I won't go into technique details and start crazy discussions (I guess they'll come anyway though
), but overall to me Yagudin's passion trumps everything and I have to go with him. (I've seen both him and Plushy live several times, but not Hanyu).
To quote the late Ziggy, who will always be with us here - it was about Yagudin's Winter, but could be said of most of his programs: He skated it like there was no tomorrow!
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I always preferred Plush to Yags but have to agree with you about his passion. In the lead-up to the 2002 Olympics he said that winning the Olympics was his "destiny". And he skated like it was, all season, not losing a single competition IIRC. His "Winter" and "MITIM" were memorable performances, among the greatest performances of all time.
It was Plush's "Carmen" that won the night for me though. In the SP, it was Takeshi Honda's "Don Quiote. There's a reason for my username.
I preferred Plush in his earlier days, before he got too cocky (i.e. jumping on the top podium spot at the Vancouver Olympics).
My favorite Plush program ever was his Russian folk dance, the time he completely redid the order of his elements on the fly, with Mishin screaming at him from the boards. A friend of mine from Australia who had never watched skating fell in love with Plush instantly and wanted to see more of him.
And that's why if we are only comparing these three skaters, I choose Alexei Yagudin. For me, Yagudin is/was the best of these three at focusing with emotional intensity on fully developing artistry and expressiveness in his skating. And Yagudin was also a very pure, consistent, and superb technician. With Tatiana Tarasova's help, Yagudin worked hard at trying to become a complete skater. His performances at 2002 Olympics were masterful, both technically and aesthetically.
Well stated.
For me, Hanyu is primarily an extraordinarily gifted technician. Of course, Hanyu moves fluidly and mesmerizingly, but he is also rather gumby-like or loosey-goosey, and he does not exhibit nor has he yet fully developed an aesthetically satisfying body awareness, in terms of line and stretch. Hanyu admittedly has patterned his skating after his idol and muse, Johnny Weir. When he first came on the senior scene, Hanyu did seem to move with a graceful fluidity that was reminiscent of Johnny's movement quality. However, for me, Hanyu never quite pulled me in all the way. I became distracted by his loosey-goosey physicality, his lack of stretch and line, and his tendency early in his career to lose endurance in his fps and make errors. Going to Orser was a tremendous help to Hanyu, as Orser managed to find a way to help Hanyu pace himself and solve his lack of endurance problems (possibly related to his asthma).
I feel much the same, although I've never looked at it quite that way. To me there was something purely organic about Weir's skating that made it very special, and I never saw Hanyu as having that same organic quality. I agree with you that Hanyu is loosey-goosey, but would never had said the same about Weir.
In my view skating just comes easily to Hanyu. He's a natural. I don't think he has to really 'try'. I guess I see him as kind of a machine, just going through the motions of a 'day at the office'. There have been other skaters with that same machine-like quality in terms of technique, but many of those had more emotion than Hanyu. Even Kevin Van Der Perrin - he was woefully lacking in artistry, but I always had the sense that he was trying to express some emotion.
TBH - please don't
me, this is just my humble opinion - I find Hanyu's skating boring. Except when he makes a mistake and reminds me that he is human after all
.
I've really not that interested in the men's field these days because none of the contenders do much for me. Maybe Chen will grow on me, but at this point in time he is IMO a bit of a machine like Hanyu. I can see that he is really trying artistically. But given that he's studying while training and competing, and has a __ quad advantage, I don't have high hopes for improvement.
I would have to agree though that sometimes there's somewhat of a mechanical quality in the way he performs. He has artistic abilities, but he moves in and out of complete concentration on the expressive aspects of his skating. And Hanyu is not a particularly musical skater, in terms of having a superior ability to interpret music in a way that pulls an audience into the weaving of a story. I think audiences are more pulled into Hanyu's other-worldly elf-like persona, and his amazing jumping ability (the suspended quality of his jumps).
Elf-like is a good descriptor of Hanyu. Agree with you that he is not particularly musical.
Plushenko is Plushenko, and he will likely go down in the history of the sport in a class by himself. No one's passion, determination, and strength of will is greater than Plushenko's, IMHO. As far as artistry, Plush had a lot of capability, but he tended to rely more on charisma, rather than on fully exploring aesthetics. His main focus was upping the technical ante, and utilizing his athleticism and charm, rather than challenging himself with mastering difficult transitions. Plush did not have great stretch or line either, but conversely he did have a catlike, balletic grace.
Again agreed. Especially considering that he came from abject poverty and managed to fight his way to the top of the world.
But, from the interviews I've read/watched, I don't know that I like the person he has become. I get the sense that he is arrogant and feels an entitlement to power and status.
