Best male skater of the 2000s

[kwanlysacek]

Who do you consider the best male skater of the 2000s, starting with the fall of 2000 and ending the winter of 2010. I say Lysacek by far.

[blue_idealist]

Plushenko. He won three Olympic medals during that time period!

[os168]

Plushy... unapologetic technical overlord. Not to mention influential to the sport still. Whatever you may say about his skating, his insistence that quads should a matter of focus/principle for the mens is part of the reason COP evolved, and that the Men's competition grew so exciting today.

[MR-FAN]

Lambiel. A skating Legend. Skaters like him don't come every decade.

[PeterG]

It's very sad that that decade only produced six male skaters of note.

[ItalianFan]

Plushenko. He won three Olympic medals during that time period!

Definitely Plushenko. Not only the 3 Oly medals but all the others. In spite of a three year hiatus no one comes even close to his podium record.

[ciocio]

- 34 gold medals (ISU competitions+Rus Nat).

[TheIronLady]

Evan has that long body that makes him beautiful to watch, but were it not for his consistency, he could not rival Lambiel, Takahashi, Plushenko, or Joubert.

[kosjenka]

I voted for Yagudin, but Plushenko deserves this title.

[misskarne]

Plushenko by far. In that time period you specify, he's never finished a competition lower than second.

Which in itself, is incredible.

[Zemgirl]

Who do you consider the best male skater of the 2000s, starting with the fall of 2000 and ending the winter of 2010. I say Lysacek by far.

Really? Would you like to try and justify that?

In the period you chose, Lysacek won two world bronzes, a world title, and an OGM, which he won narrowly. Also two national titles (one in a tie with Weir) and two 4CC titles. Yagudin, despite only skating for two seasons during this span, won one World title and was second the other time, won his OGM resoundingly and won a European title. Plushenko won Worlds three times, Euros five times, won an OGM and two other Olympic medals, was the record holder for SP, LP and total score from the time CoP came in until Dai won 4CC in 2008 (except his SP record, which stood until 2011), and won a bunch of other titles.

Lysacek is nowhere near the level of achievement of Plushenko objectively, and nowhere near as memorable a skater as the other guys on the list. Although only Yagudin is an OGM, both Dai and Lambiel are medalists with a stronger record at other events than Lysacek's, and Joubert, despite his Olympic debacles, had an amazing record in major championships (15 senior ISU Championship medals during that decade), and, if I'm not mistaken, GPs. Lambiel and Takahashi are wonderful artistic skaters and Yagudin, Plushenko and Joubert are all very charismatic performers.

I can understand how as an uber you would think Lysacek is the best, but by far? Did you actually watch anyone else skate?

Plushenko for me. It's not even close. If it were a career poll, then Yagudin.

[misskarne]

Zemgirl, obvious troll is obvious. Anyone with eyes knows that Lysacek doesn't even rate on this poll.

[Zemgirl]

Zemgirl, obvious troll is obvious. Anyone with eyes knows that Lysacek doesn't even rate on this poll.

Even more obvious now that I've looked at his other posts. But I still had fun comparing Lysacek to everyone else, so it was worthwhile

[Jenny]

I voted Yagudin, but I could easily vote Plushenko depending on one's personal criteria for the poll.

The fact that Chan is not on the poll is a noticeable omission; his best work is post 2009 and more to come likely, so while he wouldn't win the poll, I think he should have been counted among the "best male skaters of the 2000s." Ditto Jeffrey Buttle.

I'll give you that Lysacek should be on the poll based on his competitive record, but IMO he's contributed about zero to the sport, and will be remembered as no more than a statistic as the years go by.

[giselle23]

I voted for Yagudin based on whose skating I preferred, along with the fact that he is an Olympic and World Champion. But it is true that Plushenko has done more to influence the sport. Takahashi and Chan are his heirs. And he has three Olympic medals including the gold. So I could have gone either way.

[Vash01]

Plushenko.

[jsfpg2]

Best is Plushenko.
Lambiel is very good too.

[Zokko!]

I've voted for Yags, but I won't commit suicide because Plush is leading ...
As for Klutz Lysacek - seems he's in a wrong category here, by far ...

[orbitz]

My vote for Yag. I can't think of any performance by Plushy that I would called artistic, whereas Yag had quite a few, ie Winter, Car racing, etc.

[Cachoo]

Lambiel. A skating Legend. Skaters like him don't come every decade.

This. Yags is my second choice.