lysacek and Daisuke Takahashi - had approximately equal scores and claimed the gold medal. Takahashi was only fifth in the free program, taking third place. Plushenko, who skated last, lost his free program, and with it the overall standings, to Lysacek in both evaluations. This situation was widely discussed in the press due to the fact that Lysacek limited himself to triple jumps, while Plushenko jumped quadruple. However, there was no talk about biased judging; only proposals were put forward in the future to strengthen the role of the technical elements of the program when assigning grades. Thus, three-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist Elvis Stojko, who covers figure skating for the Yahoo! Sports, responded negatively to the judges' scores. Stojko's objections were raised by the fact that the Olympic champion was an athlete who did not even try to do a quadruple jump and did not make any serious mistakes. According to Stoiko, the judges’ decision will lead to a rollback of figure skating and push athletes to abandon quadruple jumps.

The American athlete won the gold medal in men's singles for the first time since 1988, when Brian Boitano became champion. Russian athletes have won in this type of program continuously since 1994.

Women's singles skating

When performing a short program on February 23, South Korean figure skater Kim Young Ah set a new world record for points scored - 78.50 points. The previous record (76.28) belonged to her and was set in November 2009 at the Skate America tournament. In the free program, on February 25, Kim Young Ah set another world record - 150.06 points. The previous record in the free program (133.95) was also hers and had stood since October 2009, from the “Troph?e Eric Bompard” tournament. The record for the total score (210.03) received by Kim Yong Ah there was exceeded by 18.53 points and amounted to 228.56 points.

The bronze medal went to Canadian Joanna Rochette, but this bronze was more expensive than other gold. The fact is that her parents were planning to come to Vancouver, but while still on the plane, Joanna’s mother had a heart attack, and a day later she died in a Vancouver hospital. The leadership of the Canadian team gave Joanna the right to refuse to perform, but she decided to go on the ice in memory of her mother. The emotional fervor was enough to confidently climb to the podium without any discounts. All of Canada applauded her, especially since Canadians have not had a medalist in women's singles skating since 1988.

Pair skating

Competition, as predicted, was very intense. After the short program, Turin bronze medalists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo (PRC) were in the lead, 0.7 points ahead of current world champions Alena Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (Germany) and 1.8 points ahead of current European champions Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov (Russia) . The performance of the Russian pair contained mistakes, and the German skaters did not avoid them either. As a result, Savchenko and Szolkowy took only third place, while Kawaguchi and Smirnov were left without medals.

The second Chinese pair Pan Qing and Tong Jian demonstrated brilliant free skating, rising from fourth place to second. They failed to beat their compatriots Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, who made no mistakes and received second marks in the free program. Thus, for the first time since 1960 (!), a Soviet or Russian pair did not receive a gold medal in this event, and also for the first time, Chinese athletes became Olympic champions in figure skating.

Dancing on Ice

The draw for the compulsory dance took place at the first official training session of the competition participants, on February 4, 2010. The choice was between “tango-romance” and “golden waltz”, and in the end “tango-romance” was chosen as the obligatory dance.

The 2009 world champions were Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin (Russia), but they competed little in the 2009/2010 season, although they won the European Championships in February. The most notable at the international level were the American couple Maril Davis and Charlie White, as well as their constant rivals during the season, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada. Among the participants were Turin silver medalists Tanit Belbin and Benjamin Agosto (USA). Domnina and Shabalin were in the lead after the compulsory dance, ahead of the American and Canadian couples. But after the original dance, the Russians dropped to third place, and the Canadians became the leaders. The fact is that the Russian couple chose as an original dance a rather exotic dance in the costumes of Australian aborigines, and neither the public nor the judges liked it (when performing this dance at the European Championships, Domnina and Shabalin even painted their faces, but in Vancouver they refused this ). In the free dance, Virtue and Moir surpassed everyone and, in front of Canadian spectators, won “pairs” gold for their country for the first time since 1960.

— 04.03.2010 07:50 —

Mishin: the Canadian-American camp did everything to prevent Plushenko from winning

Evgeni Plushenko's coach Alexei Mishin said that representatives of Canada and the United States did everything to prevent his ward from becoming the Olympic champion in Vancouver.
“Of course, commerce is increasingly eating into the life of the Olympics, but it has not ruined them yet: the sports component prevails. This can be judged at least by the skiers coming to the finish line. Notice that they don’t even have time to wipe the sweat from their faces. As long as there is such self-sacrifice, the Games will retain their meaning and purpose. You know, Zhenya tried to return last year. but the doctor in Germany told him: his knee won’t hold up. But he still returned for the Olympics. And you should have seen what the reaction of the other skaters was when Zhenya took to the ice in Novogorsk. We had a sleepy kingdom! And when Plushenko returned and showed how to skate, everyone began to gravitate towards him. As soon as Plushenko announced his return, the ISU distributed a video tutorial on the topic “How not to skate”! And imagine, Plushenko was in the leading role! - Alexey Mishin smiles. Everyone started shouting: “Where is his transit?” What are these “transitions”? Just moving, moving from one element to another. Is this the main thing in figure skating? I think the Canadian-American camp, whose representatives do not know the quadruple jump, did not want Plushenko to become an Olympic champion, and they did everything for this. You can’t compare Plushenko and those who have neither a name nor titles,” says the coach. — Zhenya is a megastar. He could have shoveled money if he had not gone to the Olympics. But I decided to return to sports. This means that he needs to compensate for these losses. We must respect our leaders. After all, we won’t have people like Plushenko at the next Olympics. Although there are talented guys: Sergei Voronov, Artur Gachinsky, Artur Dmitriev. I hope they will lend a shoulder to Zhenya,” Mishin quotes him as saying. "Sports day after day" .
"Gazeta.Ru"

