Evgeni Plushenko: “Alysa Liu was outstanding. Her skating was truly feminine – light, airy, and with flawless spins.” and “Japanese skaters – Nakai, Sakamoto, and Chiba – they deserve the highest praise. Their skating skills are phenomenal.”
Evgeni Plushenko’s Thoughts on the Women’s Short Program at the 2026 Milan Olympics
original source: Sport-Express
Two-time Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko reflects on the women’s short program at the 2026 Milan Olympics. Here’s a translation of his comments.
“American skater Alysa Liu was outstanding. Her skating was truly feminine – light, airy, and with flawless spins. She nailed all her jumps, including her triple lutz–loop combination in the second half of her program.
On the other hand, her teammate Amber Glenn was a disappointment. She started her program impressively with a triple axel and a triple flip–toe loop combo but relaxed too much. Overconfident, she lost focus on the triple loop, resulting in a double instead. The second half of her program lacked energy, leaving her in 13th place.
As for the Japanese skaters – Ami Nakai, who landed the triple axel, Kaori Sakamoto, and Mone Chiba – they deserve the highest praise. They were so positive, smiling, and confident in their performances. Their skating skills are phenomenal, with excellent step sequences that flowed seamlessly across the ice. Truly remarkable athletes!”
Plushenko also highlighted Anastasiia Gubanova, competing for Georgia, noting, “Her jumps were clean and smooth, with great rotation. Congratulations to Anastasiia and her coach Evgeni Rukavitsyn for an excellent short program.”
Related topics: Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, Ami Nakai, Anastasiia Gubanova, Evgeni Pluschenko, Kaori Sakamoto, Mone Chiba, Olympic Games
Well, I have to say – classy comments by Plushenko this time.
I am liking Plushy’s commentary on these Olympics! But what did he say about Adeliya?