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Evgeni Viktorovich PlushenkoA more accurate transliteration is Plyushchenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time European champion (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012), a four-time Grand Prix Final champion (1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05), and a ten-time Russian national champion (1999–2002, 2004–2006, 2010, 2012–2013). Plushenko's four Olympic medals once tied with Sweden's Gillis Grafström's record for most Olympic medals in figure skating, which has since been surpassed by Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue. He also won a record total of 22 titles on the Grand Prix circuit.
A 1998 graduate of school No. 91 in Petrogradsky District, he began studying at the in 2000, graduating in 2005, and at the Faculty of tourism and hospitality of the Saint Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics in 2004.
His surname is most commonly romanized as Plushenko but other variations exist. The Cyrillic script shcha ("щ") may be transliterated as 'shch' (scholarly šč), but the simplified variant 'sh' is often used for convention. The letter "ю" is pronounced "yu", so a more accurate transliteration would be "Plyushchenko". His given name is romanized as Evgeni or Yevgeny.
Plushenko made quick progress on the international scene. He became the youngest ever World Junior Champion and World medalist at age 14, winning the 1997 World Junior Championships. The following year, at age 15, he won the bronze medal at the 1998 World Championships.
Plushenko had a very successful 2000–01 season, winning every event he entered, including his first World title.
Plushenko won most of the competitions he entered in the following four years. He finished second only twice. The first time was to Emanuel Sandhu at the 2003–04 Grand Prix Final for misunderstanding the new ISU Judging System which was now in use. The second was the 2004 European Championships, where he lost to Brian Joubert. He had a difficult 2004–05 season. At the 2005 World Championships in Moscow, Russia, an injury forced him to withdraw after the short program. He eventually required groin surgery. He underwent surgery to correct the problem in Munich, Germany in spring 2005.
Going into the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Plushenko was the overwhelming favorite because of his past success under the new judging system. Plushenko skated two solid programs and became the Olympic champion. He finished the short program ten points ahead of his closest rival, setting a new ISU record for the short program. His free skating was just as strong, and also set a new ISU record. Plushenko's free skating music was specially arranged for him by violinist Edvin Marton.
After seeing the poor results of Russian skaters at the 2007 World Championships (the worst since 1960), Plushenko was worried about Russia losing its status as a dominant force in figure skating, and was also concerned that Russia might even lose confidence for its skaters for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He announced in April 2007 that he decided to return to competitive skating for the 2007–08 season to keep Russia at a competitive level with other countries until the next generation of Russian skaters could take over but a return to the ice did not materialize. Plushenko also stated that he planned to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In 2008, Plushenko, together with violinist Edvin Marton, accompanied Dima Bilan on stage as part of the winning Eurovision Song Contest performance "Believe" in Belgrade, Serbia. Plushenko skated on stage as part of the performance.
Plushenko led the short program in his return to skating at the 2009 Cup of Russia on 23 October 2009. He earned 82.25 points for the short, and won the free skating with a score of 158.40. Overall, he won the gold in his comeback with a total of 240.65 points.
In December 2009, Plushenko signed a partnership agreement with the international management agency FlashLight led by the sports agent Andreas Goller.
At the 2010 Russian Championships, Plushenko earned 100.09 points for his short program. He received 171.50 points in the free skating to win his eighth Russian Championship with 271.59 points.
At the 2010 European Championships, Plushenko set a new world record score in the short program by scoring 91.30 points, and went on to win the event for a sixth time with a total score of 255.39 points.
He skated at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and received a score of 90.85 for his short program performance, breaking the Olympic record and leading all competitors. Following his skate, Plushenko said "Without a quad it's not men's figure skating. I will do the quad in any case. I believe that the quad is the future of figure skating. The quad is necessary, that is my opinion."
