WEIR SAYS PLUSHENKO LOOKS TOO GOOD TO BEAT STUNNING SHORT PROGRAM GIVES RUSSIAN HUGE LEAD.Byline: Paul Oberjuerge Staff Writer TURIN, Italy - Figure skaters love to say you can lose a gold medal gold medal traditional first prize. [Western Cult: Misc.] See : Prize in the short program, but you can't win one. Evgeni Plushenko Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko, or Yevgeny Viktorovich Plyushchenko (Russian: Евге́ний Ви́кторович might be about to prove otherwise. The polished Russian scored an astounding a·stound tr.v. a·stound·ed, a·stound·ing, a·stounds To astonish and bewilder. See Synonyms at surprise. [From Middle English astoned, past participle of astonen, 90.66 points in the short program Tuesday at the Palavela arena to take a commanding, 10-plus-point lead over American Johnny Weir John G. "Johnny" Weir (born July 2, 1984 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania) is an American figure skater. He is a three-time U.S. national champion (2004-2006) and the 2007 national bronze medalist. He is currently ranked 9th in the world. . The free skate is Thursday, and Weir was asked what it would take for Plushenko to fail to win gold. ``If he falls three times, maybe, just maybe someone could squeak by Verb 1. squeak by - manage one's existence barely; "I guess I can squeeze by on this lousy salary" rub along, scrape along, scrape by, scratch along, squeeze by him by a point or so,'' Weir said. He said he wouldn't consider it all such a done deal ``if it wasn't Plushenko,'' silver-medalist at Salt Lake City in 2002 and three-time world champion. ``I'm not conceding anything, just being realistic,'' Weir said. ``Plushenko being the great champion that he is.'' Plushenko and Weir are similarly stylish, but the Russian has something the American doesn't - a quadruple jump. Plushenko landed a quad toe loop/triple toe loop toe loop n. A jump in figure skating in which the skater, moving backwards, takes off from the back outer edge of one skate, makes a full spin in the air, and lands on the back outer edge of the same skate. combination with consummate ease, and that was most of his 10-point lead over Weir right there. ``I can tell you that I had to fight for this quad to the very end,'' Plushenko said. ``But I pulled it off, I stood up. So I wasjust thankful for that.'' Weir landed four triple jumps, including two in combination, and was expressive and impressive, even though he suggested he was ``100 percent better'' at the U.S. Championships last month. The other two Americans fell, and fell far behind. Evan Lysacek Evan Frank Lysacek (born June 4, 1985) is an American figure skater. He is the 2007 US National Champion and a two-time World bronze medalist (2005–2006). Lysacek trains in El Segundo, California with coach Frank Carroll at the Toyota Sports Center. , the Illinois native who trains in El Segundo El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and with veteran coach Frank Carroll, went down on his triple axel and turned a scheduled triple flip into a double. He buried his face in his hands in the ``kiss and cry'' room until Carroll urged him to sit up, appearing to say, ``You did fine.'' Lysacek, bronze medalist at the 2005 world championships, stands 10th with 67.55 points. He was disconsolate, admitting he practically psyched himself out by fixating on his program all day. ``I'm so shocked,'' he said. ``To work so hard ...'' He said he considers his short program so routine that he can ``do it three times in a row just to warm up. ``I hope I can have a decent finish. That was just a fluke. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how to put it into words. That wasn't me.'' Matt Savoie, third behind Weir and Lysacek at nationals, fell on a triple lutz and scored 69.15 points, leaving him in eighth place. Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland is third, at 79.04 points, and Brian Joubert of France is fourth, with 77.77 points. Weir said he will decide Thursday, before the free skate, whether he will insert a quad jump into his program, but it hardly seems worth the risk. Plushenko is all but uncatchable, and falling on the quad could keep Weir from a medal. ``If I skate like this,'' he said, ``I'll deserve a medal.'' Paul Oberjuerge, (909) 386-3865 paul.oberjuerge(at)sbsun.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Evgeni Plushenko celebrates Tuesday after his short program in men's figure skating. The three-time world champ leads American Johnny Weir heading into Thursday's free skate. Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press |
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