“Absurdity” Plushenko about judging at the Russian Nationals
Evgeni Plushenko commented on the judging at the Russian Nationals 2021.
source: Dmitri Kuznetsov for sport-express.ru dd. 25th December 2021
Evgeni Viktorovich, your comment on today’s performances and scores (in the short program).
Evgeni Plushenko: Sasha skated very well, in my opinion, it was her best skating of the season, despite the fact that she didn’t jump the triple axel. She did, hold all the spins, they all got level four. The step sequence, in my opinion, is a little underscored, it was possible to give the highest level. There could have been higher GOE from the judges. This is about Sasha.
But other athletes were slightly overesсored, as it seems to me. Today I have already talked with many coaches and specialists. We talked about the fact that figure skaters who take the leading places are really given fabulous points for falls, for not done spins. They are given a completely different level, which, in theory, they should not get.
I looked at the protocols – the judges didn’t give minuses for the failed spin, one gave 0, the other +3. One gave +3 and several others -2! Minus two is a normal mark, yes, you can safely give it.
The same with other girls. Sasha got an exclamation mark on a flip. Although we fixed this edge, she is jumping flip from the inside edge. But the judges apparently think that we do not train, do not work and do not improve. Other girls, who have not just an unclear, but a wrong edge, on the contrary, for some reason are not given anything. This is a paradox from my professional point of view. I’m at a loss! And many coaches too. It seems to me that soon not only I will say these words, but also other people. Something is not right here, something is wrong. The athlete falls on the triple axel and gets about 80 points. That is, if she jumps it, then she scores more men who jump quads in short programs?
It turns out so.
Evgeni Plushenko: Well, that’s something from science fiction! But turns out, it’s reality.
How is Sasha feeling now? Many people skate here after illness.
Evgeni Plushenko: Sasha is injured. She skates with a serious injury.
Is this connected with the tape on the back of her hip?
Evgeni Plushenko: Yes, there is an injury. But we didn’t withdraw. Sasha said ‘I want to compete, I will fight.’
Do you contact the referees, technical specialists during the season? After all, this is not the first time you are dissatisfied with the judging.
Evgeni Plushenko: Of course, there is contact. Today we have already talked on this topic, I spoke with Alexander Lakernik. We also agreed to meet tomorrow, we will watch all the videos. Maybe I don’t understand something? And the other coaches probably too. So yes, we discussed it today.
And what do they tell you?
Evgeni Plushenko: They say that everything like it should be. They don’t see edges on flips and lutzes of some skaters. Everything is fine. And in Trusova’s case, well, very visible. (laughs)
Maybe you just buy other monitors for them? For sure you can to chip in.
Evgeni Plushenko: Everything is ok with the monitors! Apparently, there just different charging. They are charged in a special way, from certain people, with some kind of energy messages. And not only. Apparently, the charging is well. For retirement. There are many pensioners sitting behind them (judging minitors), as far as I know.
We will think what to do. We understand how these processes are going. Valieva is really good at skating, she can glide, she extends her legs. No complaints. But to date, there are questions. Why can’t they see the edge on Usacheva’s jump? She has an iffy landing, but they give her +3. This can only be explained by good chardging. If the judge gives +3 for such a spin, where is he looking? Maybe at Trusova on the other monitor? What is she doing wrong there in the warm-up? These are the simplest banal questions, someone has problems even with stroking, and then gets he 9.50 and 9.75. Absurdity. I used to think, maybe I’m the only one so crazy, a loser? But it feels like I’m not alone already. A large part of the figure skating community are losers now.
Related topics: Evgeni Plushenko, Russian Nationals
I agree that she should have been silver, but Anna was best by a wide margin
sasa ist best
Yes I’ve noticed that too! We fans call it Tutberidze Bonus. I really can’t understand how Sasha and other skaters get so crazily underscored. Sasha skated 2 beautiful programs at nationals with an injury preventing her from jumping any quad but the Lutz and she only got third place. She deserves better. As do many other skaters. Even after Sasha left for Plushenko, she still scores incredibly high (without Tutberidze Bonus).
I’d really appreciate it if Yuzuru’s thesis get’s researched even better so judges have an AI to help with… well… judging!
I’d be only fair to every skater out there. I still don’t get why they changed the GOE system. Now all the big chunks of point are connected to jumps and the spirals or spins are totally forgotten. Also: The judging system with the new GOE in combinations and sequences is just ridiculous. Now i’m getting technical but here we go:
According to the ISU,Jumping Sequences are considered easier than jumping combinations because there is a change of foot. Hence there is a 20% deduction on the base value of the combination for jumping sequencee.