— 03.03.2010 19:32 —

Mishin: I would like the president of the ROC to be a manager with a talent for this work

Honored coach of Russia in figure skating, mentor of the silver medalist of the Vancouver Olympics Evgeniy Plushenko, Alexei Mishin believes that the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and domestic sports in general should be led by modern managers.
“I would like a manager with talent for this work to take his place,” said Mishin, commenting on the head of the ROC, Leonid Tyagachev.
Answering a question about Tyagachev’s managerial abilities, Mishin said: “Having resigned, he himself assessed his ability to be a manager.”
At the same time, the coach emphasized that, in general, modern managers who are aware of changes and global trends should come to lead Russian sports.
“The organization of sports is a kind of business, and business requires experienced managers. Sport is a factory, a production where a lot depends on proper management,” added Mishin.
Speaking about the problems that prevented Russian athletes from successfully performing in Vancouver, Mishin noted that the domestic sports school lags behind competitors in the methodological aspects of the work of coaches, the organizational structure of classes, as well as in legislative support.
“We need to work on strengthening the methodology, improving the organizational form, and improving legislation,” he noted.
In particular, Mishin proposed introducing the status of “Olympic hope” for young skaters.
“They should ride as much as they want, they should be given money for food and clothing,” the expert said. Interfax

— 03.03.2010 13:09 —

The Parliament of St. Petersburg will nominate Plushenko for the Order

The Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg intends to initiate the awarding of the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, IV degree, to figure skater and member of the St. Petersburg parliament Evgeni Plushenko, Speaker of the Chamber Vadim Tyulpanov said on Wednesday.
He recalled that after the figure skater’s victorious Olympics in Turin, Plushenko was awarded the Order of Friendship. However, according to Tyulpanov, the skater deserves a higher state award. Interfax

— 03.03.2010 04:45 —

Piseev: it’s a shame for the “fat cats”

President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Piseev commented on the words of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that it is time for some sports officials to resign after failures in Vancouver.
“There is no need to make hasty conclusions. I rang the bells about the need to build skating rinks for figure skaters in Russia even under Fetisov. Yes, we didn’t perform very well in Vancouver, but let’s see how many Olympic medals the skaters brought at the past Olympics. And then, you know, they called the leaders “fat cats.” It’s a shame...”, he is quoted as saying. "Soviet sport". "Gazeta.Ru"

— 02.03.2010 18:39 —

Mishin: by refusing to participate in the World Cup, Lysacek showed his weakness

The coach of Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, Alexey Mishin, regrets that the Vancouver Olympic champion, American Evan Lysacek, will not be at the upcoming World Championships, where Plushenko will compete.
“By refusing to participate in the World Championship, Lysacek showed his weakness. We will prepare for the upcoming championship. Of course, there will be changes in Evgeniy’s program, as always happens after each performance. This is already my 8th Olympic Games, but I have never seen such strong pressure put on athletes as this time on Zhenya. Could our federation somehow weaken it? Probably she could,” Mishin quotes him as saying. "BaltInfo" . "Gazeta.Ru"

— 02.03.2010 10:13 —

Plushenko: good luck to everyone who writes nasty things about me

Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who returned to St. Petersburg with a silver Olympic medal in Vancouver, said that the Russian Figure Skating Federation needs changes.
“Skaters cannot continue to train and compete for their own money. When the referees gave the victory to Lysacek, many people supported me, but not my own federation. Even the Americans spoke out in my support. For example, figure skaters Elvis Stojko and Michelle Kwan. I did not receive any support from the Russian side,” Plusheko quotes "BaltInfo".
The skater also thanked all the fans who worried about him at the Olympics.
“Many thanks to everyone who supported me. To everyone who understood what it was like to return to big sport after a long break and how difficult it was. As for that handful of people who wrote nasty things about me in their articles and blogs, I can only wish them good luck. Let them write further,” Plushenko noted. "Gazeta.Ru"

— 02.03.2010 09:51 —

Tatyana Plushenko: I didn’t want my son to skate at the Olympics

The mother of figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, Tatyana Vasilievna, admitted that she did not want her son to take part in the Olympics in Vancouver.
“You understand, he has an injury. His knee hurts a lot. And I, as a mother, was very worried about him. And I didn’t want him to skate at the Olympics,” quotes Tatyana Plushenko "BaltInfo".
When asked if she was ready to support her son if he decided to participate in the games in Sochi, she answered in the affirmative.
“Zhenya and, of course, his wife Yana Rudkovskaya will decide everything here. I can’t influence his decision in any way, but if he plans to participate in the games in Sochi, of course, I will support him,” said Tatyana Plushenko. "Gazeta.Ru"

— 01.03.2010 23:55 —

Sikharulidze: Plushenko should be thanked for returning

Evgeni Plushenko should be thanked for returning and giving Russia a silver medal in figure skating at the Vancouver Olympics, says Anton Sikharulidze, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Education and Sports, Olympic champion.
“If we talk about Zhenya Plushenko, then, firstly, we need to thank him for returning and giving us a silver medal,” said Sikharulidze.
“Secondly, the judges had the opportunity to put both Zhenya in first place and his opponent. The judges decided that the North American athlete was stronger that day. But in my opinion, here we need to talk about the imperfection of the judging system of modern figure skating itself. After all, that same quadruple jump that Zhenya performed, but no one else did, is a unique element. And its value in points should be much higher than today,” the deputy believes.
“I think that our figure skating federation can submit such a proposal to the International Skating Union,” he said. RIA News"

