SOCHI, February 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian figure-skating coach Tatyana Tarasova said on Thursday she was not surprised that Evgeni Plushenko had decided to finish his sport career. Earlier on Thursday, Plushenko pulled out of men’s individual short program at the Sochi Olympics because of back injury.

“I understand Plushenko’s decision. In my time, I myself underwent a surgery. The fact that he managed to perform after the operation is an achievement,” Tarasova told Itar-Tass after Plushenko’s withdrawal from men’s short program. She said Plushenko had no reason to be sly.

“Had he performed his free program the way he skated in the team event, his marks would have also been high. An athlete cannot take any pain killer because many medicines contain agents that are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). I think that the decision to send Plushenko to Sochi was right but I hope that Maxim Kovtun will represent Russia at the next Olympics,” Tarasova said.