SOCHI, February 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko refused to take part in men's short program. When taking the ice, he approached the referees and told them about his decision.

Some minutes earlier, Evgeni Plushenko injured his back during the warm-up, landing badly after a jump.

He underwent a serious surgery on spinal bones a year before the Sochi Olympics and was constantly feeling pain. Nevertheless, he made a huge contribution to Russia's victory in team figure skating event.

Plushenko stated that he quits his sports career.

 

Olympic gold in Sochi 2014

The 31-year-old figure skater struggled with back injuries over the past two skating seasons, but grabbed his second Olympic gold last week at the Sochi Olympics in figure skating team event. He won his first Olympic gold at the 2006 Winter Games in Italy's Turin.

Earlier, Plushenko's choreographer David Avdysh said in an interview: "Now everything depends on his well-being. Plushenko has been in this sport for so many years. He had hit highs and lows so many times! This is simply impossible for an ordinary person. In this respect he is unique."

February 10, president of Russia’s Figure Skating Federation Alexander Gorshkov said Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko would perform in the individual men’s figure skating event despite suffering from pains in the back.

“Yesterday, Plushenko complained a little about his back pain. His coach, Alexei Mishin, had mentioned it first, and Plushenko confirmed his words later, saying he was feeling certain discomfort in his back”, said Gorshkov.

The skater had tried hard to do his best in the team program, "managing to perform the basic men’s elements such as triple and quadruple jumps quiet well".

"However, his last two jumps were poorer, otherwise he would have scored higher," Gorshkov added. "All these moves allowed him to get quite high scores, which he deserved. I will refrain from making any forecasts and running ahead for medals remain to be won but there are no doubts Plushenko will participate in the individual event”, he said.

 

How Plushenko was appointed to represent Russia

January 22, Evgeni Plushenko was appointed as the sole representative of the Russian national team in men’s singles, as the country was given only one slot in this discipline. This was reported by the Russian Figure Skating Federation.