FIGURE SKATING: European Championships Preview

European Championships Preview Men's Event Monday, January 22, 2001 - Sunday, January 28, 2001 Bratislava, Slovakia

The men's event at the European Championships promises to be explosive and exciting. It is one of those events that is too close to call at this point.

First and second place will most certainly belong to Evgeny Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin. However, what order those names will be in depends on how well they skate! Third place will be a battle between everyone else. Dmitri Dmitrenko of the Ukraine won the bronze medal last year. He will try to keep that position against Russia's Alexander Abt, France's Stannick Jeannette and Vincent Restencourt, Ivan Dinev of Bulgaria, and a myriad of other skaters.

Evgeny Plushenko is the reigning European Champion, and has been skating extremely well this season. He was recently crowned Russian National Champion for the third year in a row, beating Alexei Yagudin into second place.

Alexei Yagudin is the three-time and reigning World Champion. He was European Champion in 1998 and in 1999, until Plushenko wrested the title from him last year. Although Yagudin lost to Plushenko at Russian Nationals this season, he beat him just a week later at the Japan Open, a pro-am competition in Tokyo, Japan. Yagudin, like Plushenko, has been skating unbelievably well this season so far.

The Russian Nationals and Japan Open are the only two times these rivals have faced off against each other. Each has won once. The European Championships is their third face-off, and the title is one of the most prized of the sport, along with Grand Prix title, World title, and the Olympic title.

The short programs, based on the execution of eight required elements with mandatory deductions for mistakes, will tell part of the story. Both Yagudin and Plushenko have very strong short programs, but the edge should go to Yagudin if both skate cleanly. Both skaters are equal in speed and ice coverage, and if jumps are clean, then they are equal. However, the edge will come in Yagudin's stronger spins and crisper footwork. Plushenko's spins are far slower and poorly centered, and his footwork is flashy but sloppy. Both programs are very well executed. If short programs from Yagudin and Plushenko are clean, Yagudin should be in first place going into the long program.

In the short program this year, Yagudin has proved to be more consistent with his quad, landing it in every competition so far this season. Plushenko has had one fall on his quad in the short program, which was at the Japan Open.

The better choreographed long program would have to be Yagudin's. Yagudin soars through his program, "Gladiator," which is packed with triple and quadruple jumps, and accented with incredibly difficult footwork sequences. It is the choreography and dramatic presentation of this program that earned Yagudin a total of 5 perfect 6.0s for artistic impression this season. At the European Championships, Yagudin hopes to land two quads, one of them in combination, as well as eight other triple jumps.

Plushenko's program, set to "Once Upon a Time in America," is choreographically and emotionally weaker than Yagudin's. Plushenko takes longer to set up his jumps, while Yagudin goes from element to element smoothly and with barely any set up at all. Plushenko also does a lot more posing (standing still, not skating, but just making poses) in his program, while Yagudin does little posing and spends more time skating. Plushenko does do a very difficult spin called a Biellman, where he pulls his leg up behind his head. For a man, this is a show of flexibility that is very rare. Unfortunately, as Plushenko's body has matured and put on muscle, he has lost flexibility, and his Biellman spin slows to a crawl every time he attempts it.

One thing Plushenko can do that Yagudin has not done in competition yet is perform a 4-3-2 combination. He does a quad toe loop, triple toe loop, and double loop in combination. Plushenko is the only one in the world to have done this combination in competition. He, like Yagudin, plans to attempt two quads (one in 4-3-2 combination), and eight other triples.

Musically, Plushenko's program has no real buildup or climax, whereas Yagudin's program builds to a dramatic ending. Yagudin's musical choice seems to be very popular, since his and Plushenko's teammate, Alexander Abt, has the same music, although the excerpts are different. Elvis Stojko of Canada is also using music from the motion picture, "Gladiator," but Stojko does not compete at Europeans.

IF Plushenko can perform his program cleanly and with energy, his presentation itself can be impressive and one forgets the choreographic weaknesses of his program. At Russian Nationals, Plushenko earned 5 6.0s for presentation. However, should he start making mistakes, the whole program collapses, since it needs an inspired performance to keep it afloat. Yagudin, however, can earn high presentation marks even with mistakes. At Skate America this year, Yagudin lost by a 4-3 split by the judges, despite mistakes on his quads and triple axel. He was so close because his presentation was so good, even with mistakes. In figure skating, a tie is broken by the presentation mark.

Yagudin is unmatched in his ability to focus. He can turn off his mind and let his body do what its been trained to do like no other skater can. Yagudin has proven time and time again that he can perform under pressure. He skates well under pressure. He is more consistent than Plushenko, who has a history of falling apart when the pressure is on.

At the European Championships this year, Evgeny Plushenko will try to defend his title against Alexei Yagudin. Yagudin will try to win back the title that he lost last year.