http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... %2F+Sports)
Pritha Sarkar, Sat Feb 13, 2010No quad means back to dark ages: Mishin
VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Winning the Olympic gold medal without performing a quadruple jump is like going back to the dark ages of men's figure skating, Yevgeny Plushenko's coach said on Saturday.In the build-up to the Vancouver Games, a raging debate about the importance of the quad has broken out and split Europe and North America.
Russian Plushenko and former world champion Brian Joubert of France have been critical of the fact that the last two world titles were won by North Americans who did not attempt the dizzying jump in which at least four rotations must be completed through the air.
"Modern figure skating without the quad is going back to the time before (Elvis) Stojko and (Alexei) Urmanov (who competed in the 1990s)," Plushenko's famed coach
Alexei Mishin told reporters on Saturday as the Olympic champion's camp finally broke their silence in Vancouver.
"If you look at the Olympic motto 'faster, higher, stronger', the quad represents exactly that," added the Russian, who has mentored three of the last four men's Olympic gold medalists.
However, American
Evan Lysacek was adamant that it was possible to exploit the new accumulative points scoring system by putting in spins and step sequences to compensate for the lack of quad, just as he did to capture the 2009 world title.
"A positive grade of execution can make up for a quad. This is going to be my strategy. I looked back at the score sheets (last year), saw where I gained points and saw they were more valuable than the quad. For me the quad is a risk. Saying 'is this going to be the one that breaks my foot again?' I didn't want that to be my Olympic experience."
THUMBS DOWNWhile some of the front-runners, or their coaches, were ready to shout out their arguments about the quad from their soapbox,
Joubert chose to ignore the furor and gave the Olympic rink at the Pacific Coliseum the thumbs down.
"The rink is not so impressive. I don't feel like I'm at the Olympics Games. I almost feel like I'm at a training camp," said the Frenchman after his first outing in the arena on Saturday.
"It is hot on the ice and that is tiring."
Plushenko followed Joubert on to the ice but again refused to speak to reporters, leaving Mishin to declare that his charge was preparing to be "like a flower bouquet that looks fresh on the day of the competition."
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http://www.ctvolympics.ca/figure-skatin ... ck+criticsAFP By Emmeline Moore, AFP Posted Saturday, February 13, 2010Plushenko's coach hits back at criticsVANCOUVER - Alexei Mishin, coach of Olympic men's figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko, on Saturday hit back at his protege's critics.
The three-time world champion from Russia has found himself at the centre of a row over his style of skating dubbed out-of-date and too jumps-centred.
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"I don't like it when Plushenko is criticised too early," said Mishin, who has coached the 27-year-old Russian throughout his career.
The veteran coach claimed that figure skating was going backwards because skaters were unable to do difficult jumps.
"Modern figure skating without the quad is going back to the time before (Elvis) Stojko and (Alexei) Urmanov," he said.
And he insisted that Plushenko was an artist on the ice as could be seen in his short programme to Concierto de Aranjuez and Tango Amore free skate.
"In each of his programmes he is telling a story," he explained.
"Each programme is a show. The component (programme component score) should reflect that. Not many skaters show programmes at the same artistic level as he does.
Skaters should compete on the ice and not through internet comments."
Plushenko had his second practise session at the Pacific Coliseum on Saturday, landing a quadruple-double jump.
(4-3 )"His practice today was flawless and I'm pleased with it," said Mishin. "He is in the form that he should have three days before the competition.
"We wanted to show the technical specialists that we've worked on the two straight line step sequences that were graded level two at the European championships. We wanted to show clearly that they are a level three."
After Europeans the defending Olympic champion took things easy, said Mishin.
"We didn't want to give him too heavy a workload. We treated him carefully, like a flower bouquet that should look fresh on the day of the competition."....
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http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics ... htm?csp=34By Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAYPlushenko's coach not happy with criticism at OlympicsVANCOUVER — Russia's Evgeni Plushenko, the defending Olympic champion, is not speaking to reporters until after Tuesday's short program, but his coach, Alexei Mishin, weighed in on the sport's latest controversy.
"Skating should be decided on the ice, not the internet," Mishin said after Saturday's afternoon practice at Pacific Coliseum...