- Evgeni Plushenko
Infobox Figure skater
title= Evgeni Plushenko
caption= Evgeni Plushenko in 2005.
country= RUS
dateofbirth= birth date and age|1982|11|3
residence=Saint Petersburg ,Russia
height= convert|178|cm|ftin|abbr=on
weight=
partner=
coach=Alexei Mishin
skating club=Yubileyny Sports Palace
retired =
combined total= 258.47
combined date= 2006 XX Olympics
SP score= 90.66
SP date= 2006 XX Olympics
FS score= 167.81
FS date= 2006 XX OlympicsEvgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (also Romanized as Yevgeny Viktorovich Plyushchenko) ( _ru. Евге́ний Ви́кторович Плю́щенко) (born
November 3 ,1982 in Solnechny,Khabarovsk Krai ,Soviet Union (Russia ) is a Russian figure skater, the seven-time National Champion, five-time European Champion, three-time World Champion, 2006 Winter Olympics gold medalist, and four-timeGrand Prix Final gold medalist.Biography
Early career
Evgeni Plushenko started skating at age four. When he was eleven years old, his ice rink in
Volgograd closed. He was then sent toSaint Petersburg to train under the tutelage ofAlexei Mishin .Plushenko made quick progress on the international scene under Mishin's tutelage. As a 14-year-old, he won the 1997
World Junior Figure Skating Championships . The following year, at 15, he finished third at the seniorWorld Figure Skating Championships . At the time, Mishin was also coaching another rising teenage star,Alexei Yagudin , who won the World Championships in 1998, and Yagudin and Plushenko developed a fierce rivalry. Yagudin finally decided to leave Mishin and eventually was coached byTatiana Tarasova , but the rivalry between the two skaters continued throughout the years as they repeatedly battled it out for major titles.2002 Olympics
At the
2002 Winter Olympics , Plushenko and Yagudin were considered co-favorites. Yagudin skated a flawless short program to a standing ovation and finished the night in 1st place. Plushenko, however, botched his quad-triple combination and finished 4th in the short program. He skated a strong free skate to "Carmen" and pulled up to finish in 2nd place overall; Yagudin received the highest free skate marks under the 6.0 system in the history of Olympic competition, and won the gold medal easily.2002 - 2006
After Yagudin's retirement, Plushenko won most of competitions he entered in the following four years. He finished second only twice. The first time was to
Emanuel Sandhu at the 2004Grand Prix Final . The second was the 2004European Figure Skating Championships , where he lost toBrian Joubert . He suffered through a difficult 2005, when was forced to withdraw from the 2005World Figure Skating Championships inMoscow after the short program due to injury, and did not even compete at the Grand Prix Final. He eventually required groin surgery. He underwent groin surgery to correct the problem inMunich ,Germany in spring 2005.On
June 18 ,2005 , Plushenko married Maria Ermak in a lavish ceremony at theHotel Astoria in St. Petersburg. His wife studiessociology at theUniversity of St. Petersburg . Their first child, a son named Egor Evgenievich (originally Kristian), was born on June 15, 2006. However, they separated not long afterwards and divorced in February 2008. [ [http://www.evgeniplushenko.net/single.shtml Plushenko ] ]Going into the
2006 Winter Olympics inTurin ,Italy , Plushenko was the overwhelming favorite because of his past success under the newISU Judging System which was now in use. 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 skate was just as strong, and also set a new ISU record. Plushenko's free skating music was especially arranged for him by violinistEdvin Marton .2006 - Present
Plushenko took a break from competitive skating following the 2006 Olympic season. He has said the off season has helped him rest and recover from past knee injuries he has battled.
After seeing the poor results of Russian skaters in the
2007 World Figure Skating Championships (which was 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 spots for its skaters in the2010 Winter Olympics . He announced in April 2007 that he has decided to return to competitive skating for the 2007-2008 season, to keep Russia at a competitive level with other countries until the next generation of Russian skaters can take over. Plushenko has since delayed his return indefinitely.Plushenko has also stated that he plans to compete in the
2010 Vancouver Olympics . [cite web
url = http://fe14.news.sp1.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070411/ap_on_sp_ot/fig_plushenko_comeback
title = Plushenko returning to competition
accessdate = 2007-04-11]In 2008 Plushenko, together with violinist
Edvin Marton , accompaniedDima Bilan on stage as part of the winning Eurovision Song Contest performance "Believe" inBelgrade ,Serbia . Plushenko skated on stage as part of the performance.Achievements
Plushenko's technical achievements are numerous. He is one of the few male skaters to perform the
Biellmann spin . He was the first skater in the world to perform a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop-double loop jump (4-3-2) combination in competition, at the 1999NHK Trophy (he has since landed his 4-3-2 combination 26 times so far). He is the first skater to land a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop-triple loop (4-3-3) combination in competition, at theCup of Russia 2002 (he has since landed his 4-3-3 combination four times so far). Plushenko is also the first skater to land a triple toe loop-triple toe loop-triple loop-double loop (3-3-3-2) combination, which was at the 2005 "Ard Gala". At the European Championships, he landed a six jump combination (3-3-2-2-2-2) in his exhibition program. He has landed a four jump combination; 4 toe loop-3 toe loop-2 loop-2 loop, at the World Championships in 2001. Plushenko has landed a consistent quadruple toe loop in competition, and has also landed a quadruple salchow inSamara, Russia at the 2004 "Second stage of Cup of Russia". It is estimated that he has landed a total of about 100 quads in competition. Plushenko is also one of few figure skaters to have landed quadruple loops and quadruple lutzes in practice, but has never completed either of them in competition.At the age of 16, Plushenko was the youngest male skater to ever receive a perfect score of 6.0. He received a total of seventy five 6.0s before the new Code of Points judging system was introduced.
Programs
Competitive highlights
* WD = Withdrew
References
External links
* [http://www.plushenko.ru/ plushenko.ru] Official Site
* [http://www.evgeniplushenko.it/ evgeniplushenko.it] Official Italian Site
* [http://www.evgeniplushenko.net/ evgeniplushenko.net] Official Site
*Navigation
Persondata
NAME=Plushenko, Evgeni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Plushenko, Evgeny; Евге́ний Ви́кторович Плю́щенко
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Russian figure skater
DATE OF BIRTH=November 3 ,1982
PLACE OF BIRTH=Solnechny,Khabarovsk Krai ,Soviet Union
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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