On the comeback trail - Evgeny Plushenko

Evgeny Plushenko

History
2006 Olympic Champion Evgeny Plushenko made his comeback announcement during March. His decision was not at all unexpected, as he had hinted at a comeback a few times when he was away from competition. After his silver medal in Salt Lake City in 2002, Plushenko dominated the men’s field and won almost every competition he competed in, culminating in his win in Torino in 2006. In the three years since, Russian men have all but fallen off the radar in figure skating, with the best Russian finish at Worlds being Sergei Voronov’s 7^th place in 2008. Plushenko had stated that the lack of Russian presence in men’s figure skating was one of the catalysts for his return to competitive skating.

Analysis
Plushenko was a technical pioneer during the years he dominated men’s figure skating. He popularized the three-jump combination, first competing a quad toe-triple toe-double loop in 1999. He later competed the same combination, but with a triple loop at the end. His quadruple toe was the most consistent of any of the men. His jumping prowess was always balanced by the high Program Component Scores (PCS), which made him almost untouchable when he skated cleanly.

In March, his agent, Ari Zakarian, told the AP that Plushenko had already “mastered two quadruple jumps.” Those two jumps are likely the quad toe and the quad salchow, which he landed in 2004. Since Plushenko’s win at the 2006 Olympics, two of the three men’s World Champions did not have a quadruple jump in their programs, which bodes well for Plushenko’s chances. 

However, men’s skating has evolved somewhat since 2006. Skaters like Patrick Chan, Jeffrey Buttle, Evan Lysacek, and Johnny Weir have changed the men’s free skate. The top men in the world now have more balanced programs than before, with better basic skating, more intricate transitions, and greater style. Even though Plushenko demolished the field in Torino, some criticized his free skate construction as jump to jump with little emphasis on the relationship to the music. 

It will be interesting to see how 2009 judges will place Plushenko’s PCS relative to the other top skaters. But if he is looking to continue his dominance over the field, it will be necessary for his programs to be better-constructed than they were in 2006. The judges have grown more accustomed to seeing more well-rounded programs, and they have been awarding the quality programs over those that are technically superior.

First Test
First up for Plushenko will be the Rostelecom Cup (formerly the Cup of Russia) in October, a competition he had won seven consecutive times.  He will face off with World Silver [Corrected from "Bronze" thanks to Jane] Medalist Patrick Chan and three-time U.S. Champion Johnny Weir.

Predictions
Given the state of Russian men’s figure skating since 2006, Plushenko will have no problem qualifying for one of the two spots on the Olympic team. After three years out of competition, he may need the Grand Prix events to get his competition legs under him again. It will be necessary for him to show the kind of consistency and technical ability that helped him win seven World and Olympic medals. It will also be important for his programs to be well-constructed and choreographed. That said, it is easy to see Plushenko reemerge this season competition-ready and with a new-found motivation after three years away from the sport that he loves.

2010 Olympic Games – 1^st

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Comeback Trail Series
Sasha Cohen
Evgeny Plushenko
Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao 
Stephane Lambiel
Emily Hughes