TNT Sports
Plushenko back on top
By
Published 27/01/2005 at 22:45 GMT
Yevgeny Plushenko performed an explosive free skate on Thursday to capture his fourth European men's title. The Russian pumped his fists in delight as he avenged his defeat by Frenchman Brian Joubert at the championships last year with a combined score of
Eurosport
Image credit: TNT Sports
Starting his final routine trailing Joubert by just 1.65 points following the short programme, the world champion brought the roaring crowd to their feet with his display full of intrigue and daring skills.
He nailed each one of his 12 jumps, including seven in combination.
Joubert, who had skated before his Russian rival, could only watch from the sidelines as he saw his hold on the title slipping away following his score of 224.43.
Germany's Stefan Lindemann edged out Switzerland's Stephane Lambiel to claim bronze.
"I told myself that I should try and fight for the medal and I did," said Plushenko.
"Yesterday I made a mistake but this is sport and you should always fight. It wasn't my best skate but it was enough."
Plushenko had entered the arena staring at a banner proclaiming "King on Ice". Four minutes and 34 seconds later, the fans did not have to wait for his score to flash up to know that they had just witnessed a title-winning performance.
The 22-year-old Russian was expected to open with a quadruple-triple toeloop combination but he threw in a double at the end for good measure.
With Plushenko deviating from his expected routine from the start, it was difficult to keep pace with his mesmerising choreography set to the music of The Godfather.
For Joubert, there was to be no repeat of the success he enjoyed last year when he became the first Frenchman in 40 years to be crowned champion.
Two snatched landings did not help his cause but even if he had, it was unlikely he would have been able to upstage Plushenko. The 20-year-old Frenchman, who trains with Olympic and three-times European champion Alexei Yagudin, finished the night trailing by 2.71 points.
Plushenko's win kept alive hopes of a Russian sweep of the medals in all four events after Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won their fourth successive European pairs crown on Wednesday. It also gave Russia a ninth men's title in 11 years.
BLOCKED ENTRANCE
A protest by Fiat employees did not disrupt the competition even though on two occasions they blocked the front entrance of the Palavela rink -- which will also stage figure skating competition during the 2006 Winter Olympics.
The workers complained the Italian car manufacturer's plan to open a new factory in Iran could prompt job losses in Italy.
"There was a protest outside the arena by some of the workers, not against the Games but because they are concerned for their future," said Valentino Castellani, the president of the Winter Games organising committee (TOROC).
While the protest in the morning passed off without incident, a mini scuffle during a second gathering in the evening threatened to get out of control briefly before police restored order by pushing everyone back being the temporary barriers.
Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov skated closer to their second European ice dance title by extending their lead following the original programme.
The Russian couple outclassed Ukrainian husband and wife team Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov with their swinging rendition of Fever.
Navka and Kostomarov opened a lead of 5.41 points over their nearest challengers after they were awarded a combined total of 107.81 points following the second phase of the three-part competition.
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement