Other names: PLYUSHCHENKO, Evgeny

Born: 3 November 1982

Birthplace: Solnechni (Russia)

Nationality: Russia

 

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Salt Lake City 2002

Turin 2006

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 1

Silver: 1

Other results:

Championnats du Monde

Gold: 3 (2001, 2003, 2004)

Silver: 1 (99)

Bronze: 1 (98)

A perfect performance

The story goes that, at four years old, Evgeni Plushenko already wanted to become an Olympic champion. At 11, he was already performing triple jumps, and joined his current coach, Alexei Mishin, in St Petersburg. Evgeni was a talented skater, and one of only a few male skaters to perform the Biellmann pirouette. But it was sheer hard work that earned him his junior World Championship title in 1997, and his bronze medal at the senior World Championships the following year.

In 2002 in Salt Lake City, Evgeni competed in his first Olympic Games. Despite being only 19, he was already the favourite, being the reigning world champion. Evgeni Plushenko was in the running to win the gold, but minor mistakes in his programmes spoilt his performance. Even so, he still took the silver medal, behind another Russian, Alexei Yagudin.

For his second Olympic participation, in 2006 in Turin, Evgeni Plushenko was once again one of the favourites. To music from Puccini's "Tosca", his short programme was a veritable master class, and he was the only skater not to make a mistake, especially in the quadruple-triple toeloop combination. His score of 90.66 points put him way ahead of the other 23 skaters qualified for the free programme.

On 16 February, Evgeni was not content with an average programme; his performance on the ice was once again masterful. The pressure on the shoulders of the other skaters vying for a podium finish prevented them from producing their best skating, but not Evgeni. To the "Godfather" music by Nino Rota, he once again produced a top notch performance, in particular a quadruple-triple-double combination. With a score of 167.67 points, he was more than 13 points ahead of the next-placed skater on this programme.

With a lead of almost 27 and 30 points over Switzerland's Stéphane Lambiel and the Canadian Jeffrey Buttle, the skater from St Petersburg added the Olympic title to his European and World Championship trophies, following on from his compatriot winners since 1992, including Viktor Petrenko, who was Evgeni's hero when he took up figure skating. Out of superstition, Evgeni's parents never watch any of their son's performances, either at the rinkside or on television. Even after this Olympic title, they are not going to change their superstition.