— 01.03.2010 05:38 —

Tarasova: Rodnina just wants to head the figure skating federation herself

Well-known coach Tatyana Tarasova commented on the words of Olympic champion Irina Rodnina, who believes that the leadership of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, which has absolutely no authority in international circles, is doing little work.
“As for authority, I just need to look at the three-hour queue at the Russia House not to worry about this. If we take figure skating specifically, then Alexander Lakernik is a member of the ISU, Alexander Gorshkov is a member of the technical committee. We have influence. So I don’t agree with Ira’s opinion. When it’s bad, you can’t finish it off, especially not your own. I think she just wants to lead the federation herself. Despite the fact that I haven’t seen her at any competitions in four years,” Tarasova quotes "Soviet sport". – Plushenko was “buried” before anything could be changed. In the short program. In my opinion, he should have won it with a difference of four or five points. Short program – technical program. And the “4+3” cascade immediately changes everything. Shows that you can do more than others. In the free program, Plushenko was not judged, including through the efforts of the federation. Despite all the ambiguity of our relationship with Valentin Piseev, I will say: he knows figure skating, loves it, and not a single major competition can do without him. Is it disappointing that a figure skater without a quadruple jump became the Olympic champion for men? This is a huge step back! Urmanov also won the Olympics with quads in 1994. You can’t judge men’s single skating based on the “like it or don’t like it” principle. We already have this type - dancing. It is already known in advance who will be in what place at the end of the competition. What kind of athlete is Lysacek? Outstanding. Hard worker. A very good, worthy person. A real athlete... He made him fourth. But I didn’t tighten it about a quarter of a turn - my height created inconvenience. According to current rules, this is a big minus. So he decided to focus on playing triples cleanly. What he accomplished at this Olympics. Did Plushenko rightly lose his free program? Yes. But due to the short one I had to take gold. Zhenya bet on a quadruple - but it turned out to be not enough. Whose mistake is this? With the current rules, it is not necessary to jump quadruple, after which ligaments and bones “fly”. And it is almost impossible to motivate an athlete to do this. It’s much better, like a Canadian (apparently Patrick Chan. - Approx.), waving his arms, dangling from one end of the site to the other. Showcasing your brilliant gliding." "Gazeta.Ru"

— 01.03.2010 04:13 —

Tarasova: Shabalin’s knee is in such a condition that he remains disabled for life

Well-known coach Tatyana Tarasova commented on the performance of Russian figure skaters at the Olympics.
“Failure is too strong a word. Let's figure it out: what happened in Turin? Everything was done by the “old people”. Zhenya Plushenko was stronger than he is now. He is still strong, but then no one could compare with him. In the dances were Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, real champions. I worked in figure skating and when I say: real champions, this means real champions. And their dance was a champion. Tatyana Totmyanina and Maxim Marinin in pair skating for two years before the Olympics were only on the rise. There was no one better than them in the world. Ira Slutskaya is an athlete who could win any competition. It’s a pity that that Olympic season didn’t turn out the best for her. Either because of illness, or because of workload. She most likely should have missed the Grand Prix final. Now what? There is Zhenya, who hasn’t skated for three and a half years. There is a dancing couple who, due to Maxim Shabalin’s health problems, simply cannot skate normally. It’s fortunate that Oksana and Max were given third place. They gave the maximum they were capable of. Yana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitsky could have performed better, but they were pushed too far. Unfortunately, dancing is a form where it is almost impossible to get to the top without being number one in the country. In addition, the worse the first couple skates, the worse the second. The girls performed very well at the Olympics for the first time. Let's see how they consolidate this experience. In pairs competitions, everything also turned out objectively. Kawaguchi and Smirnov could count on something only if all the leaders fell. Yes, they could compete for bronze. But it was precisely because of inflated expectations that they perhaps burned out. We made mistakes that we never allow ourselves to make. By the way, fighting with the Chinese in pair skating is almost the same as fighting with yourself. Why? Because the coach who trains all the couples in this country is a graduate of our Moscow Institute of Physical Education, a student of Igor Ksenofontov, may he rest in heaven. Not to mention the fact that many leading foreign athletes are trained by our, without any reservations, Russian coaches,” Tarasova quotes "Soviet sport". – Could something be thought of to bring Domnina and Shabalin up to the championship level? I wanted to go and see how the guys were preparing, but I was refused. I only saw them at the Russian Championships. And this is already a little late. But I don't think anything could magically change. Maxim’s knee is in such a condition that he remains disabled for the rest of his life. Just try to find a person who would perform with this knee!” "Gazeta.Ru"

— 28.02.2010 09:13 —

Shabalin: we will not go to any world championship

Russian figure skater, bronze medalist of the Vancouver Olympics, Maxim Shabalin, spoke about the future plans of his pair with Oksana Domnina.
“I haven’t met with the doctors yet, but apparently Oksana and I won’t go to any world championships. We'll rest for a year and then we'll see. Surgeries may be required,” Shabalin quotes "Soviet sport" . "Gazeta.Ru"

— 28.02.2010 07:45 —

Plushenko: I’ll compete at the World Championships, have two operations, and then decide what’s next

Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko spoke about his plans for the near future.
“Now I’m starting to prepare for the World Championships in Turin. What place I take there is completely unimportant,” Plushenko quotes "Soviet sport".– Then I’ll go to Germany to see my doctor. I will have surgery on my left knee and right foot. I will decide in what mode to perform next and whether to perform at all after a meeting with surgeons, my wife and coach.” "Gazeta.Ru"

