Weir, other skaters left racing for silver
‘Perfect’ Plushenko enters free skate with astounding 10-point lead
 Robert Laberge / Getty Images Johnny Weir leapt into second place after the men's short program Tuesday, but was still more than 10 points back of leader Evgeni Plushenko. |
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TURIN, Italy - Johnny Weir can handle the men’s gold medal going to Russia once again, particularly if he finds himself holding onto a shiny silver one.
The three-time U.S. champion and the rest of the men are chasing Evgeni Plushenko, and it looks like a futile pursuit. Plushenko carries more than a 10-point lead into Thursday night’s free skate, and even though the new judging system is more accommodating to comebacks, it would take a collapse by Plushenko for Weir or anyone else to seize the gold.
“I just want to have a good time out there,” Weir said Wednesday after a solid practice that included hitting a quadruple jump combination three times. “I had no real expectations coming in, and now, sitting in second, that’s incredible. I’m not expecting anything to happen in the free that I can’t control.”
Weir hasn’t given up all hope of catching Plushenko: Asked about it after the short program, he joked, “If he falls three times, maybe, just maybe someone can squeeze by.”
Not likely.
Plushenko was sharp in his workout Wednesday, running through his program in pieces and nailing whatever element he tried. The 2002 Olympic silver medalist posted the highest points total in a short program since the new scoring format was adopted in 2003.
That puts him squarely in line to follow a succession of Russian or Soviet skaters who’ve won every men’s title since 1992: Victor Petrenko, Alexei Urmanov, Ilia Kulik and Alexei Yagudin.
“When I was young, I don’t remember CCCP,” the 23-year-old Plushenko said, using the Cyrillic initials for the Soviet Union, which disbanded in the early 1990s, but was the dominant force in many Olympic sports before then.
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“Right now, I know everything and I am happy I am Russian,” said Plushenko, who trains in St. Petersburg. “And I am happy to be from Russia.”
The other medals contenders will need to include a quad in their itinerary to reach the podium. The four-revolution jump has been dicey for Weir, who does them well in practices but is loath to try one in competition. Coach Priscilla Hill said he’s been hitting three out of five quads.
“I’ll decide on Thursday morning,” Weir said. “It’s very last-minute, spur-of-the-moment for me. It’s going to have to be perfect for me to want to put it in. I could very well wake up and feel horrible, like Nick Nolte’s mug shot.”
The other two U.S. skaters, Evan Lysacek and Matt Savoie, made major mistakes in the short program. Lysacek, the world bronze medalist, was 10th after crashing on his opening triple axel. Savoie was eighth, and had problems with an incomplete triple lutz.
Their medals chances gone, Lysacek and Savoie will try to build some points in the free skate before turning their attention to next month’s world championship in Calgary.
“My immediate goal is to land a triple lutz,” Savoie said Wednesday. “I’m so irked by missing it last night.”
World champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland is only .96 points behind Weir, but he is battling a bothersome knee. His workout was shaky and so is his triple axel.
Practice went well for France’s Brian Joubert, and his “Lord of the Dance” program is highly entertaining, certainly worthy of medal consideration if he hits everything. But he has a history of being inconsistent, and the same is true of Canadian Jeff Buttle.
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