The more things change the more things stay the same. Right when figure skating was starting to look as if it was getting past it's judging issues along came last night's men's short program.
Of the top men Evan Lysacek was the first to step on to the ice. He skated cleanly, rotating all of his jumps and turned in a truely great performance. He was beaming as he left the ice. His skate earned him a 82.70 and a standing ovation.
Brian Joubert, the 2007 World Champion, was clearly not as happy about his skate. The French-man put his hand down on his quad and wobbled the landing of the triple portion of the combination. His artistry simply didn't match up against Lysacek so surely he would be in second place. But hold on that isn't how the judges saw it, they awarded Joubert a 84.40. Not good.
Patrick Chan was the last to skate of the big 3 and with a program that earned him over 88 points last month at the Four Continents he look poised to take over the lead. With beautiful jumps, spins, and footwork Patrick skated an amazing program. But once again the skating demons hit and Patrick received 82.55. What? Excuse me how is that even possible? How is it possible that Brian received higher program component scores then Patrick and Evan with that program?
Wasn't the new judging system designed to rid us of this?
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