Tosca - Nice 2000

....The warmup .... a very wise camera man is keeping track of Alexei ...

S : Well, we don't want to get sexist about it but this is the moment that really matters for Chris and I in our weeks at World and European championships. This is the goosebump moment when you start sweating on your brow. You can almost reach out and catch the atmosphere. There is Yagudin. 1 minute to go in his warmup. There he is - the double World champion, looking for a 3 - timer here in Nice and he has been FAN - TAS - TIC (Alexei botches an attempt at a quad) ... he'll want to do better than that though - fantastic all week.

C : Tell you what, he's gonna NEED to be better than that because Li, while you were on the break did quadruple toe, triple toe combination, Plushenko did an AWEsome quadruple toe.

..... more warmup ... blah blah ....

S : There is Plushenko who beat Yagudin in Vienna for the first time in a major competition. Can he make it two in a row? My gut feeling is that he won't. And your gut feeling Maestro? (Simon was calling Chris "Maestro" all week because apart from the men's FP his predictions were spot on)

C : Yeah, I'd go with you. I'll stick my neck on the line and say it's gonna be Yagudin - Plushenko ........ Stojko.

S : I hate it but I'll go along with you!

.... warmup ends ... cut to Alexei being announced to the crowd while the camera focuses on Tatiana ....

S : There she is - she's guided him to so much success including two gold medals in the World championships. 98 in Minneapolis, 99 in Helsinki and he leads here in Nice going into the free programme. A new free programme too. Puccini's Tosca. And this is Alexei Yagudin from St. Petersburg.

.... cue drum roll ..... DA DAH!!! ...

S : The first jump is a quad / triple combination..... (with huge amazement in his voice ;lol) And he's JUST about landed it!!! The second one! Does it count!?

C : (equally astonished) It will count!! But it's incredible - I don't know where the three turns on that toeloop came from!! Quad toe, triple toe, in the bag.

S : Now in practice he's been going for another quad right here, on its own .... AND HE'S GOT IT!!! (I love the way you can see Tatiana clenching her fist in the background ) We've said it so many times before that this guy isn't just like us.

.... STRESS! .... NERVES!! ....

S : Now for the triple axel combination ... Now he didn't want to put the triple toeloop on the end - did the hand stay off the ice?

C : The hand stayed off the ice. And I don't blame him for not combining it - he's got another one coming up later on.

.... time for a visit to La-la-land....

S : Triple flip.

....dodgy landing on the triple axel, spins, puts a single toeloop on the end and grins at the judges - I love it!!

S : Ach! That was a triple axel on its own and it won't count because he wasn't able to put a second part in the combination.

C : Well, he put a single toeloop on the end so in theory ....

.... the panic! ... triple loop ... circular steps ... heading for heaven despite dodgy jumps ... here comes the triple salchow... hopefully

S : He's having to fight to land all these triple jumps. That was the triple salchow - normally he can do it in his SLEEP!!

.... spins ...swoon! ...die ...back to life ...just about ...you all know what I'm talking about ... here comes the last jump...

S : DOWN on the lutz! ... very late to put that in after four minutes ...

...steps..spins...ends...eek!!

S : Well! Difficult to know what to make of that. The brain is weary just like his is. Two quads, yes, five triples but some mistakes. One thing's for sure, he's left the door open for Plushenko. If Plushenko skates clean or nearly clean he's got it. But now I think that Plushenko's the likelier winner, at this moment.

C : What a conundrum. Goodness me! I wasn't expecting that at all. The fall on the lutz...the lutz, he does in his sleep. It's a SOLID jump for Yagudin.

S : I'll go back to the heat. You know, even for Yagudin, who as we've said is a superhuman guy...but that's testing even superhuman guys! After 4 minutes in this heat, in this hall, with all that going on around him, to put the lutz in then.

....up come all the slow motion replays...

C : Yeah, well I don't think....it could have been any triple jump. I don't think the fact it was a lutz is going to take any more energy out of him. I think he was getting tired towards the end of the programme. (gets really excited) He'd worked so hard because the landings weren't very good, he was fighting ALL THE TIME from start to finish and using extra energy all the time.

S : Yup, those eyes and knees were working overtime weren't they?

C : Totally, yup. He fought like crazy - didn't give anything up.

S : He might have done enough - (first triple axel on screen) - look at that, how close he was... the other thing you think is the triple axel. You think putting the single toeloop on the end of the second triple axel will count?

C : That'll count. I mean, it's only a single jump but it is a combination so ... (shows Tatiana as Alexei falls on the lutz) She knows...

S : She knows it's open now for Plushenko. Plushenko can take this, can easily take this. What's easy?! Heaven's sake, what's easy!!

C : Well there's an interesting factor that Yagudin was saying yesterday after the SP that there's nowhere to hide. You can't go anywhere in this building and not know what's going on. Plushenko will know now that the door is open and that could have an adverse affect.

S : Yes, he's heard too many groans not to be aware of what's happened.

....Kiss and Cry....marks come up....boos....

S : 5.4 from Laura McNair but she's gonna have him in first place. (Alexei does the "hand thing" ) She's been marking low all the way through. The second mark is going to be very, very high. Just looking down at the computer that's where he's scoring. But there's no doubt that he has left the door open for Plushenko on that first mark. In fact, I think they've been a little kind to him.

C : It's a wonderful programme and that's what's helped get that second mark going. The presentation is AWEsome.

S : Alexei Yagudin leads with one to go and here he is ...

...and we all know what happened next ...actually on watching this again it's amazing how grey Mishin's hair has gone in the last 2 years!!

...waiting for the medals to be presented they're chatting about all the "drama" and had this to say about our boy

C : But what about this guy? You have to credit the programme don't you?

S : Yes, you do. The programme, actually in the end probably saved him. The programme is SO good and credit to Tatiana Tarasova who's been with him the last couple of years.

C : And that triple toeloop out of NOTHING at the end of the quad. Quite phenomenal!!

S : Yes, it looked impossible. He almost turned around and reversed himself to get it in, didn't he?!

C : Well he had no speed coming out of the first jump whatsoever and still managed to get triple toeloop on the end. Just digging on all of his resources, all of his knowledge, his experience and his determination. A real fighter. That's the sign of a TRUE champion.

...Alexei is shown chatting to someone, maybe giving an interview (still waiting for those medals )

S : He's a lovely guy Alexei too and that's always helpful in what's been a difficult time.

C : Yeah it's funny. Today, everytime I walked past the area backstage where the skaters can relax and the press can go in, he's been on the pool table! You wouldn't think he was competing in a world championships. He's been joking around, as relaxed as ever. But when he gets out there he's totally focused on the job. Even though it didn't work, BOY! did he fight!

S : (sounding slightly amused) That's probably the worst performance he's put in, in the last two years in any championship and it's won him the world title!!

C : Yeah, I'd go along with that!!

S : So, we got the right winner, no doubt about that!