— 26.02.2010 18:54 —

Plushenko's fans want to give him a gold medal

Russian fans of figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who won silver at the Olympic Games in Vancouver, want to give their favorite athlete a gold medal, said one of the initiators of this idea, chairman of the council of the St. Petersburg municipal formation “Petrovsky District” Dmitry Ilkovsky.
“Many Plushenko fans say that, despite the judges’ decision in Vancouver, Evgeniy performed better than anyone and deserves a gold medal. They turn to us with a request to correct this injustice,” Ilkovsky said.
According to the deputy, he has already contacted Yakut jewelers and St. Petersburg designers.
“The design of the medal will be developed soon. Everything will be done as soon as possible,” he said.
Ilkovsky noted that the medal’s precious composition will not differ from Vancouver gold.
“The design will be different - it will be Plushenko’s gold medal from the Russians,” he noted. Ilkovsky also said that Plushenko’s fans often call him and offer to melt down their gold rings and earrings for a medal.” RIA News"

— 26.02.2010 09:12 —

Piseev: I am pleased with the results of the Russians

President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Piseev commented on the performances of Russian athletes at the Olympic Games in Vancouver.
“I am pleased with the results of the Russians,” said Piseev.
Speaking about the performances of dance duets, he noted: “Only Maxim Shabalin and his doctors know how much he had to go through. It was a “bronze” of very high value. As for the Canadians, I think they deservedly became the champions of the Games. Speaking about Evgeni Plushenko, I think this way - Plushenko won, the new judging system lost. She once again showed her inconsistency, her imperfection.”
“If Plushenko had been appreciated in the short program,” Piseev continued, “he would have won. Three judges after his performance gave him five zero six zero marks, essentially 21-22 places. The rest of the judges are eight each. I immediately informed the President of the International Skating Union (ISU), Ottavio Ciquanta, about this, and on the second day the judging was objective. But this didn’t save Plushenko. In fact, three judges deprived the Russian of a gold medal.”
Piseev said that issues of the new judging system had already been raised twice at ISU congresses, but this turned out to be inconclusive.
“It’s convenient for some people. Random can also be controlled - and I speak about this openly. And in vain Evgeniy is offended by the leadership of the Federation - does he really think that we were sitting with our hands folded? It’s just that after the scandal in Salt Lake City, the ISU protected itself with rule 123.4. Its approximate meaning is as follows: “protests against the assessments of judges, technical teams and ISU results are not accepted.” If we had filed this protest, we would have caused another wave of indignation before the speech of Domnina and Shabalin. By the way, they competed next after the “singles”. That is, in this regard, our hands are tied. A protest can only be filed for errors in calculation.”
Piseev admitted: “Yes, before the start of the Games we were counting on three medals. We were able to earn only two. Could the couple Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov take a medal? It could, if they made an agreed decision - or not to do a quadruple throw in the free program. And it turned out like this - Yuko wanted it, Smirnov didn’t dare. This was a real tragedy for Kawaguchi.”
Piseev recalled that before leaving for Canada, he warned: “We knew that this was a special country for figure skating. Here we all had the opportunity to see this clearly. The results also speak for themselves.” ITAR-TASS

— 26.02.2010 08:09 —

Makarova: next year I will strive to get into the top three

Russian figure skater Ksenia Makarova, who took 10th place at the Vancouver Olympics, spoke about her future plans.
“Next year I will strive to get into the top three at all tournaments,” Makarova quotes "Soviet sport". - What is needed for this? I won’t jump a triple Axel like Mao Assad. I prefer, like Yu-Na Kim, to take my toll on the “3+3” cascades. "Gazeta.Ru"

— 26.02.2010 07:56 —

Yu Na Kim won gold in figure skating, Leonova was ninth

On Friday night in Vancouver, women competed for medals at the Olympic figure skating competitions. The free program was completed. Korean Yu Na Kim won gold with a score of 228.56 points. Silver went to Japan's Mao Osada (205.50), bronze to Joannie Rochette (202.64).
Russians Alena Leonova and Ksenia Makarova took 9th (172.46) and 10th places (171.91). "Gazeta.Ru"

— 26.02.2010 07:42 —

Leonova: what a lucky starting number 13 turned out to be for me

Russian figure skater Alena Leonova was pleased with her free program performance to music from the musical “Chicago” at the Olympic Games in Vancouver.
“Finally, I did it - I succeeded in the combination of two triple sheepskin coats at the Olympic Games. Wow, what a lucky starting number 13 turned out to be for me! I had gone through so many competitions with this program before, and it just didn’t work out. Surprisingly, today I was practically not worried, I was ready to go out and skate in the morning. And I didn’t have time to “burn out” - I came out first in the warm-up. Although, of course, there were minor blots, but these were apparently emotions,” the figure skater said. ITAR-TASS

— 26.02.2010 06:52 —

Makarova scored 112.69 points for her free program

On Friday night in Vancouver, women will compete for medals at the Olympic figure skating competitions. The free program is underway. Russian Ksenia Makarova, who competed 17th, scored 112.69 points. With a total of 171.91, she is currently in fourth place. "Gazeta.Ru"

— 26.02.2010 06:25 —

Leonova scored 110.32 points for her free program

On Friday night in Vancouver, women will compete for medals at the Olympic figure skating competitions. The free program is underway. Russian Alena Leonova, who competed 13th, scored 110.32 points. With a total of 172.46, she is currently in first place. "Gazeta.Ru"

— 26.02.2010 05:30 —

Lysacek will not compete at the World Championships

Olympic champion in men's single skating Evan Lysacek will not compete at the World Championships in Turin, which will be held in March, reports Associated Press. At the same time, the athlete said that he was not going to end his amateur career. "Gazeta.Ru"

Medals were undoubtedly expected from the men's singles. But obviously not the one we received. However, no matter how much other functionaries wanted to sell silver for platinum, the result was logical, if you look at it.

