Question: Should the US media and it's readers/viewers be this disrespectful to Plushenko and to the Russian Federation?

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Answer #1:

He tried to make himself the darling of the olympics by saying that anyone that doesn't do a quad doesn't deserve an olympic medal. Even Lysenko didn't comment and went about his program quietly. He was not going to put a quad in his program and chance another injury. Last year he broke his ankle practicing quads. He pretty much called the American out and called him less of an athlete for not including the quad. After the Russian skated like you say shaky even though he successfully completed the quad it was evident that the American was going to win for elegance and consistency. Fast forward to after the medal ceremony there are pictures of the Russian skater displaying a better than gold platinum medal which he deserves because he can complete quads in his routine and he feels he should have garnered the gold medal. I am sorry but that Arrogance is more than I can tolerate. When the Americans beat the Canadians in hockey(the national past time) I did not see them brandishing a platinum medal because they love and play hockey harder than the Americans. The russian skater is the epitome of sore loser and disrespect . How dare he award himself his own medal. It's a slap in the face to all the other athletes that worked and trained so hard. The judges awarded the medal to the American. I believe he deserved it if just for the grace and dignity he carried himself. The russian carried on like the little kid that doesn't get picked for the team. It is not up to Elvis Stojko and Pleshenko to decide when olympic skating is changed.

Answer #2:

People are being disrespectful to HIM?
HE is the one who has been disrespectful. The poor sportsmanship displayed by Plushenko is *shameful*.
This is not the behavior of an olympic athlete; this is the behavior of a spoiled celebutard who insists he must always have his way.

Way to tarnish the end of your career, Plushenko. You will *forever* be remembered as the bratty little b*tch who lost in Vancouver and couldn't be a man and take it. What a total and compete loser.

Evan Lysacek's performance was CLEARLY the better performance. Yes, Plushenko did a quad, but that's only one move out of an entire routine. There is more to the performance than ONE move, and Plushenko can't get past that. Lysacek skated smoother, his routine was more intricate, and he landed his jumps PERFECTLY, while Plushenko looked clumsier.

The Olympic committee is EXTREMELY serious and protective about how their medals are used and displayed. I wouldn't be a BIT surprised if they strip him of his silver medal after this latest online stunt of his. And it would absolutely serve him right. Above everything else, the Olympics is supposed to be about sportsmanship, and Plushenko showed anything BUT. He deserves every bit of criticism he's getting. If he doesn't want criticism, then he shouldn't make a public spectacle of himself. He could have behaved graciously, but he decided to take the low road. I don't feel a bit sorry for him.

Answer #3:

'The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.'
--Alexander Pushkin

With regard to how the US media tends to cover the Olympics, the Cold War
is still going strong. The US media assumes that its coverage wil be of more
compelling interest to most Americans (few Americans seem interested in most
Olympic sports outside the Olympics) when presented as a dramatic story
with clearly defined heroes (Americans) and villains (Russians or Chinese).
Accordingly, like a Hollywood film, the US media likes to emphasize, if not also
exaggerate, the good points in its 'heroes' and the bad points in its 'villains'.

Evan Lysacek (who won the gold medal) has said that Evgeni Plushenko (who
won the silver medal) congratulated him without any apparent rancour shortly
after the 2010 Olympic men's figure skating competition had concluded.
Evan Lysacek did not seem to regard Evgeni Plushenko as unsportsmanlike,
at least not until he became aware of Plushenko's latest comments or actions.
(I don't know Evan Lysacek's current view of Evgeni Plushenko's conduct.)

But Americans should not complain that Evgeni Plushenko's comments that he
believes that he deserved the gold medal are an unprecedented example of poor
sportsmanship at the Olympics. At the 1972 Olympics, the USA men's basketball
team lost in the final game (which had a controversial finish) to the USSR team.
(Much wrongdoing has been alleged, but not proven, against the game's officials.)
The disappointed American basketball players refused to congratulate their Soviet
opponents, and they refused to accept their silver medals, boycotting the ceremony.
Most Americans of my acquaintance believe that the American basketball
team deserved to win the gold medal and was right to refuse the silver medal.
Most non-Americans of my acquaintance (including people from Western countries
considered friendly to the United States) believe that the American basketball
players were unsportsmanlike in boycotting the ceremony awarding the medals.
It's far from the only time that a questionable official decision has influenced the
outcome of an Olympic event. For example, at the 2004 Olympics, an American
'won' the gold medal in the men's all-around gymnastics only because an official
scoring error unfairly penalized the South Korean who received the silver medal.

Cold War bias often has influenced US media coverage of China as well as Russia.
In a dramatic comeback (out of retirement) story, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo
won the gold medal in pairs figure skating. In contrast to its coverge of the other
medals ceremonies in figure skating, as far as I know, US television decided not
to show the medals ceremony for the pairs event. Given the continuing Cold War
in some ways between the United States and China, would many Americans have
been upset by watching an Olympic ceremony with four Chinese athletes (who won
gold and silver medals), two Chinese flags, and hearing China's national anthem?

At the 1999 World Cup in women's football (soccer), the United States (the home
team) defeated China in a final match that was narrowly decided in a shoot-out.
Afterward, the American goalkeeper admitted in public that she had cheated on
purpose during the shoot-out, which seemed decisive in helping her team win.
I suppose that most American fans would be outraged if their national team had lost
such a historic match largely on account of another team's deliberate cheating.
But when I asked several Americans for their opinions of this admitted American
cheating, most of them just shrugged and said there was nothing really wrong
for an American intentionally to break the rules in order to defeat a Chinese.
Yes, I know this was not a scientific survey of American attitudes about cheating.





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