2008

World Figure Skating  Championships

Men's Event

 

 

 

 
Final Standings
Place Skater Country SP FS
1 Jeffrey BUTTLE CAN 1 1
2 Brian JOUBERT FRA 6 2
3 Johnny WEIR USA 2 5
4 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 3 6
5 Stephane LAMBIEL SUI 5 7
6 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 9 3
7 Sergei VORONOV RUS 15 4
8 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 8 8
9 Patrick CHAN CAN 7 11
10 Stephen CARRIERE USA 11 9
11 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 14 10
12 Sergei DAVYDOV BLR 12 12
13 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 13 13
14 Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE 10 15
15 Tomas VERNER CZE 4 20
16 Karel ZELENKA ITA 17 16
17 Gregor URBAS SLO 18 14
18 Yannick PONSERO FRA 16 18
19 Yasuharu NANRI JPN 20 17
20 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR 21 19
21 Igor MACYPURA SVK 19 21
22 Jamal OTHMAN SUI 22 22
23 Chengjiang LI CHN 23 23
24 Abzal RAKIMGALIEV KAZ 24 24

For places 25 through 45 see the Short Program standings below.

 

Short Program

 
Starting Order - Short Program
  1. Tigran VARDANJAN
  2. Javier FERNANDEZ
  3. Danil PRIVALOV
  4. Peter LIEBERS
  5. Kutay ERYOLDAS
  6. Naiden BORICHEV
  7. Abzal RAKIMGALIEV
  8. Maxim SHIPOV
  9. Sean CARLOW
  10. Konstantin TUPIKOV
  11. Zoltan KELEMEN
  12. Justin PIETERSEN
  13. Anton KOVALEVSKI
  14. Tristan THODE
  15. Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS
  16. Mikko MINKKINEN
  17. Luis HERNANDEZ
  18. Elliot HILTON
  19. Michael CHROLENKO
  20. Manuel KOLL
  21. Igor MACYPURA
  22. Alexandr KAZAKOV
  23. Boris MARTINEC
  24. Kristoffer BERNTSSON
  25. Gregor URBAS
  26. Pavel KASKA
  27. Yasuharu NANRI
  28. Adrian SCHULTHEISS
  29. Chengjiang LI
  30. Karel ZELENKA
  31. Sergei VORONOV
  32. Jamal OTHMAN
  33. Yannick PONSERO
  34. Jeremy ABBOTT
  35. Stephen CARRIERE
  36. Sergei DAVYDOV
  37. Tomas VERNER
  38. Alban PREAUBERT
  39. Stephane LAMBIEL
  40. Johnny WEIR
  41. Jeffrey BUTTLE
  42. Daisuke TAKAHASHI
  43. Brian JOUBERT
  44. Patrick CHAN
  45. Takahiko KOZUKA
  46. Kevin VAN DER PERREN

 

Short Program Placements
Place Skater Country
1 Jeffrey BUTTLE CAN
2 Johnny WEIR USA
3 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN
4 Tomas VERNER CZE
5 Stephane LAMBIEL SUI
6 Brian JOUBERT FRA
7 Patrick CHAN CAN
8 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN
9 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL
10 Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE
11 Stephen CARRIERE USA
12 Sergei DAVYDOV BLR
13 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE
14 Jeremy ABBOTT USA
15 Sergei VORONOV RUS
16 Yannick PONSERO FRA
17 Karel ZELENKA ITA
18 Gregor URBAS SLO
19 Igor MACYPURA SVK
20 Yasuharu NANRI JPN
21 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR
22 Jamal OTHMAN SUI
23 Chengjiang LI CHN
24 Abzal RAKIMGALIEV KAZ
25 Alexandr KAZAKOV BLR
26 Michael CHROLENKO NOR
27 Pavel KASKA CZE
28 Boris MARTINEC CRO
29 Elliot HILTON GBR
30 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP
31 Mikko MINKKINEN FIN
32 Peter LIEBERS GER
33 Zoltan KELEMEN ROU
34 Maxim SHIPOV ISR
35 Sean CARLOW AUS
36 Luis HERNANDEZ MEX
37 Manuel KOLL AUT
38 Justin PIETERSEN RSA
39 Naiden BORICHEV BUL
40 Konstantin TUPIKOV POL
41 Tristan THODE NZL
42 Kutay ERYOLDAS TUR
43 Danil PRIVALOV AZE
44 Tigran VARDANJAN HUN
45 Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS LTU
DNS Alban PREAUBERT FRA


