Brian Joubert has dazzled even his critics with occasionally spine tingling athletic brilliance matched with artistic conceptions well inside the legendary scope of virtuosity in artistic figure skating.
Joubert has handled many European meets capably and emerged as the one to beat in a axis of European recovery after many years of dominance over the sport from Russia, the United States, Japan, and even Canada. Joubert may not be the competitive match for Evgeny Plushenko in his prime, unless Joubert develops a clean quad he can land in international competition amid the pressure of Olympics finals.
Joubert presents a medium build, youthful appearance with a creative line and traditional skating choreography in his routines. Joubert may have some fan base in Canada, and may be favored over the sometimes egocentric-seeming Russian skater Evgeny Plushenko. Joubert’s medal contention against a talented troika of Americans will have less weight with Plushenko leading the field in Vancouver. Joubert skating at his best can only win with surprise choreography and stunning crowd appeal, not likely to happen in the crunch with this skater.
Born in 1984, Joubert has a whimsical exuberance to his best performances that delivers a lot of entertainment when he its his jumps. The 2000 debut of Brian Joubert as a junior had high hopes of translating into a prominent Seniors career. Finishing 6th at the 2002 Olympics, Joubert has won various European and ISU Skating Grand Prix events, although within a limited sphere of contenders. Joubert has mixed choreographers and trainers with results dimmed by injury.
Brian Joubert broke onto the world scene after the usual years of training. His 2004 “Matrix’ program set the skating world on fire. but the strong musicality Joubert expresses tends to look the same throughout his body of work. The performance in “Love is All Around”, the Daft Punk exhibition, the James Bond routine, and the Metallica ode have the same stepping sequence, the appeal to the crowd in broad strokes, the spins and the arch gestures that seem somewhat generalized for an in depth musical statement. Injuries, coaching changes and illness have staggered his participation and showing in skating events worldwide the last five or six years.
As a child recovering from a kidney threatening disease, Joubert got into skating with his sisters. His biography “Fire on ice” reflects his status as a French sex symbol and cultural favorite. Brian Joubert is a strong French national champions and a good entry for the European group of countries to an Olympics, but his skating lacks the twisting and jumping mastery of Plushenko or the grace and elegance of Lysacek at their best. Joubert’s main rival is Stephan Lambiel of Switzerland, whose workmanlike appeal formed a principal European showing against him.
Vancouver Olympics Placement Estimation:
A possible bronze medal if Joubert skates clean and injuries and nerves elsewhere play up in Vancouver. If Joubert can land his quad toe loop and a series of salchow triples, he might factor in the new points system to medal in Vancouver.
Dream Routine: Three Musketeers theme in true French style.
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