Men's Free Skate - 2000 European Figure Skating Championships (US, ABC, Yagudin, Plushenko, Abt)

Vienna, AUSTRIA - 2000 European Figure Skating Championships, Men's Free Skate - Commentary by Robin Roberts and Peter Carruthers. The Qualifying Round was introduced last season to help dwindle down the field from the number of entries to 30 for the Short Program. However, most of the top-ranking skaters would skate their FS, but with fewer quads and triples just to make sure they place in the Top 15 (Top 15 from Group A & B advanced to the Short Program). Because of this, skating wasn't very exciting, so it wasn't a draw for the audience. To change that for the 1999/2000 season, the ISU decided to make the QR worth 20% of the overall score. By doing so, that forced the skaters to perform their FS with the planned number of triple and quad jumps so that the medal contenders wanted to place in the Top 3 in order to skate in the final group in the Short Program. The problem was, it skewed the results enough that placing in the Top 3 in the SP and the Free Skate won't necessarily guarantee the skater of a medal if they struggled in the QR. Also, why were there 25 skaters who advanced to the SP and FS? Back then the ISU would guarantee the host nation to have 1 spot in each discipline, should the skater(s) entered didn't qualify for the SP or FS. This way, they hope to draw in more host nation fans to watch on TV or attend the event.
SKATING ORDER
Aleksandr Abt Александр Абт (RUS) 4:00
Ivan Dinev Иван Динев (BUL) 10:41
Dmitri Dmitrenko Дмитро Дмитренко (UKR) 18:32
Evgeny Plushenko Евге́ний Плю́щенко (RUS) 24:40
Profile on Aleksei Yagudin (RUS) 32:35
Aleksei Yagudin Алексей Ягудин (RUS) 35:00
Interview with Evgeny Plushenko (RUS) 42:15
Interview with Aleksei Yagudin IRUS) 43:35
RESULTS:
Rank Name Nation TFP QA/QB SP FS
1 Evgeni Plushenko Russia 2.6 1 2 1
2 Alexei Yagudin Russia 3.0 1 1 2
3 Dmitri Dmitrenko Ukraine 5.6 2 3 3
4 Alexander Abt Russia 8.4 2 6 4
5 Ivan Dinev Bulgaria 9.6 3 4 6
6 Vitali Danilchenko Ukraine 12.0 5 5 7
7 Andrejs Vlascenko Germany 14.0 9 9 5
8 Stefan Lindemann Germany 15.6 6 7 9
9 Stanick Jeannette France 16.8 4 12 8
10 Vincent Restencourt France 17.0 3 8 11
11 Szabolcs Vidrai Hungary 19.8 8 11 10
12 Michael Tyllesen Denmark 20.6 4 10 13
13 Margus Hernits Estonia 22.8 6 14 12
14 Robert Grzegorczyk Poland 24.6 7 13 14
15 Gabriel Monnier France 27.2 8 15 15
16 Vakhtang Murvanidze Georgia 27.6 5 16 16
17 Sergei Rylov Azerbaijan 32.8 10 18 18
18 Matthew Davies United Kingdom 32.8 9 17 19
19 Michael Shmerkin Israel 33.4 11 20 17
20 Angelo Dolfini Italy 36.2 12 19 20
21 Kristoffer Berntsson Sweden 39.8 14 22 21
22 Patrick Schmit Luxembourg 41.0 13 23 22
23 Hristo Turlakov Bulgaria 42.0 10 25 23
24 Juraj Sviatko Slovakia 42.6 15 21 24
25 Christian Horvath Austria 48.8 16 29 25
Free Skating Not Reached
26 Lukáš Rakowski Czech Republic 15 24
27 Jan Čejvan Slovenia 12 26
28 Kevin van der Perren Belgium 11 27
29 Gheorghe Chiper Romania 13 28
30 Oscar Peter Switzerland 14 30
Short Program Not Reached
WD Patrick Meier Switzerland 7
32 Markus Leminen Finland 16
33 Maurice Lim Netherlands 17
33 Yon Garcia Spain 17
35 Aidas Reklys Lithuania 18
35 Panagiotis Markouizos Greece 18