Today at 10:00 a.m. ET from Sochi, Russia, the hotly contested men's singles figure skating competition will get some deserving athletes on the podium. The competition continues today with the free skate portion, after yesterday's short program put Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu in pole position with a score of 101.45. Live stream today's action free by clicking this link.
The major storylines in men's figure skating out of Sochi yesterday were the withdrawal of Russian legend Evgeni Plushenko because of injury, and the courageous effort out of American Jeremy Abbot.
Plushenko, who had already announced the 2014 Games would mark the end of his illustrious career, was forced to pull out after he felt tremendous back pain during his warm ups.
"Today in the morning, I can't jump ... but I said to myself, 'Evgeni, you must skate. You must. You need two more days, the short and the long program,''' Plushenko said. "And I came on the warm-up and ... I felt it, like knife in the back.
"I think it's God saying, 'Evgeni, enough. Enough to skate. You did a lot of figure skating.'"
Abbot, on the other hand did compete. He rebounded admirably from a spectacular fall early in his routine as he attempted his first jump. Abbott landed hard on his hip before sliding into a wall.
"I'm not in the least bit ashamed," Abbott said. "I stood up and I finished that program and I'm proud of my effort and I'm proud of what I did under the circumstance." He should be proud, as he rose up and finished his routine for a score of 72.58, 15th in the field.
Yesterday's scores are combined with today's free skate numbers to determine the medalists, so Hanyu is in phenomenal shape. His otherworldly routine made him the first ever figure skater to surpass the 100-point mark.
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