Russia's Evgeni Plushenko edged American Evan Lysacek and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi to win the men's short program on Tuesday, setting an Olympic-record 90.85 points in a bid to defend his Olympic title.Back this season after a three-year retirement, the 27-year-old Russian skater put it all on the table in his skate to Concierto de Anranjez, kicking off his program with a quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination.Lysacek, who skated in the final flight of skaters, followed closely behind Plushenko, scoring 90.30 points for his skate to Firebird by Igor Stravinsky, while Takahashi rounded out the top-3 with 90.25 points.The reigning world champion in men's figure skating, Lysacek did not perform a quad jump, but skated a clean program including a triple Axel, a triple Lutz-tirple toeloop combination, and a circular step sequence that all received high Grade of Execution scores.Japan's Takahashi, also skating without a quad jump, performed a clean skate to Eye by Coba.Nobunari Oda of Japan was fourth, just six points behind Plushenko with a score of 84.85.Patrick Chan of Toronto didn't have the skate he was hoping for on Tuesday, finishing his short program almost ten points behind the leaders.Chan, 19, stepped out of a triple Axel and received a one-point deduction for continuing to skate after his music had ended. He scored 81.12 for his skate to Tango de los Exilados by Walter Taib and finished his evening in seventh place.
