Men - Olympic Figure Skating (include spoiler)
I feel the need to help explain to people the results... just because I believe I know figure skating and the new judging rules better than most average viewers. Before any media start dissing the results, let me clarify now.
Now they both got the exact same score for the program component (i.e. the "artisitic" score of old). So I won't talk much about it. Plushenko got better scores on skill/performance/interpretation, while Lysacek got better transition/choreography mark. In the end, these scores are a tie.
On the technical side, Evan Lysacek did win over Evgeni Plushenko, fair and square. Lysacek got more points for spins & jumps and was only slightly behind in jump total.
Jump total
Plush = 63.77 Lysacek = 63.47
Spin total
Plush = 10.54 Lysacek = 11.8
Steps total
Plush = 8.4 Lysacek = 9.3
You might say "what about the quad jump that Plushenko did"? Well, it did get lots and lots of point. One word explanation to tell your friends over cocktail is "front loading" of jumps.
Lysacek made up the extra by doing most of his jump (5 passes) later in the program- these jumps get a 10% bonus point (the reason being during the second half you're more tired, and hence more difficult to do jumps). And in those 5 late jumping passes included two combinations (triple Axel-double toe loop and triple Lutz-double toe-double loop) On the other hand, Plushenko did only 3 passes after the 2 min mark, and only one combination (triple Lutz-double toe). Plushenko is known to front load his programs all his career. Here it cost him another gold medal.
Considering the margin (less than two points), I hope it's clearer why Lysacek won. Congrats to him. I'm personally more fond of the bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi, but Lysacek's gold is well deserved. There should NOT be any controversy what so ever.
Now they both got the exact same score for the program component (i.e. the "artisitic" score of old). So I won't talk much about it. Plushenko got better scores on skill/performance/interpretation, while Lysacek got better transition/choreography mark. In the end, these scores are a tie.
On the technical side, Evan Lysacek did win over Evgeni Plushenko, fair and square. Lysacek got more points for spins & jumps and was only slightly behind in jump total.
Jump total
Plush = 63.77 Lysacek = 63.47
Spin total
Plush = 10.54 Lysacek = 11.8
Steps total
Plush = 8.4 Lysacek = 9.3
You might say "what about the quad jump that Plushenko did"? Well, it did get lots and lots of point. One word explanation to tell your friends over cocktail is "front loading" of jumps.
Lysacek made up the extra by doing most of his jump (5 passes) later in the program- these jumps get a 10% bonus point (the reason being during the second half you're more tired, and hence more difficult to do jumps). And in those 5 late jumping passes included two combinations (triple Axel-double toe loop and triple Lutz-double toe-double loop) On the other hand, Plushenko did only 3 passes after the 2 min mark, and only one combination (triple Lutz-double toe). Plushenko is known to front load his programs all his career. Here it cost him another gold medal.
Considering the margin (less than two points), I hope it's clearer why Lysacek won. Congrats to him. I'm personally more fond of the bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi, but Lysacek's gold is well deserved. There should NOT be any controversy what so ever.