JAPAN AT THE OLYMPICS: Figure skating: Japanese trio predict free-for-all

Vancouver (AFP) - Japan's top male figure skaters, tasked to emulate their women compatriots in winning an Olympic medal, say they are facing a free-for-all at the Vancouver Winter Games. "The top 10 in the men's field are so close in their abilities that a single mistake can drastically change the standings," Nobunari Oda said on Wednesday after moving into Vancouver from his training base in the United States. Oda, 22, who won two Grand Prix events this season and finished behind world champion Evan Lysacek of the United States at the Grand Prix Final, added: "The top 10 skaters are all strong rivals." "It is impossible to predict the winner under a new judging rule," said Daisuke Takahashi, who beat Oda into second spot at the national championships on his comeback from knee injury which forced him to miss the 2008-2009 season. The new system, in place after the judging scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, awards accumulative points to elements, compared to the old maximum 6.0-point formula. Takahashi, the 2007 world silver medalist who has already trained in Vancouver for 10 days, named Lysacek as one of his rivals. "He is among my fellow contenders for the gold medal." The men's contest, beginning on Tuesday, is expected to be dominated by Russian reigning champion Yevgeny Plushenko who has been lured out of retirement by the dream of a second Olympic title. Takahiko Kozuka, 20, who finished runner-up to Plushenko at the Grand Prix in Moscow in October, said: "I have always aimed to skate clean in training. So I will do what I usually do and let the judges decide." Japanese men have yet to medal in the Olympic Games while Shizuka Arakawa won Asia's first Olympic figure skating title when she triumphed in the women's singles at the last Torino Games. In the women's contest in Vancouver, two former Japanese world champions Mao Asada (2008) and Miki Ando (2007) will challenge reigning champion and hot favourite Kim Yu-Na of South Korea. The Japanese men admitted that the quadruple jump, a high-scoring but technically demanding element, would be the key to the podium against the competition -- also including Olympic silver medallist Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland and world silver and bronze medalists Patrick Chan of Canada and Brian Joubert of France. "I know Plushenko and every other top skater will work in the quad," Takahashi said. "I have trained by imagining myself landing on a quadruple. If I don't do it, what I have done in the past season will be wasted."

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