Laureates:

1. Evan Lysacek (USA) – 257.67

2. Evgeniy Plushenko (Russia) - 256.36

3. Daisuke Takahashi (Japan) - 247.23.

Our:

13. Artyom Borodulin (Russia) - 210.16.

Number of victories at the Olympics: USA - 7, Russia (USSR) - 5, Sweden - 4, Austria - 3, Great Britain - 2, Germany and Czechoslovakia - 1 each.

First prize-winners at the Olympic Games (1908): 1. Ulrich Salchow (Sweden), 2. Richard Johansson (Sweden) 3. Per Toren (Sweden).

The most titled athlete: Gillis Grafström (Sweden) - 3 gold (1920, 1924, 1928), Karl Schaefer (Austria) and Dick Button (USA) - 2 gold each (1932, 1936 / 1948, 1952).

Our achievements: 5 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze medal.

HISTORY OF THE ISSUE

Men's figure skating competitions have been included in the Olympic program since 1908. In Russia, it is generally accepted that the first champion in men's singles was Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin, who won the special figures competition in 1908. This type of figure skating was no longer included in the Olympic program. In the usual competitions, our compatriot won a medal for the first time in 1972 in Sapporo, Japan. Sergei Chetverukhin became the hero, receiving silver. He was passed by Ondrej Nepela from Czechoslovakia. Four years later, Vladimir Kovalev repeated his compatriot’s success. He also became the silver medalist of the Games, losing to Jonn Curry from Great Britain. Our country remained without awards for the next two Olympics, but in 1988, in Calgary, Canada, Viktor Petrenko climbed to the podium. For now, in place of the bronze medalist. But after 4 years, as part of the unified team, he had already earned the title of champion, becoming the first Russian singles skater to win the Games. From 1992 to 2006, we did not take the top step of the podium. In 1994, Alexey Urmanov took it, winning against Canadian Elvis Stojko and Frenchman Philippe Candeloro. In 1998, the pedestal was repeated, only Ilya Kulik stood in Alexey’s place. By 2002, the battle between Plushenko and Yagudin was in full swing in the world of figure skating, which only the lazy did not talk about. The Russians, who fought in all possible ice battles, had to put an end to the dispute in Salt Lake City. We know the result. Plushenko played his position brilliantly in Turin in 2006. And he was preparing to confirm it in Vancouver.

OUR DAYS

Hanging a holey Turin medal around his neck, Plushenko announced that he was tired, that he had won everything he wanted, and, most likely, he would leave elite sports. At least for the time being. Conversations about Evgeniy's likely return to big-time sports have not subsided all these four years, but gradually those who still wanted the champion to return became fewer and fewer - after all, any public can be overfed with promises. The more upset these conversations became, the more closely we looked at those who replaced Evgeniy. The guys seem to be talented, but they are young and essentially left by the federation to educate themselves. And most importantly, not one of them claimed to be a leader. As a result, over the past four, more than one skater made us hope that he would become the very star that would conquer Vancouver, but something happened, and he simply disappeared from sight. Ilya Klimkin was no longer very young and completely unstable; Sergey Dobrin I changed coaches, and while learning new elements, I lost old ones from my arsenal; Andrey Lutai he managed to skate one program well, but failed another, and in the Olympic season he was completely kicked out of the team for a year (he was suspended from competition for unsportsmanlike behavior). More or less, he gained a foothold in the national team only Sergey Voronov- the skater is strong, interesting, combative, but psychologically unstable. He missed out on a ticket to Vancouver because he failed to cope with the skates at the European Championships in Tallinn. So it turned out that don’t come back Evgeni Plushenko, the chances of a medal would be completely absent. However, not everything is simple here either. It is clear that a three-year break is no joke. On the one hand, the lack of intense training (preparations for a show cannot really be considered as such!) leads to loss of shape. Yes, we saw jumps, we saw tracks, but look at the performance in Turin - isn’t it more flexible? Where's the signature Bielmann? It seems that he simply cannot be bent. On the other hand, the opponents did not stand still.

COMPETITORS ARE NOT SLEEPING

It has long been the case that in men's figure skating, the top ten usually claim the podium - the competition is so strong. And the athletes continued to increase their class, polish their skills, learn quadruples, delve into the intricacies of the new judging system, look for loopholes to hide their shortcomings and present their advantages in the best light. You can't blame them - everyone played by the rules that were proposed. It would be worthwhile for Evgeniy to play according to them, since he decided to return. At the same time, the guys were engaged not only in calculating numbers, they also persistently broke themselves in order to be better and better. Future champion Evan Lysacek, who was always reproached for the lack of choreography and the so-called lyrical component, flew to Moscow to study with Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova, took ballet lessons, spent a long time at the barre at the Bolshoi Theater, worked with choreographers and learned to feel what he was skating, to invest himself in the performance. The two-time US champion not only trained, but also included in the programs that same quadruple jump, for which he is now accused of being unable to jump. And, by the way, he did it successfully, but he was injured on the eve of the Olympics and did not take risks. I must say, he decided everything correctly - the Games are too important a start to put a dubious element on the map. This is now for everyone Takahashi will say who decided on this ill-fated quadruple. The Japanese's bravery should be applauded, but the mistake cost him not a silver, but a gold medal. As for Daisuke, after two years he scored more points in the sum of two programs than Evgeni Plushenko in Turin, where he had the best results of his career. We should not forget about those athletes who did not make it to the podium in Vancouver. Swiss Stephane Lambiel, French Brian Joubert, Japanese Nobunari Oda, American Johnny Weir and even a Canadian Patrick Chan They didn’t limit themselves to just the show, but continued to sort things out on the ice and progress, progress, progress.

