Russia’s titled figure skater Plushenko performs for crowds in China’s Shanghai

SHANGHAI, March 25. /TASS/. Russia’s dual Olympic Champion in figure skating Evgeni Plushenko, who hung up his skates last year citing back injury, skated for the crowds at the opening ceremony of the 2015 Figure Skating World Championship in China’s Shanghai. Plushenko’s one-minute performance was to the musical theme from Godfather film and the titled skater earlier told TASS that the music for his performance was chosen by the organizers of the championship, held between March 25 and 29 at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. Although retired, Plushenko stunned media last summer by announcing that he intended to compete for another title at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea’s PyeongChang, which may turn into his 5th career Olympics. The titled 32-year-old Russian figure skater performed in four Olympics throughout his career, winning his first Olympic gold at the 2006 Winter Games in Italy’s Turin and the second in February last year at Russia’s Winter Olympics in Sochi. Plushenko, who also brought Russia silver medals both at the 2002 Olympics in US Salt Lake City and at the 2010 Olympics in Canada’s Vancouver and won seven European champion titles, struggled with back injuries over the two skating seasons prior to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but kept insisting that he would be able to perform well on his home ice. He partly kept his promise winning the gold in team’s competition in Sochi, but his withdrawal from the men’s individuals saw him not only going to Israel last March for the surgery on his back, but drew mass criticism across Russia. During a warm-up before the individuals’ performance, Plushenko attempted a triple axel jump, but landed uncomfortably aggravating his old injury and breaking a screw that supported an artificial intervertebral disk in his back. Eventually, the Russian figure skating star withdrew from the competition and later announced that he had decided to quit sports for good. Read more