Plushenko finished second in the free skating and second overall, ultimately winning the silver medal with a total score of 256.36, 1.31 points behind the winner Evan Lysacek. In the free skating, he landed a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination but left a planned double loop out of a combination jump. He and Lysacek received a similar total score for program components, but Plushenko had a lower total technical elements score than Lysacek. He said of the gold medal winner, Evan Lysacek, "I think we need to change the judging system – a quad is a quad. If an Olympic champion doesn't do a quad, well I don't know..." In an interview to Russian newspaper Izvestia, Plushenko brought attention to the fact that, following his short program, three judges placed him 21st and 22nd for skating skills. He said, "Strangely, the computer did not drop any one of the three. But what it did instead was to drop those judges who awarded me first place. Under the current system, if this is the way judges' marks are awarded, you can win, and you can just as equally lose. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to criticize the new rules, they are not bad. But they do need further refinement." He also expressed dismay over the Russian Figure Skating Federation not standing up for one of their athletes. "After the short program, I should have had at least a 5 point lead over my competitors. In the end, however, the gap amounted to a mere 0.55 to which our Federation did not react at all." Russian skating champion Irina Rodnina said that although she had hoped Plushenko would win, Lysacek had a stronger overall performance. At the same time, some well-known Russian skaters and coaches said they supported Plushenko and believe he deserved the gold medal. Among them were figure skater Elvis Stojko and the coaches Reinhardt Ketterer, Tatiana Tarasova, and Galina Zmievskaya. During the medal ceremony, Plushenko who felt that his free skate performance was strong enough for gold, stepped on the top level of the podium on his way to the runner-up level, considered by some to be unsportsmanlike. Plushenko's website afterwards proclaimed "Silver of Salt Lake", "Gold of Torino", and "Platinum of Vancouver", with the platinum medal claim being removed after ridicule by critics. Evgeni Plushenko's PLATINUM Medal: Skater's Web Site's Bizarre Claim (PHOTOS) Coach: Plushenko was 'robbed' of gold - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports Following the Olympic medal ceremony, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sent Plushenko a telegram, congratulating him on the wonderful Olympic performance and saying his silver was worth gold. On March 24, 2010 Siberian jewelers decided to award Plushenko a special medal weighing more than half a kilo of pure gold.
Plushenko became the only living single skater to have won medals at three Olympics. He withdrew from the 2010 World Championships citing injury.
Plushenko skated in ice shows around the world while continuing to train for a possible return to competition by practicing quad Salchows and quad loops. In April 2011, he sent a letter to the Russian figure skating federation president, Aleksandr Gorshkov, seeking reinstatement. Plushenko said he hoped the ban was not a retaliation of his criticism of the judging at the Olympics and that he would like to return to competition with a clean slate. Although he said he would have liked to compete at the 2011 World Championships if the ban had been lifted, he did not feel he would have been ready due to lost training time as a result of injury. On 12 June 2011, it was announced that the ISU had reinstated him by a unanimous vote.
In December 2011, Plushenko competed at the 2012 Russian Championships. He won the short program with a score of 88.24 and then won the free skating with a score of 171.43, to win his ninth national title. He was named to the Russian team for the 2012 European Championships, although he had not competed internationally recently enough to have the minimum technical elements scores (20 in the short program, 35 in the free). The Russian figure skating federation asked the ISU to allow him to compete, with Aleksandr Gorshkov saying that the minimum scores were designed to filter out weak skaters. In January 2012, the ISU released a statement confirming that Plushenko had been allowed to participate in the 2012 European Championships. On 26 January 2012, Plushenko confirmed that he would undergo additional surgery on his meniscus after the competition and would be unable to compete at the 2012 World Championships.
Plushenko competed at the 2012 European Championships, his first international competition since 2010. He earned a score of 84.71 for his short program and a personal-best score of 176.52 for free skating. His overall competition score of 261.23 points was also a personal best and earned him his seventh European title. He became only the third men's skater to capture seven European titles and the only one to do so in modern history. He is surpassed only by two skaters from the early history of the sport, Sweden's Ulrich Salchow, who won nine titles from 1898 to 1913, and Austria's Karl Schafer, who won eight from 1929 to 1936. In a post-Europeans interview, Plushenko said that he had not planned to compete after 2010 but found he missed the adrenaline of competition. He underwent surgery on his left knee to clean up the meniscus and repair a cartilage on 23 February 2012 in Germany. In February 2012, Plushenko also mentioned a back problem due to spinal disc herniation. It was later determined that back surgery would not be necessary. Mishin clarified that Plushenko was in good health overall.
Plushenko withdrew from the 2013 European Championships after the short program due to his back problem. He underwent surgery on 31 January 2013 in Tel Aviv, Israel to replace a spinal disk with a synthetic one.