Jeffrey Buttle won the Short program with a clean refined skate to "Adios Nonino."  Known earlier in his career as a "second mark" skater, Buttle, won the Short Program on the sterngth of his well executed elements.  His program did not have the highest base value, but was still scored highest in TES, with no negative GoEs assigned by the judges.  His GoEs were mostly ones and twos, and he picked up 6.07 points on quality of execution.  His jumps consisted of triple flip - triple toe loop, a triple axel, and triple Lutz.  His spins and sequences were all called level 3 or 4.  His program compoent marks were in the mid to upper sevens.  High, but not the highest of the group, being scored sixth in PCS.

Hopes were running high for Johnny Weir, but he viewed at best as a long-shot to medal here.  He pleasantly exceeded expectations by placing second in the short with a very well skated performance,.  Only one elements was scored negative, a triple flip with an edge call.  He cleanly landed triple Lutz - triple toe loop, and triple Axel.  Except for the Lutz, his GoEs were mainly ones, with his spins and sequences called level 3 and 4.  In Program Components he was scored in the high sevens.  It was a good start to the event, however, only 1.67 points separate skaters two through five.

The favorite coming into the event, Daisuke Takahashi, placed third in the short.  He was scored best in PCS, but a near fall on triple Axel put him fourth in TES.  He cleanly landed triple Flip - triple toe loop and a triple Luts and nicely executed spins and sequences called level 3 and 4.  His GoE were mostly a mix of ones and and twos, with a handful of zeros and threes.  It was an energetic, fast performance of a hip hop orchestration of "Swan Lake."  His component marks were in the upper sevens to low eights.  He currently sits 1.7 points out of first place.

European Champion Tomas Verner placed fourth, with a solid performance, though with some choreographic weakness as he skated from jump to jump in the first three elements. He had an edge call in Triple flip - triple toe loop, which was scored at minus one.  The remainder of his elements were skated clean, including triple Axel and triple Lutz.  His spins and sequences were called level 3, except for flying sit spin which was called level 4.  In Program Components he was scored in the mid and upper sevens.  Though dismissed by Brian Joubert as a contender in a press conference earlier this week, Verner is just 0.53 points out of the medals.

Former World Champion Stephanie Lambiel attempted an ambitious program with a base value of 39.50 points.  It was a generally good stake. but he nearly sat down on triple Axel whihc was scored at minus 2, and on quad toe loop - triple toe loop he put a hand down on the quad was under-rotated the triple.  The remainder of the program was scored with GoEs of ones and twos, with the spins and sequences called level 3 and 4.  He had the third highest PCS of the group with component marks in the mid to upper sevens.  Currently in fifth place, he is 1.28 points out of the medal.

Also a favorite, and THE favorite in his mind, gave a well skated, energetic performance to "All for You."  The cut received a controversial music deduction from the referee, Fabio Bianchetti.  The music has been used twice before this season without deduction, and the controversy has reanimated discussion whether vocal music should be allowed in singles and pairs the way it is in ice dancing.  The deduction was protested by the French Federation, and turned down by the ISU.

Joubert landed a fine quad toe loop - triple toe loop combination, and triple Axel, but then fell on triple Lutz.  His spins and sequences were scored with GoEs of mainly ones with some two; however they were called at level 2 and 3 compared to levels 3 and 4 for the higher places skaters.  He was scored second best in PCS, with component marks in the mid to upper sevens.  He is currently 4.35 points out of first place and 2.65 points out of the medals.  This is a deficit that can potentially overcome as he has three quad jumps planned for his free skate.

