He's on top of world
Plushenko survives stumble for 3d title
DORTMUND, Germany -- This time, and especially on this night, he wasn't sure he'd won after the music stopped. Evgeny Plushenko had landed two quadruple jumps, including his hallmark quad-triple-double combination, plus a couple of triple axels. He'd also snagged his skate in a rut and fallen on his butt.
So, would the judges give him points for his gilded resume and let the champ keep his crown? Or was it time for a Frenchman? "I hoped that I had won, so I waited, waited, looked," Plushenko said. "The judges decide, and everything can happen."
What happened inside the Westfalenhalle last night when the double row of 28 marks went up was that the 21-year-old beaked blond from St. Petersburg had won the world figure skating title for the third time in four years and Russia had taken its seventh straight men's crown, most since the United States won 12 from 1948-59.
But the rest of the world -- specifically France's Brian Joubert, Germany's Stefan Lindemann, and Switzerland's Stephane Lambiel -- served notice that Plushenko isn't going to have an easy skate all the way to Turin and the 2006 Winter Games.
The quality was so high that Lambiel landed two quads and six triples, laid down fantastic spins and footwork, and still finished fourth behind Joubert and Lindemann, the first German male to make the podium since Norbert Schramm in 1983.
"The last group was so tough, it was an honor for me to be with them," said two-time medalist Michael Weiss, who finished sixth behind countryman and US champ Johnny Weir.
It was the first time since 1994 that the Americans hadn't won a medal, and it was no surprise. Had Tim Goebel, the silver medalist the last two years, been here and healthy, he would have had the technical goods to hang with the aerialists.
Weiss, who double-footed one quad and tripled the other, does not. Weir, who performed creditably as a global rookie, may yet master the quad-combo repertoire that'll be necessary to make the Olympic podium. "I want to put two quads in my long and I want a medal next year," said the 19-year-old Weir, whose toughest offering was a triple axel-triple toe.
For now, the Americans had to settle for keeping their three entries for next year's competition in Moscow. Everybody else in the final group was gunning for what might have been the toughest global podium to make since Budapest in 1988, when Brian Boitano beat Brian Orser and Viktor Petrenko.
Lambiel, who was only sixth at the European championships (where Joubert beat Plushenko), set the standard with an electrifying skate that would have won the gold medal most years. "The atmosphere in the arena was incredible," he said. "I fed from the energy of the crowd. It felt like home."
Then came Joubert, who hit a pair of quads. "I just said to myself, `Brian, you have done this before, you can do it now,' " said Joubert, the first French men's medalist since Philippe Candeloro in 1995. "And I did it."
Now was Lindemann, who had a chance to be the first German champ since Jan Hoffmann, a fellow East Sider, did it here in 1980. "I didn't have to do much," said Lindemann, who put his hand down on his quad but landed eight triples. "The audience carried me through the program."
Finally came Plushenko, who'd been beaten twice this season and had been skating with torn cartilage in his landing knee. What carried him, besides generous artistic marks (including four 6.0s), was his difficulty right from the start -- the quad-triple-double, a solo quad toe, and the two axels.
Nobody else can match that, and Plushenko's stumble setting up the triple loop ("I think there was something on the ice") wasn't enough to lose him the crown. "The third world title is great," said Plushenko, who's one short of retired countryman/rival Alexei Yagudin. "And I thank destiny."
Taken with Wednesday's pairs victory by Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, Plushenko's victory put the Russians in a strong position to win three gold medals, which would be their best showing in a non-Olympic year since they swept all four in 1999 in Helsinki.
Yesterday afternoon, favorites Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov took another step toward returning the dance title to the Motherland tonight after a year's absence, winning the original dance ahead of Bulgaria's Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski.
In third were Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov, in position to win Ukraine's first world medal since Vyacheslav Zagorodniuk took bronze in 1994.
While they're unlikely to win a medal, which no American couple has managed in 19 years, Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto were sitting a respectable fifth.
"It makes absolute sense that we're in the place where we are," said the Canadian-born Belbin, who with Agosto is likely to produce the best US finish since Susan Wynne and Joseph Druar placed fourth in 1990. "We have to mature and grow closer as a team." 