On 7 November 2013, Plushenko returned to competition at the 22nd Volvo Open Cup in Riga, Latvia where he won the gold medal with an overall score of 263.25 points. He landed a 4T, 3A, 3A-3T in the free skating and obtained the minimum TES needed to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics. He had one Grand Prix assignment, the 2013 Rostelecom Cup, but withdrew due to a minor knee injury. At the 2014 Russian Championships, Plushenko placed first in the short program and second in the free skating. He finished second overall behind Maxim Kovtun, his first loss at Nationals since placing third in 1998.
On 22 January 2014, it was announced that Plushenko had been awarded Russia's men's spot for the 2014 Winter Olympics. It was his fourth Olympics appearance. Offered the opportunity to be Russia's flagbearer, he said it was a great honor but he could not accept due to the competition schedule.
At the 2014 Winter Olympics, Plushenko competed in both the short and free skating segments of the team figure skating competition. He placed second in the short program with a personal best score of 91.39 behind Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. He placed first in the free skating portion with a score of 168.20, garnering 19 points for his team. Russia won gold, ten points ahead of Canada who got silver. This was Plushenko's second Olympic gold medal, giving him a total of four Olympic medals, and he became one of the oldest figure skating Olympic champions. This tied him with Sweden's Gillis Grafström for the record of the most Olympic medals by a figure skater, since surpassed by the ice dance team of Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue. This was also Russia's first gold at the games.
After struggling with a back injury during practice, Plushenko decided to withdraw from the men’s singles competition following his pre-short program warm up on 13 February 2014. Plushenko's withdrawal was after the Sunday deadline to name a replacement which left Russia without an entry in men's singles.
It was announced shortly after that Plushenko would be retiring from competitive skating, but was "not ruling out" the possibility of returning for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. On 2 March 2014, Plushenko announced that he was going to have another back surgery citing a snapped pin in his back, and ended any plans for a return to professional competition.
He was the coach of Adelina Sotnikova, Russia's controversial 2014 Olympic champion, from April 2017 until she retired in 2020. He is also the coach of Stanislava Konstantinova and Ekaterina Ryabova.
Former students include:
Evgeni Plushenko has won four Olympic medals, which, at the time, tied with Gillis Grafström's record for most Olympic medals in figure skating. Plushenko is known for his dynamic performances, and technical advancement of the sport.
Plushenko is the first male skater to perform the Biellmann spin in the senior competitions. At the 1999 NHK Trophy, he became the first skater to perform a 4T–3T–2Lo combination in competition. He has since landed the combination 26 times. Plushenko is also the first to land 4T–3T–3Lo and 3A-1Lo-3F in competition. He first landed the combination at the 2002 Cup of Russia and has since landed it four times. He is the first skater to complete the 3A-3F combination.
Plushenko is also the first to perform a 3T–3T–3Lo–2Lo combination, which he first did at the 2001 ARD Gala. At the 2006 Russian Championships, he landed a six jump combination (3T–3T–2Lo–2Lo–2Lo–2Lo) in his exhibition program. He performed a 3A-3T-3Lo combination at the exhibition finale of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Plushenko has consistently landed 4T in competitions and landed a 4S in Samara, Russia during the 2004 Russian Cup series. It is estimated that he has landed a total of about 100 quads in competition.
Plushenko has worked on and landed 4Lo and 4Lz in practice, but has never completed any of them in competition. He has also worked on a 3A-4T combination.
At the age of 16, Plushenko became the youngest male skater to ever receive a perfect score of 6.0. He received a total of seventy five 6.0's before the new Code of Points judging system was introduced. Under the Code of Points system, he has set 13 world record scores (5 in the short program, 4 in free skating, and 4 in the combined total).
In March 2022, Plushenko published an Instagram video in which he endorsed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and called it an "unavoidable special operation". In December 2022, the Ukrainian Parliament sanctioned Plushenko for his support of the war.