4T+3A is marked as a sequence. The base value is therefore 80% of the original value. This means that the base value for 4T+3A+Seq the following is:
9.50+8.00=17.50*0.8=14.00!
For a reference:
The base value for 3A+3A+Seq=12.80
The base value for 3A+1eu+3S=12.80
The base value for 4T+3A+Seq=14.00
The base value for 4T+1eu+3S=14.30
This means the following:
After the current ISU GOE system, the 3A+3A+Seq has the same difficulty rating as the 3A+1eu+3S! What the heck?!
But that also means that 4T+3A+Seq is also EASIER than 4T+1eu+3S! Seriously?!
ISU please name me all the skaters that can do a 4T+3S! I can count on one hand with 5 fingers for sure! And how many people can 4T+3S? Only ONE skater can do it!
Since I am not a professional and my actual profession has nothing to do with figure skating and I am just a huge fan and I like to learn everything there is about it, I can’t change any rule or whats so ever. I still wanted to have that said at least once.
I really hope that the coaches can get the ISU to change something…
Been watching skating over 40yrs. Most of the time any unsavory scoring is due to the practices of the Russian Federation.
This is the first time I have ever commented on a skating reply site. Just your excuse not to show a negative comment on the notorious Russian Federation.
100% agree. Sasha blew me away in both short & free, seemed underscored compared to the others who placed though I’m no expert. World competitions will hopefully be less biased.
Eteri girls were stunning, that’s for sure, BUT no one can deny the CRAZY goe they “scored” at the first half of their FS, the jumps all over +4.5 and more! (For anna and kamila) that’s not normal, the girls can jump and land, but for that goe you need to perform a TEXTBOOK jump, we all know that this is not the case. They will never score goes like those at an international competition, we are with you in this Plushy!
100% agree and this is coming from an eteri fan. Anna and Kamila were severely overscored. I think Anna deserved the win, but not Kamila. She is a newcomer (like Alina Zagitova before her) stealing the podium due to her young age and technical content. However, she doesn’t deserve the win and I personally find her personality very distasteful. She is always looking so gloomy, like she doesn’t want to be there. She doesn’t love skating, she just wants the money and medals (just like Alina!!). She’s a stain on real skaters who are full of passion and have fought for years like Evgenia.
Same here! I read lots of comments on YouTube saying that Plushenko is “rude”, “unclassy” – but I disagree a lot. In this interview he showed very clearly why things aren’t right – truth shouldn’t be offensive. Eteri skaters (I have nothing against the Eteri team, but in all honesty only Daria, Anna, Kamila, Maiia) were really crazily over scored both in short and long and received crazy GOEs. Anna had almost +5 on both her quads (and we all know her quads have huge prerotation and edge problems) and her step sequence which some were like 7 seconds got +2.5 goes as well… Plus the other skaters had this preferential treatment too. Basically they wanted to keep the podium for certain skaters – in short all places were for Eteri students (despite the flaws Evgeni described) and in free, top 5 spots were all Eteri students (apart from Sasha)…
Is this move that wise for Russian skating ? You need competition to strive. If they always overscore eteri students, will the others feel motivated to fight? I don’t think so…
About Sasha and about Plushenko. Sasha is very drama free (I am talking about how they didn’t make a huge fuss that she is competing and she has been injured too) and that is admirable. And while I had doubts about Plushenko as a coach, I like that he fights for Sasha and truly pays attention to the smallest details in Sasha’s skating – she improved a lot and has a much cleaner technique… I am so rooting for her, maybe Rus Fed will start too… :))
I’m glad he speaks up. I’ve seen many comments complaining that Shcherbakova and Valieva are so absurdly overscored. But I think many have already given up hope of seeing fair judging anytime soon.
In juniors, Sasha had a habit of beating the others (and even outscoring the seniors) with massive technical scores, which sparked debates about raising the age limit for seniors, banning quads in ladies, etcetera. I suppose judges thought they would do good by inflating the others’ GOE and PCS, thereby decreasing the gap and creating a more level competition. Now it’s become a mess. There’s no explaining why Shcherbakova’s and Valieva’s jumping elements get higher GOE than those of arguably the best jumper in ladies. Not to mention Trusova’s improved quality in program components not being reflected in the score.
On a side note, I hope there will be a similar discussion in Japan. Rika Kihira deserves better, too.
You’re absolutely not alone Evgeni! Admire your courage to stand up for the right, against unfair treatment to your skater- the one and only Sasha Trusova! I wasn’t her fan until this season – her improvement is unquestionably obvious and anyone who has pretended unable to notice that needs seriously to have a thorough cleansing of both their vision and mind.