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It’s hard to imagine a Winter Olympics in Russia with no figure skating competitors in men’s singles from the host country, but that’s exactly what happened Friday night.
"It’s just bizarre," two-time Canadian Olympic silver medalist Elvis Stojko tells Around the Rings. "They’ve been so dominant for so many years."
Russia earned only one spot in the Olympic men’s competition based on results from the 2013 World Championships. Even though 18-year-old Maxim Kovtun won the 2014 Russian national title, Evgeny Plushenko was selected for the Olympic team after a private tryout.
On Sunday, the 31-year-old led Russia to the first Olympic team gold medal and the host country’s first gold of the Games.
Then in a controversial move, Plushenko withdrew Thursday after taking the ice for his short program, citing back problems from 12 surgeries.
"It’s sad because it would have been nice to have at least two Russians here," Stojko said. "Usually, a minimum of two of them would be here."
He defended Plushenko from critics who bashed him for not skating in the individual competition.
"Being the warrior that he is, just his energy and presence here -- even though he had to withdraw -- give Russia a solid foundation," Stojko said. "I just don’t want people to hammer him for what he’s gone through, because he’s gone through so much and he’s a legend in the sport."
In a free skate full of falls, Yuzuri Hanyu, 19, hit the ice twice and still became the first men’s singles skater from Japan to win the gold medal. He is the youngest men’s champion since Dick Button in 1948. Three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Canada had four mistakes to finish second while Denis Ten of Kazakhstan won the bronze and a $75,000 bonus from his country.
"The way these guys skated tonight," Stojko said, "Plushy would have had a really good shot at top three."
He said it’s not unusual for a country to go through a figure skating drought.
"It goes up and down," Stojko said. "It just depends on where the energy flows – energy towards hockey or other sports.
"Maybe the young guy (Kovtun) will come back and say, ‘You know what? It’s time for me to step up to the gate and be fresh, a new face,’ and then take it from there," Stojko said. "It takes time to build."
Viktor Petrenko, a Ukrainian skating for the Unified Team, won the Olympic gold medal in 1992. Stojko placed second behind Alexei Urmanov in 1994 and was again runner-up in 1998 to Ilya Kulik. Alexei Yagudin and Evgeny Plushenko went 1-2 in 2002. Plushenko then won the gold in 2006 and the silver in 2010.
The next generation gained a foothold at the 2014 European Championships in January, when Russia placed three men in the Top 5: Sergei Voronov was second, Konstantin Menshov third, and Kovtun fifth.
But they remained overshadowed by the legendary Plushenko. Stojko said his performance in the team event gave men’s figure skating enough exposure for a post-Olympic boost.
Frank Carroll, who coached Evan Lysacek of the United States to the gold medal in Vancouver and Ten to the bronze in Sochi, said he doesn’t think the absence of Plushenko in the event hurt the development of Russian men’s skating.
"I think it brought more publicity to it because he did withdraw," Carroll said.
Written by Karen Rosen
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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