Stephan Carriere had a decent, moderately fast skate to "Stairway to Heaven."  He missed two jump elements, with a hand down on triple Axel, and a poor landing on the toe loop in a triple flip - triple toe loop combination.  The remainder of the elements were clean and scored with zero and one GoEs. His component marks were in the low to mid sixes.  He currently sits in eleventh place.

Jeremy Abbot placed 14th in the short, with a careful, restrained, but still controlled, performance to "Treat" by Carlos Santana.  He landed a respectable quad toe loop - double toe loop combination, but then popped triple Axel to a single.  Later in the program he landed a clean triple Lutz.  His spins and sequences were called level 2 through 4 and scored with mainly ones for GoEs.  The low levels of his spins and steps put him eight points back in base value behind the leaders.  His component marks were in the mid to upper sixes.

 

Jeffrey Buttle

Free Skating

 
Starting Order - Free Skating
  1. Abzal RAKIMGALIEV
  2. Chengjiang LI
  3. Igor MACYPURA
  4. Anton KOLALEVSKI
  5. Yasuharu NANRI
  6. Jamal OTHMAN
  7. Adrian SCHULTHEISS
  8. Yannick PONSERO
  9. Gregor URBAS
  10. Karel ZELENKA
  11. Jeremy ABBOTT
  12. Kristoffer BERNTSSON
  13. Sergei VORONOV
  14. Sergei DAVYDOV
  15. Kevin VAN DER PERREN
  16. Patrick CHAN
  17. Takahiko KOZUKA
  18. Stephen CARRIERE
  19. Tomas VERNER
  20. Johnny WEIR
  21. Daisuke TAKAHASHI
  22. Stephane LAMBIEL
  23. Brian JOUBERT
  24. Jeffrey BUTTLE

 

Free Skating Placements
Place Skater Country
1 Jeffrey BUTTLE CAN
2 Brian JOUBERT FRA
3 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL
4 Sergei VORONOV RUS
5 Johnny WEIR USA
6 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN
7 Stephane LAMBIEL SUI
8 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN
9 Stephen CARRIERE USA
10 Jeremy ABBOTT USA
11 Patrick CHAN CAN
12 Sergei DAVYDOV BLR
13 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE
14 Gregor URBAS SLO
15 Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE
16 Karel ZELENKA ITA
17 Yasuharu NANRI JPN
18 Yannick PONSERO FRA
19 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR
20 Tomas VERNER CZE
21 Igor MACYPURA SVK
22 Jamal OTHMAN SUI
23 Chengjiang LI CHN
24 Abzal RAKIMGALIEV KAZ

Johnny Weir


 


 The Men's final went from the ridiculous to the sublime, all in one warmup.  Skating last, Jeffrey Buttle decisively won the Free Skate to return to the Worlds podium for the first time since 2005.  The 2006 Olympic bronze medalist crushed the competition.

The warmup began, however, with Thomas Verner, the European champion, wiping up the ice in a dismal performance.  The high point of his performance was an opening quad toe loop on which he put his hand down -- the first of seven elements with errors.  In addition to the quad he landed two triple jumps.  He fell on an attempt at a second quad toe loop, was downgraded on a triple Axel, and popped three jumps to singles.  With all these errors, which completely disrupted the program, his PCS was still nearly 70 points; the third highest of the Free Skate.  One can only wonder what the panel was smoking during that performance.

Next up, Johnny Weir opened with a quad toe loop attempt.  The landing was two footed, and the jump downgraded.  This was the only element in the program with a major error. On triple loop he had to hold onto the landing for dear life, and had another poor landing edge on triple Lutz.  A solo triple flip had an edge call.

The program started slowly and did not start to look secure until after his second triple Axel at element 4.  The second half of the program, however, was skated confidently.  His component marks were in the mid sevens, giving him a PCS that was only fifth best.

