Gladiator - Bratislava 2001

C : The man who's won this title twice before. Won it in 98, won it in 99. The world champion. He wants this European title back and he is gonna have to go some. He's capable of it! It's a WONDERFUL programme to the soundtrack of Gladiator ... Alexei Yagudin.

....music.......swoooooooon!!!...........

J : Coming into the first element in this long programme ... quadruple toeloop, triple toeloop and he's NAILED it!!

C : How do they do it! Well if this isn't skating under pressure I don't know what is.

J : And the second quadruple toeloop but not flawless.

C : Well I have to say, I think no matter what he does from here on in, it's second place.

J : Absolutely. (grrr....)

....setting up for the triple axel.....

C : OH NO!

J : It's definitely second place now. Speaking about that pressure Chris, I think it just go to him. A little bit of a wobble on the second quadruple toeloop and all of a sudden, it all goes to pot. But I'm sure he can get back on track ... triple flip, very nicely done ... and triple axel, triple toeloop!!

.....aaaah! the steps....

J : Step sequence into a triple loop!

....goosebumps! so many goosebumps!....there's the sword - KILL ME ALEXEI!!!!

J : He's working very hard in this programme. The choreography, the jumps, the spins. He's putting 110% into it.

....I am one giant goosebump....a crying goosebump at that...

J : Triple salchow - just hanging on to that landing! ... and doing the last triple lutz!

....CAN'T...STOP....SCREAMING! OHMYGOD!! THE STEPS!!!! I love how you can see his gang roaring him on from the side of the rink through this sequence

J : And now he can really sell this and he is ... superb!

...music ends....tears...cheers....

C : Well I really hope you're sensing the atmosphere here because there are tingles going up my spine! (he sounds like he's going to cry! aw bless!) It is unbelievable!! 7 triple jumps, 2 quads. JUST BRILLIANT!! It was hard work - and they love him! Now Joanne, I don't think he saw Plushenko skate.

.....slow motion replays....

J : No, I wouldn't imagine that he did. I would imagine that he was back in the changing room just composing himself, getting ready for his performance. I think he had a fantastic performance out there but he did miss a couple of things technically. Artistically, I think, you know we could see a few 6.0s again. But I do still think that Plushenko HAS to take the title.

C : That's the thing isn't it? Yagudin's gone out there and skated just ... phenomenally. He fought and fought and fought - and he's gonna be disappointed.

J : But that's the way the cookie crumbles Chris. (laughing - GRRRR!!) He hasn't seen Plushenko skate and Plushenko didn't put a foot wrong, he did 2 quads very, very nicely, triple axels, all the other triple jumps, good spins, good choreography. You have to give it where credit's due.

C :Oh yeah, I'm with you - I just feel for this guy because he's gonna be so disappointed when those marks come up. We're saying all this, we may be wrong! We have been before!

J : I was just thinking that - I was thinking "but hey, what do we know!"

.....in the kiss and cry....

C : What a NIGHT! I'm thrilled, thrilled. It's just a privilege to be sat here and watch skating of this calibre. I will not forget this night for as long as I live. Well, for me, the marks are incidental. It doesn't matter, first, second? It's gonna be second.

J : It has to be second. You know, he did make mistakes. As horrible as it is, he did make mistakes ...

C : WELL! Look at that! Two judges have him in first place! He can't believe it but he hasn't seen the performance of Plushenko. He knows he's done himself proud. He couldn't have tried any harder! Thank you very much Alexei Yagudin! You've made this a special night for me!

....excuse me while I go bawl my eyes out...sniff....