Evgeni Plushenko: “Based on her short program, Sofia Samodelkina should not be in 12th place – she deserved a much higher ranking.”
Evgeni Plushenko expressed disappointment over the judges’ scoring of Sofia Samodelkina in the women’s short program at the 2026 Milan Olympics, stating that her placement doesn’t reflect her strong performance.
original source: Sport-Express
Evgeni Plushenko, the two-time Olympic champion, shared his thoughts on Sofya Samodelkina’s performance at the 2026 Milan Olympics. The skater, who now represents Kazakhstan, currently ranks 12th after the women’s short program with a score of 68.47. Here’s a translation.
“Sofia Samodelkina is in excellent form. Her jumps were light and effortless, and her performance was soulful. Her ‘cart wheel ’ was met with enthusiastic applause from the audience, and overall, her program to Csárdás was seamless and captivating,” Plushenko said.
He criticized the judges for scoring Samodelkina too low. “It’s a shame her scores were undervalued. You could see in the kiss and cry area that her coach, Rafael Arutyunyan, was dissatisfied with the judges’ decisions. I completely agree with him. Based on her short program, Sofia should not be in 12th place – she deserved a much higher ranking.”
“Sofia trained with me for a short period, but in that time, she developed the ability to execute the triple axel and several quads, including the loop, toe loop, and Salchow. She has remarkable potential, and my team worked extensively with her. We dreamed that she would showcase ultra-C elements at the Olympics. However, in Milan, it seems those jumps won’t be performed.”
Despite his disappointment over judging, Plushenko acknowledged that figure skating involves more than just jumps. “Skating today isn’t solely about jumps. Judging also considers elements like skating skills, presentation, musical interpretation, and program components. That’s something positive,” he wrote in his column for Sport-Express.
Related topics: Evgeni Pluschenko, Olympic Games, Sofia Samodelkina
Her jumps were fine, it was the spin levels that got her.