QUAD, STEPS, ROTATION

Frankly speaking, much was not required from Evgeniy. He had to just go out and show everything he was capable of without frills. There's no point in beating yourself up - he's still very strong. It was probably not worth introducing strange movements, swaying hips, languid glances over the judges' heads - all this, of course, was somehow combined with the idea of ​​the program, but the idea turned out to be too deep. All I had to do was show a powerful and confident technique and not falter on the jumps. Still, in all honesty, modesty Lysacek and artistry Takahashi My wife clearly didn't have enough. The indignant public attacked the American offender, ready to throw stones at him and crucify him for the unfortunate quadruple jump, completely ignoring all other elements of his performance. Undoubtedly, a championship rental. To Zhenya’s credit, I must say that he undoubtedly really wanted to. He showed his signature spins, he flew in step sequences (still not as crazy as 4 years before) and finally jumped this jump, which everyone around now knows. But this was not enough. A skater's program does not consist only of these three elements. It should carry an idea, be an integral unit of sports art, movements should reveal the chosen music. Apart from strength and confidence (bordering on self-confidence), Zhenya's rental brought almost nothing else. The result? Silver for desire and remnants of former skill.

DIRECT SPEECH

Evgeni Plushenko, who became the silver medalist of the Games, did not agree with the results of the competition and stated that they were influenced by completely unsportsmanlike factors.

“After the short program they told me: you skated first, so they judged you a little, they didn’t give you the correct score. But now I was the last to skate! And skated cleanly! This should also be taken into account somehow. They probably don’t need Plushenko again, Plushenko again... But I want to ask: where are the people who stand behind me, who should fight, beat me? I didn't see them. That’s why I’m offended,” All Sport quotes the skater.

The answer was the words of the President of the International Skating Union Ottavio Cinquanta:

“Of course, Plushenko has the right to believe that the gold medal is awarded only for jumping, but we also appreciate the qualities of skaters that, for example, Johnny Weir demonstrated. We ask the pianist to perform not only Chopin, but also other composers. And we ask the skater not only to jump, but also to perform spins and a track. Figure skating is not only an acrobatic sport.”

President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Piseev stated that during the free program, Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko still had blots and shortcomings, which affected the judges’ decision to put the American in first place Evan Lysacek:

“Here the judges were focused on quality. After all, there are not only jumps, there are also rotations and steps, and each of these elements was evaluated. There are four levels of assessment: for the tracks it is the third level, for one of the rotations it is also the third. And in terms of these elements, Plushenko was unlucky in the short program.

You have to ride without mistakes. But here there was something to complain about in certain elements, and the judges took advantage of this. If Plushenko had performed a combination of three jumps, with the third jump he would have made up those missing 1.31 points.”

ACTUALLY

- Daisuke Takahashi became the first Japanese figure skater to be among the top three winners of the White Olympics;

- Evan Lysacek brought the United States its 7th gold and 15th overall medal in men's singles skating;

- Evgeni Plushenko started skating at age 4. In 2002, he became the first skater to perform the quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop-triple loop combination.

XXI Winter Olympic Games 2010 took place from February 12 to 28, 2010 in the Canadian city of Vancouver.

The Canadian Olympic Association chose Vancouver as the country's representative, leaving behind Calgary, which had planned to host the Games for a second time, and Quebec, which lost the 1995 election as the city for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Vancouver previously competed twice to host the Winter Olympics in 1976 and 1980. For the first time, the city came out of contention after the first round of four, eventually losing to Denver. However, he then refused to host the competition, and the IOC invited Vancouver to host the competition, but for various reasons it also refused. As a result, the Games were held in Innsbruck. The next time, Vancouver dropped out of contention a few days before the final vote, leaving Lake Placid as the only candidate.

Main stadium of the XXI Winter Olympics- famous BC Place. It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games.

Emblem was introduced on April 23, 2005. It depicts an inukshuk statue named Ilanaak, which means “friend” in Inuktitut. The image was taken from a statue that stands on the shores of English Bay in Vancouver. The colors green, blue and cyan symbolize forests, mountains and the ocean, red represents the color of the maple leaf found on the Canadian flag, and yellow represents the color of the rising sun.

Talismanmi Three animals performed in the games:

Miga- a fictional sea bear, half killer whale, half white baribal.

Kuatchi- Bigfoot, who comes from the Canadian forests and dreams of becoming a hockey player.

Sumi- “animal spirit”. It contains many representatives of the fauna of the Canadian Pacific coast. He is the Paralympic mascot of the Games.

Opening Ceremony of the Games

A few hours before the opening of the Olympics in Vancouver, organizers reported a tragedy that occurred in the morning during a luge training session in Whistleer.

21 year old Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili, who competed in five major international competitions that season and was ranked 44th in the world rankings, missed the last 270-degree turn of the track, flew out of the chute and hit a metal column near the finish line. Eight minutes later, a helicopter arrived at the scene and the victim was taken to a hospital near Whistler, where he died. As it turned out later, the cause of the tragedy was not the condition of the track, but the mistake of the athlete himself. Kumaritashvili lost control of the sled at a speed of about 140 kilometers per hour.

In connection with this tragedy, changes were made to the ceremony script - a minute of silence was announced, and the Georgian team came out to the opening ceremony wearing mourning armbands.