Coaching career
Plushenko's current students include:
Records and achievements
List of Plushenko's world record scores
Plushenko has broken 13 world records in his career:
16 February 2006 258.33 2006 Winter Olympics The record was broken by Daisuke Takahashi on 15 February 2008. 18 December 2004 251.75 2004–05 Grand Prix Final Plushenko became the first skater to score above 250 points. 15 November 2003 234.29 2003 Trophée Lalique 1 November 2003 233.65 2003 Skate Canada International Plushenko became the first skater to score above 230 points. 20 January 2010 91.30 2010 European Championships The record was broken by Patrick Chan on 27 April 2011. 14 February 2006 90.66 2006 Winter Olympics Plushenko became the first skater to score above 90 points in short program. 25 November 2005 87.20 2005 Cup of Russia 17 December 2004 84.35 2004–05 Grand Prix Final 30 October 2003 81.25 2003 Skate Canada International Plushenko became the first skater to score above 80 points in short program. 16 February 2006 167.67 2006 Winter Olympics The record was broken by Daisuke Takahashi on 15 February 2008. 18 December 2004 167.40 2004–05 Grand Prix Final Plushenko became the first skater to score above 160 points in free skating. 15 November 2003 158.94 2003 Trophée Lalique 1 November 2003 152.40 2003 Skate Canada International Plushenko became the first skater to score above 150 points in free skating.
Advancement of skating competition
Plushenko has taken a strong position opposing the current official ban on quad jumps in the women's short program stating: “When Usain Bolt runs faster than everyone else, should he run with weights? Why should ladies skating be held back? It is not fair to them. There should be equality”, referring to men not being restricted as to the use of quad jumps in competition. Plushenko has advocated the position that both men and women should be equally allowed to use the quad jump in skating competition without gender discrimination."EVGENI PLUSHENKO FULFILLS LIFELONG DREAM" by Tatjana Flade, 24 February 2021. International Figure Skating journal. [3]
Political career
In 2006, Plushenko joined the political party A Just Russia, and in March 2007, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg. Following the 2010 Olympics, he announced his intention to quit politics. In April 2010, he gained public attention for poor attendance, having attended only 11 of 123 parliamentary sessions since his election. In December 2011, he announced he was leaving politics to train for the 2014 Olympics. He quit A Just Russia and said he had no plans to join another political party.
Personal life
On 18 June 2005, Plushenko married Maria Ermak, a sociology student at the Saint Petersburg State University, in a ceremony at the Hotel Astoria in Saint Petersburg. Their son, Egor Evgenievich (originally Kristian), was born on 15 June 2006. In February 2008, they were officially divorced. In August 2009, Plushenko announced his engagement to Yana Rudkovskaya, the record producer for Russian singer Dima Bilan. They were married on 12 September 2009. Their first son, Alexander, was born in January 2013 with their second, Arseniy, born in September 2020.
Programs
Post-2017
Pre-2017
Competitive highlights
GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix
1st WD 1st 1st WD 1st 1st 2nd 1st T J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew
T = Team result; P = Personal result; Medals awarded for team result only.
Plushenko did not compete in the 2006–2007, 2007–2008, and 2008–2009 seasons.
Detailed results
Small medals for short program and free skating awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.
External links
Categories: Www.evgeni-plushenko.com Official Website, 1982 Births, Living People, People From Solnechny District, Russian Male Single Skaters, Russian People Of Ukrainian Descent, Olympic Gold Medalists For Russia, Olympic Silver Medalists For Russia, Olympic Figure Skaters For Russia, Figure Skaters At The 2002 Winter Olympics, Figure Skaters At The 2006 Winter Olympics, Figure Skaters At The 2010 Winter Olympics, Figure Skaters At The 2014 Winter Olympics, Olympic Medalists In Figure Skating, World Figure Skating Championships Medalists, European Figure Skating Championships Medalists, World Junior Figure Skating Championships Medalists, Medalists At The 2014 Winter Olympics, Medalists At The 2010 Winter Olympics, Medalists At The 2006 Winter Olympics, Medalists At The 2002 Winter Olympics, Season-end World Number One Figure Skaters, Recipients Of The Order "for Merit To The Fatherland", 4th Class, Recipients Of The Order Of Honour, Goodwill Games Medalists In Figure Skating, Competitors At The 1998 Goodwill Games, Competitors At The 2001 Goodwill Games, Sportspeople From Khabarovsk Krai, Members Of The Legislative Assembly Of Saint Petersburg, Russian Figure Skating Coaches, 21st-century Russian Sportsmen
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