VANCOUVER — The Emperor is back, fully clothed save for the third Olympic medal that will soon be draped around his neck.

The only mystery is its colour, and a betting man would surely go with gold.

Russian superstar Evgeni Plushenko is better than ever, reeling off a stunning quad in combination to open an awe-inspiring short program Tuesday at Pacific Coliseum. He was worth all the hype and perhaps even the grossly inflated marks at the Rostelecom Cup and Russian nationals that fuelled his celebrated return from a three-year retirement to this Grand Prix season. His Olympic record score of 90.85, though not a season high, was just enough to lead the field of 24 men who qualified to skate Thursday's long program.

"The most important thing is to skate decently," Plushenko said. "I'm very pleased with my jumps today. I was able to keep my nerves under control."

And surely contributed to the nervousness of others, given that he skated so early and set the bar so high. Only American Evan Lysacek and Daisuke Takahashi of Japan skated clean and strong enough, though without quad, to nearly match it. And that's really all they could hope for, to be close. Lysacek scored 90.30 and Takahashi 90.25, scores bolstered by fabulous component marks for choreography, skating skills and interpretation, the very things that whack Plushenko.

"My program was not perfect but it's the best program I've done this season," said Takahashi. "The

artistic side of my program was good too."

Not so for Canada's Patrick Chan, who was off his game and is well out of the podium picture. He stumbled twice, early out of his triple Axel and again late in a step sequence. He also missed the end of his music and the faults left him with just 81.12 points in seventh place, too far behind to be considered a contender now. Vaughn Chipeur of Lloydminster, Sask. had his troubles and qualified well down the list.

American Jeremy Abbott, considered a contender, popped a triple Axel and doubled a planned triple Lutz and scored a dismal 69.40. He's done too.

Because Plushenko's slim lead is likely only to grow Thursday, with eight jumps on order and the Russian master planning two quads. He will not make it easy for anyone who isn't prepared to match him jump for jump over more than four minutes of battle. That's his game. His agenda.

"Without quadruples, I don't know, sorry, but it's not men. It's not men's figure skating," he said.

Plushenko's program-opening mastery of the quad toe, triple toe combination scored a whopping 14.8 points. His triple Axel was worth a perfect 10.0. He skated 10th only because retirement sapped his world ranking points, and his total made a mockery of the first half of the event, leaving him 15 points clear of the field until his closer rivals showed up.

"It's third Olympic Games for me and I skated not bad. I agree with points today," he said. "It's never to be easy. If somebody going to say, today I'm not nervous or I skate easy, I'm not tired. That's not right. I'm not going to believe him. All the time it's hard and of course for me it's hard because I did not skate (during retirement)."

He still skates like nobody else in the world, with the jumping power ingrained in him over more than a decade by coach Alexei Mishin. Retirement diminished none of his jumps' height and majesty. Sure, he skips the fancy footwork in between, and that gives hope to the men without quads. If they're clean, they're close, but that's as much a risk as tackling the quad and failing.

Which is exactly what French star Brian Joubert did. He fell on a triple Lutz and stumbled out of a quad toe, botching his combination. His 68-point skate eliminates him from the conversation yet again.

"These Games have beat me," Joubert said. "I just can't do it at the Olympic Games. Every time it goes badly. I can't explain it."

Swiss veteran Stephane Lambiel's return from injury was not solid either as he started with a double Axel, only to have his clumsy exit from a following quad toe limit him to a double toe on the back end.

The score of 84.63 was justified and left him with few podium hopes. Dashed too are those of Japan's Nobunari Oda, who was only average at 84.63, American Johnny Weir who was engaging but limited to 82.10 and Japan's Takahiko Kozuka at 79.59.

Plushenko towers over all of them. He has apparently lost none of his regal bearing in retirement and in fact gained some perspective.

"I will take any result," he said, somehow summoning modesty. "You know I have silver medal, I have gold medal and if I am third here or second or fifth, I will take the result. I just enjoy it. Of course I am nervous today. It's Olympic Games and every time at Olympic Games it's hard to skate, it's hard to compete."

But it's also thrilling for a man who knows he can win every single competition. Domination on a grand scale can lead to complacency, and perhaps that's why he retired. Well, that or the Russian rock star life he wanted to exploit for all it was worth. The guy certainly didn't come back for the money.

"It's not about being rich," said his agent Ari Zakarian. "He's a wealthy guy. Whatever he wants he has it. He has fame, family, close friends. He has a lot of respect in the nation of Russia. For him it means just proving to himself and doing what he likes to do."

He may also feel a need to do it now. There is pressure on him to heat up this tepid start to Russia's Olympics, a meek opening that included Monday's shocking, history-making podium shutout in pairs skating.

"Russia is not doing that well at the Olympics. He knows the whole nation is watching," said Zakarian.

"He skates for his wife, for his country, his coach, his choreographer."

And for himself.

"This is his place. He's like a fish in water," said Zakarian. "Throw a fish into water, the fish feels himself. Comfortable."

In his new clothes, which are just like his old clothes.

Canada's Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, who sat in sixth place after the short program, failed to ignite Monday night, scoring 121.75 in the freeskate which, while a new season best for the pair, wasn't enough to bring home a medal. To be fair, it would have taken a superhuman effort to win gold as China's Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao delivered a nigh-flawless routine to take gold.

China's other power pair, Qing Pang and Jian Tong, led the competition right until the last skate when their countrymen took over. Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolokowy took bronze.

Dube and Davison finished in sixth place, and Canada's Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay, who were seventh after the short program, also came up short despite a season best score. They notched 115.77 in the free skate and 64.20 in the short program - good for ninth.

The leaders in the competition coming into the free skate, Shen and Zhao reached another level entirely in the free skate, with only one minor slip keeping it close.

Four gold medals will be awarded in singles and pairs figure skating events over the course of ten days of competition.

The Canadian figure skating medal contenders are Patrick Chan, Vaughn Chipeur, Cynthia Phaneuf, Joannie Rochette and pairs Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison; Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay; Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir; and Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier.

The full schedule for figure skating is (all times are in Pacific Standard Time Zone):

Tue Feb 16, 2010

Thu Feb 18, 2010

Fri Feb 19, 2010

Sun Feb 21, 2010

Mon Feb 22, 2010

Tue Feb 23, 2010

Thu Feb 25, 2010

Sat Feb 27, 2010

Figure skating and short track speed skating competitions are being held at the Pacific Coliseum, on Vancouver's East Side. Built in 1968, the Pacific Coliseum has a seating capacity of 14,000, and used to be the home of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team.