Closing ceremony

At the opening ceremony, one of the four columns did not rise from under the stage - and the fire was lit by only three famous Canadians instead of the four originally planned. Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Nancy Green completed their mission, but speed skater Catherine LeMay-Doane remained on the sidelines. At the closing ceremony, the Canadians corrected themselves and showed themselves to be people with a sense of humor. Before the closing ceremony began, the same three columns stood in the center of the arena. A mechanic in a clown costume emerged from the hole. Or a clown as a mechanic - whatever you like. He feigned extreme effort and lifted the column out of the ground. You should have heard how the hall exploded with delight! LeMay-Doan still lit the Olympic flame, even if it had no more than an hour left to burn.

The Olympic flag was solemnly handed over to Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi. Delegations of Olympians passed under the arches of the BC Place arena, the winners of the men's ski marathon were awarded, and Russian athletes and cultural figures presented a short program dedicated to Russia and Sochi, the capital of the next Winter Olympics.

Figure skating competitions at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place from February 14 to 25, with demonstration performances taking place on February 27.

Representatives from China and South Korea won their first-ever Olympic gold medals in figure skating. The Olympic Games turned out to be extremely unsuccessful for European athletes, who were able to win only a silver and two bronze medals. The performance of the Russian team was also unsuccessful. The USSR national figure skating team made its debut at the Olympic Games in 1960, entering only two pairs and being left without medals, but since 1964 it has won a gold medal, and since 1988 - at least two. For the first time since 1964, Russia failed to win a gold medal in pair skating, and for the first time since 1994 in men's singles.

In pairs skating and women's singles skating, the favorites of the competition became champions, and there were no surprises in these types of programs. In the dances, two couples, also considered favorites, played for gold and silver. Only the situation in men's single skating, where Evgeni Plushenko, who missed three competitive seasons after his victory in Turin, returned and had a real chance of becoming the first two-time Olympic champion in men's single skating since 1952 (after Dick Button), was unusual. Well, first things first, or rather, according to the order that was built in my mind, may pair skating fans forgive me.

The men's figure skating tournament has become the most talked about in the history of figure skating. This is understandable!

When a great athlete, a genius, an Olympic champion (here one can list many suitable epithets) performs in any sport, it is always an Event. Such an event for a large army of figure skating fans was the return of an ICON - Evgeni Plushenko! Naturally, our expectations were connected with Evgeniy, we were waiting for a medal, and not just any medal, but a gold one. These expectations were not unfounded (that’s not how they are expressed, of course, but you understand me), everything was going well then: successful, well-tested performances, health, the psychological state of the athlete, a sensation at the European Championships!, but...probably it didn’t work out with the venue Olympics, because it took place on the North American continent.

On the day of the men's free program, I even took a day off from work. I watched and cheered with such nerves that I simply don’t remember if I was nervous, cheering for athletes, ever so much before, and later I definitely wasn’t. After the assessments were given, everything inside was broken, an emptiness formed..... I won’t be mistaken if I assume that I was far from alone in the format of the emotions experienced that day.

Even if we accept the fact that Plushenko lost the free program, we can say with firm confidence: it all started with the fact that he was not given enough credit in the short program.

And Lysacek did just enough to win without really bothering.

Here’s what the famous figure skater Elvis Stojko said about this: “….Sorry, Evan Lysacek. You're a great skater, that's all. But this was not the rental of the Olympic champion….. In the free program, Lysacek skated slowly, and his jumps were far from the technical capabilities of the reigning Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko. How can you be an Olympic champion if you don't even try to do a quad? If you're not going to do it, then why not give up one triple axel and something else so that the ISU can more confidently call it "art"? …..Plushenko performed superbly. His tracks were great, although the spins didn't look as great as Lysacek's, but the difference wasn't that big. He had a 4+3 cascade, which no one even tried to repeat. He also performed triple axels, so he had a full set. ….But the judges made a ridiculous verdict….”

Probably many people dream of being at least an Olympic medalist. This was not the case for us.

Takahashi then skated with such intensity, with such inspiration that if he had not fallen in the free skate at the beginning, it remains to be seen what the podium would have looked like! Joubert could not cope with his nerves and failed the competition (not for the first time), Chan took 5th place (he didn’t deserve anything more), Lambelle is a wonderful skater, flutters over the ice, the king of tracks and spins, but the exits from the jumps were unclean, in the end, fourth place.

P.S. After the Olympic Games in Vancouver, I watched Evgeniy’s performances at this Olympics only once (Lysacek – I don’t remember whether I watched it or not, but it’s more likely not than yes). Probably because I didn’t want to remember the unpleasant emotions I experienced. I'll watch it with you

20 couples took part in the couples competition. As I already wrote above, there were no surprises in the final layout of these competitions, everything was expected and predictable. The winners were deservedly Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo, bronze medalists in Turin. Deservedly, because their skating corresponded to the status of champions, because their long career in sports should have rightly ended on such a note.

The Chinese Pan Qing/Tong Jian also came second, with a gap of about three points from the Olympic champions. They showed the highest level of pair skating, were much better than the Germans, maybe even no worse than their “golden” compatriots, but mistakes in the short program did not allow them to take a place higher than second.

Alena Savchenko/Robin Shelkov from Germany won bronze, losing three points to the silver medalists. Their skating was not without falls, although Ingo Steuer did not particularly strain himself with the set of elements in the programs and included those elements that Alena and Robin could certainly perform.

