yags at national

[catija]

is it just me? or has yagudin never won the national title? i did a search but only came up w/ results until 2000.

[Debbie S]

No, he hasn't. He mentioned that in an interview right after he won his Oly gold medal. A couple of times, he was injured, and the others he was beaten by Plushenko. I remember Yags (or was it Tarasova?) complaining at one point that he didn't have support from his own federation, and that int'l judges liked him better than Russian judges. In fact, I think Tarasova said after the Olys that she was glad there was no Russian judge on the men's panel.

[Vash2003skate]

I don't know if Tarasova actually said that she was glad there was no Russian judge on the mens panel (where did you read/hear this?). If she did, it can have multiple interpretations and/or contexts. After the media frenzy over the pairs event, perhaps it was better not to have a Russian judge on the panel to start yet another similar discussion. She could have meant that. There were no two opinions about Yag's win at the Olympics, and having or not having a Russian judge on the panel would not have created a wrinkle. It is important to know what context that statement was made, if at all, by Tarasova. If she mean what you are suggesting/implying, I would not attach too much importance to it.

As far as Yags never winning the Russian nationals: it was not out of any personal problems with his fed. As someone said earlier, he was either injured or simply did not skate well enough to beat Plushenko when he did compete at his nationals. I would not create any conspiracy theories based on that.

Vash

[AndAllThatJazz]

Yes, it is as simple as that.
He didn't skate well and Plushenko did.
For some reason Yaguden and his coach
are making it look like he was cheated and he wasn't.