Figure Skating Champions SURVIVOR: Men's Final Three

[Vagabond]

The tribe has spoken.

Evgeni Plushenko (4th) has been voted off. <------ Edvard Marton smilie

The original contestants were the last twelve men to win a World or Olympic title.

Previous eliminees are:

Ilia Kulik (5th)
Patrick Chan (6th)
Brian Joubert (7th)
Jeffrey Buttle (8th)
Elvis Stojko (9th)
Evan Lysacek (10th)
Todd Eldredge (11th)
Alexei Urmanov (12th)

Okay, folks! There is nowhere left to hide. You have to eliminate one of your favorites!



The three remaining skaters are:

• Alexei Yagudin: Worlds 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, Olys 2002, Worlds Silver 2001, Worlds Bronze 1997
• Stéphane Lambiel: Worlds 2005, 2006, Olys Silver 2006, Worlds Bronze 2007
• Daisuke Takahashi: Worlds 2010, Worlds Silver 2007, 2012, Olys Bronze 2010

Alexei Yagudin Competitive Highlights
Stéphane Lambiel Competitive Highlights
Daisuke Takahashi Competitive Highlights

Bonus videos:

Alexei Yagudin

Worlds 1999 SP
Worlds 1999 FS
Worlds 2000 SP
Worlds 2000 FS
Worlds 2001 SP
Worlds 2001 FS

Stéphane Lambiel

Worlds 2004 SP
Worlds 2005 FS
Worlds 2007 SP
Worlds 2007 FS
Euros 2008 SP
Euros 2008 FS

Daisuke Takahashi

Skate America 2005 SP
Skate America 2005 FS
Four Continents 2011 SP
Four Continents 2011 FS
Worlds 2012 SP
Worlds 2012 FS

Who is the weakest link? Use whatever criteria you want.

[blue_idealist]

Still can't believe Plushenko got the boot. Lambiel for me this time, again.

[flipforsynchro]

My criteria is gonna go by looks, so Takahashi gets the boot.

[judgejudy27]

Takahashi. Lambiel has more World titles, a higher Olympic medal, and 2 GP final wins to 0 for Takahashi.

[michiruwater]

I think Takahashi is the clear weak link here. All three are, to me, quite provocative and artistic, and lovely to watch, but Takahashi has by far the weakest list of achievements.

[shady82]

Lambiel. Takahashi may have the weakest resume, but based on overall performances, he still ranks better. Takahashi should have won Worlds in both 2010 and 2012. And while Lambiel has a higher medal color at the Olympics, his 2006 Olympic performances weren't good at all. He was just lucky to win a medal in an utter splatfest.

I also prefer Takahashi's style. I found Lambiel to be sloppy at times, and his Four Seasons program, in particular, was a mess.

[flipforsynchro]

At least Lambiel was a hot mess

[smarts1]

My criteria is gonna go by looks, so Takahashi gets the boot.

[flipforsynchro]

Since Plushy left last round, I decided to take advantage of the "no criteria" and voted with my personal likings.

[blue_idealist]

Lambiel. Takahashi may have the weakest resume, but based on overall performances, he still ranks better. Takahashi should have won Worlds in both 2010 and 2012. And while Lambiel has a higher medal color at the Olympics, his 2006 Olympic performances weren't good at all. He was just lucky to win a medal in an utter splatfest.

Agreed!

[DaiKozOda]

Still can't believe Plushenko got the boot. Lambiel for me this time, again.

This!

[Macassar88]

I will continue to vote for Lambiel

[michiruwater]

Takahashi should have won Worlds in both 2010 and 2012.

He did win in 2010.

[Kunstrijdster]

And there goes the purpose of voting Plushy off. The only reason why I voted for Plush was that a face off between him and Yags was pretty predictable. Apparently not even the combined power of Lambiel and Takahashi can stop Yagudin, I was kidding myself anyway when I thought it could be close. Still, he gets my vote

[lauravvv]

Unfortunately had to vote for Takahashi again. I think that he and Lambiel are pretty equal, but I just love Lambiel even more.

[blue_idealist]

He did win in 2010.

Thanks.. I missed that mistake too even though I wasn't the OP of that.. I think the original poster meant 2011.. ??

[t.mann]

at top 3 strong champions being Yagudin-Lambiel-Takahashi, not Yagudin-Plushenko-Chan.
Although I think Lambiel is almost the only true artist since Curry.

[fscric]

Thanks.. I missed that mistake too even though I wasn't the OP of that.. I think the original poster meant 2011.. ??

Someone truly believes Takahashi should have won 2011 World?

Well, my prediction that Lambiel and Plushenko would go before Takahashi is correct, though the order is different.

[falling_dance]

I'm guessing that shady82 was just saying that Takahashi should be a two-time World Champion as well, so the fact of Lambiel having two World titles doesn't (for him/her) count against the former the way it does for some voters in this poll.

[lauravvv]

I'm guessing that shady82 was just saying that Takahashi should be a two-time World Champion as well, so the fact of Lambiel having two World titles doesn't count against the former the way it does for some voters in this poll.

To tell the truth, I don't believe that Daisuke could have won this year. Even if his and Chan's component scores had been identical, it wouldn't be enough for Dai to close the gap in both programs. I know that many people think that Daisuke's components should be higher than Patrick's, but I don't believe that either, as there are areas (skating skills, transitions) where Chan is a bit superior. Choreography, interpretation - depends on what points judges see as more important, and also on taste (for me the choreo of Daisuke's programs was more original, and his personal understanding of music - better, but if we look at rules, there are also other things that are taken into account). Imho, the only component where Dai was clearly superior was P/E, but even that is subjective. I am not going into the technical score and GOEs now.