Turin – Figure skating’s new idol had to pause before finishing his first comment. It wasn’t to cry, as silver medalist Stephane Lambiel did on the podium. It wasn’t to get sick, as America’s fourth-place Evan Lysacek almost did on the bus to the arena.
Evgeni Plushenko merely needed to exhale. Thursday marked the first time he could in about four years.
When you win three world titles and are the Olympic gold-medal favorite in a nation where figure skating ranks up there with baseball in Boston, breathing easy doesn’t come with the territory. So when Plushenko became the fourth consecutive Russian man to win Olympic figure skating gold, his exhale came across as a strong breeze clear to Vladivostok.
“I will tell you the truth,” he said. “This is my dream. I am so happy.”
Pause. Longer pause.
“Believe me, I am so happy.”
Plushenko, 23, has been the favorite to win here since about two nanoseconds after he took the silver behind rival Alexei Yagudin in 2002. Yagudin went off to “Stars on Ice,” while his protégé tried filling his massive skates. It looked easy, as Plushenko won the 2003 and 2004 world championships.
Then, last year, injury problems hit about the same time his hype reached new heights. Plushenko sent his massive fan base into depression by missing the world championships in Moscow with a bad groin on which he eventually had two operations. His wedding to a sociology student he met when he passed her in her convertible became a major news story last June.
The growing Russian media, quickly learning the capitalistic basics of the feeding frenzy, hounded his every step. He didn’t bother with last Friday’s opening ceremony, coming in late and saying not one word to the media.
Yet the pressure weighed no more than one more sequin on his jet-black outfit Thursday as he nailed the gold with another brilliant performance. All he really needed was to stay standing after building such a huge lead in Tuesday’s short program.
“Of course I feel the pressure,” Plushenko said. “I am first among a number of figure skaters in Russia. So of course it’s pressure all the time to be first, all the time to be in good shape.”
He did his best to relieve pressure Thursday. He slept five hours after practice, ate, went for a walk and watched the Russian hockey team beat Sweden 5-0. He was happy when he came to the rink.
Then, in track terms, he lapped the field. His personal-best 167.67 points in the free skate gave him a total of 258.33, walloping the 231.21 of Lambiel from Switzerland. World silver medalist Jeffrey Buttle of Canada, taking advantage of American Johnny Weir’s free-fall to fifth, shot up from sixth to take the bronze. Lysacek overcame the flu to place fourth.
Plushenko’s evening was more coronation than clutch. With a huge 10.66-point lead over Weir, Plushenko dummied down his program a bit, going with only one four-revolution quad instead of two.
Still, Plushenko didn’t exactly do the Montreal Canadiens’ footwork drill. He started his program with triple jumps in his first six elements, including a quad toe loop-triple toe loop to begin. He sailed through the routine with the predominantly Russian crowd waving Russian flags and clapping rhythmically during his circular step sequence.
His biggest flaw was turning a triple flip into a double, but the crowd knew it wasn’t enough as his music stopped and “ROO-SEE-AH! ROO-SEE-AH!” filled the air and a shower of teddy bears littered the ice.
“Four years ago was not my Olympic Games,” said Plushenko, who enjoyed the same victory lap he scornfully watched Yagudin take in Salt Lake City. “This Olympic Games was mine.”
The question is: Will the 2010 Vancouver Games be his? Plushenko will be only 27, and he hasn’t lost in two years. Thursday’s performance demonstrated the rest of the planet has some catching up to do.
“He’s pushed skating more than anyone I can think of,” Buttle said. “His consistency is incredible. To be on this podium is really an honor. This bronze medal means more than the silver last year without him competing.”
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