Following his skate, Weir was the leader in the event, but his point total of 221.84 points did not look like it would be high enough to hold on for a medal.

Weir was followed by Daisuke Takahashi, who was third in the short, and one of the favorites for the gold.  Takahashi landed a high, clean opening quad toe loop that was scored with GoEs of ones and two.  He then proceeded to melt down and make major errors on three jump elements.  He also had a major brain seizure near the end of his program by improvising a triple Lutz - double toe loop combination which counted as a fourth combination/sequence.  That zeroed out the points for that elements and cost him the bronze medal.  He fell on his second quad toe loop attempt and had a near fall on one of two triple Axels.  Despite the technical errors he skated with speed, and managed to keep the overall flow of the program going.  He was scored third best in PCS, with component marks in the mid to upper sevens.  He ended up in fourth place, 1.73 points behind Weir.

Next to skate, Stephane Lambiel, the 2005 and 2006 World champion, also made a mess of his program.  Five jump elements were scored negative.  He missed two quad toe loop attempts, one of which was downgraded.  Triple Axel, loop and flip also had major errors.  This was another program where the errors disrupted the performance and yet the component marks remained in the mid to upper sevens.  Even with this help, he still placed seventh in the Free Skate and was out of the running for a medal.  With Weir still in first place at this point, he was assured of at least the bronze medal, and the U.S. escaped the humiliation of not winning a single medal at Worlds.

Lambiel was then followed by Brian Joubert.  Joubert correctly realized that if he skated clean the gold could be his.  But he also arrogantly dismissed the possibility that Jeffery Buttle could win without a quad.  So not only did he skate conservatively, he dumbed down his program to a dangerous extent.  He had three quads planned in the program but after landing the first one, he left out the next two.  On his second element he executed triple Salchow instead of a quad. He replace a second quad toe loop with a triple flip - triple toe loop combination, and his final combination, planned as triple Salchow - double toe loop - double loop, was executed as double Axel - single toe loop.  His program was well skated, with the highest PCS of the Free Skate, and component marks in the upper sevens and low eights.  Only two elements were scored negative, both due to triple flips which had edge calls.

Joubert was the leader in the overall score with only Buttle left to skate, and he surely must have thought the championship was his as he kissed the ice at the end of his performance.  But as it turned out, it wasn't

Buttle, who in recent years has developed the reputation of being a "short program" skater, did a masterful job in the Free Skate.  He skated a clean program with eight triple jumps, including two triple Axels and a triple flip - triple toe loop combination.  His GoEs where mainly ones and twos, picking up nearly 10 points over base value compared to Joubert, who earned not quite six points over base value, and a lower base value at that.  His TES was a phenomenal 84.29 points -- particularly considering it was done without a quad. In PCS he was scored second best, but by only 0.58 points behind Joubert.  His component marks were in the high sevens to low eights.

Following his victory Buttle was beaming the rest of the night.

Stephen Carriere moved up from eleventh in the Short Program to ninth in the Free Skate to place tenth overall.  Together with Weir's third place finish this was good enough for the U.S. to retain three spots for next year's World Championships.

Carriere had a generally decent skate with five clean triples, including two triple Axels.  But after element eight a good program started to south.  He fell on triple Lutz and put a hand down on triple Loop.  He then had a brain seizure of his own, adding a double toe loop to his closing triple Salchow, for a fourth combination which was zeroed out for points.  Canadian Patrick Chan had the identical brain seizure which cost him points for the identical element.  What part of "no more that three combinations or sequences" is not clear?

Jeremy Abbott, the last minute replacement for the injured Evan Lysacek, placed tenth in the Free Skate and eleventh overall.  Abbott opened with a fine, effortless looking quad toe loop, but five subsequent jump elements were scored negative.  He stepped out of one triple Axel and fell on another.  He also fell on his last jump element, a triple Salchow.  His component marks were in the mid to upper sixes.

Jeffrey Buttle

 

2008 Worlds Men's Medalists

 

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