The best Russian couple was the European champions, our beloved Yuko Kawaguchi/Alexander Smirnov. The first in their program was a four-revolution salchow throw, and the entire figure skating world waited with bated breath: would the coach give the go-ahead for its execution or not, would the athletes take risks or not, if they did, would they do it or not? As it turns out later, no. And the nerves of the athletes, in particular Yuko, will fail. As a result, the guys stopped one step away from the podium, becoming fourth, with a fairly large gap separating them from bronze Alena and Robin (with their 210.60 points versus our 194.77 points).

There, in Vancouver, our young couple Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov took part. By performing there, they showed that the Sochi 2014 team can count on them, but this requires a “cut” with another coach.

It is noteworthy that another of our couples, Maria Mukhortova/ Maxim Trankov became seventh, and a couple from Ukraine Tatiana Volosozhar/Stanislav Morozov - eighth, i.e. very close, about the same level, but that's a completely different story...

Another nervous story of the figure skating tournament of those Games.

In general, dancing for me is always a separate story. I don’t know why, but pairs and singles for me are like one separate state, and dancing is another, and I love both equally!

The nervousness for us fans began long before the start of the games in Vanuvere. If I mention just one phrase “sore knee”, everything will immediately become clear. Yes, this is Maxim Shabalin’s sore knee and the collapse of Olympic hopes through him. It may be said loudly, but that’s how I think it is. I will not delve into the details of Maxim’s health and the problems of the Domnina/Shabalin couple, in the time frame before 2010 (although the legs grow from there), because by going deeper there, you can develop a whole topic equal to a good new post.

The Vancouver Olympics were the last time dancers performed a compulsory dance (it was cancelled, as we all now know). How gorgeous Oksana and Maxim were in it!

The judges appreciated the dance of our duet, after its performance the guys were the first. But this joy was tinged with sadness, because it was clear that our leadership would most likely not be captured for long... after the performance of the original dance, the worst expectations were justified. Even at the beginning of the season, this dance of the “Aborigines” was perceived as controversial. But it turns out, based on the existing situation with Maxim’s bad knee, Natalya Vladimirovna Linichuk was simply forced to find a solution to the problem by choosing a dance. For example, Russian dance, which would be so suitable for children, with its specific dance movements in a squat, was beyond Shabalin’s capabilities. She invented, as it seemed to her then, a win-win option - a dance of the Australian aborigines, the movements of which were not known to the jury members. In this dance, the main role was given to Oksana, performing complex movements and turns in front of her partner, thereby covering the awkward movements of his crippled legs. But an unexpected situation, in view of applications from certain tribes for violation of allegedly ator rights (never formalized by anyone) to use ritual dance movements, made amendments to the trainer’s plan. Firstly, an unnecessary scandal was inflated, which pretty much frayed the nerves of athletes and coaches, as well as us, the fans. The scandal was settled peacefully, but its consequences remained...this is the second thing: there was such close attention to the Aboriginal dance that everyone, including the judges, looked at it as if under a microscope! The partner’s weakness was noticed... and Oksana and Maxim did not skate him in the best way. As a result - third place after the original dance.

The guys did well in the free program, but they remained third.

I will no longer talk about this, I’m not afraid to say, tragedy of athletes, I will only quote an excerpt from one of the journalist-eyewitnesses of those events: “... the whole time they were performing (PP), I was looking at Maxim’s legs. From under his trouser leg the corset was sticking out on his left knee. By this time, his knees were almost gone. His left leg was barely bending. When it became clear that they had bronze, they walked along the corridor to the locker room, and, disappearing from the view of the television cameras, he stopped and grabbed with both hands behind the wall in the corridor and literally hung on it, he could neither walk nor stand.

After the competition, coach Gennady Karponosov said that this medal was actually not bronze, but platinum, and Natalya Linichuk admitted that when she saw Maxim climbing the stairs the other day, she wanted to cry. I think she was crying." This is such a sad story.

I hope fans of Olympic champions Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (even though I am one of you) will forgive me for only mentioning their victory in passing. Yes, they became Olympic champions. Their victory was expected, beautiful and indisputable.

Meryl Davis/Charlie White deserved unconditional second place. The Americans Tanit Belbin and Benjamin Agosto skated very strongly and beautifully; their place was then fourth - two lower than four years ago in Turin. Our pair Yana Khokhlova/Sergey Novitsky finished ninth, and the third young and talented duo Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitry Solovyov finished fifteenth.

After performing the short program in the women's competition, the leadership was expectedly taken by Korean Kim Yu-Na, Mao Asada was in second place, and Canadian Joannie Rochette was in third. Nikolai Morozov's student Miki Ando remained fourth. By the way, for Mika it was almost a tragedy then; Nikolai and the leadership of the Japanese federation needed to restore her mood for the decisive performance. Our Alena Leonova and Ksenia Makarova are in eighth and twelfth respectively. Kim Yu-Na said after the short program that she felt like half an Olympic champion. When she started performing in the free program, without waiting for the end, it became clear that a new Olympic champion was performing in front of us. The final chord in her speech put an end to this assumption along with an exclamation point. The athlete did not make a single mistake, her skating was the most champion-like!

Mao Asada was then fighting only for second place. Her program was complex, but Mao did not escape mistakes.

Joannie Rochette, who won bronze, also did not skate very cleanly. You probably remember that during the Olympic Games, Joannie lost her mother, but managed to tune in to the fight and receive an Olympic medal, which she dedicated to her mother.

If I already mentioned above the place occupied by Miki Ando after the short program, then it would be logical to add that in the end she became fifth.

Our girls, Alena and Ksenia, entered the top ten best athletes, or rather, they closed it.

This is where I will end my modestly brief excursion into the events of the recent past.