Injured Plushenko Skates to 10th Russian Title

(R-Sport) – Evgeni Plushenko overcame a back injury to claim his 10th domestic title at the Russian national championships in Sochi.

The 30-year-old star completed his free skate program almost perfectly on Wednesday and won by an 11-point margin from Sergei Voronov, who previously triumphed in 2008 and 2009.

Konstantin Menshov sealed third placed after finishing sixth in the short program.

“I’m very content with my free skating, but it was difficult for me,” Plushenko said, adding he had considered a last-minute withdrawal.

“My back hurt and I had to skate through the pain. The preparation was hard. I underwent a surgery a month ago, started to train late and was ready to pull out.”

The next target for Plushenko on the path to his home Olympics in Sochi next winter is the European championships in Zagreb on January 21.

There, the Turin Olympic champion knows he will have to up his game.

“We will skate the programs that I didn’t train to before the Russian nationals,” Plushenko said. “I should recover completely for the European championships, because there will be strong opponents. There I'll have to bring back two quadruple toe loops and the quad-triple toe loop combination.”

But long term, the goal is Olympic glory on home soil.

“I like to fight through all the difficulties, to overcome myself. I want to do something that nobody will be able to repeat for a long time. I want to participate at a fourth Olympic Games.”

Plushenko won silver medals in Salt Lake City and Vancounver.