The Sochi 2014 Olympics was left without Russian gold in men's individual figure skating . Evgeni Plushenko was supposed to speak, but the performance was canceled. Fans were terrified. Few people knew what happened with Plushenko. However, long before the largest competition, everyone knew that the skater had a very complicated spinal operation. After serious rehabilitation, the committee allowed Eugene to represent his country. At the warm-up, before going on a single skating, he again seriously injured his back. Plushenko refused to speak.
Was the performance possible?
So what happened with Plushenko? This story did not begin directly at the Olympics and within its framework did not end. Two years ago, when the skater began active training, various hypotheses were put forward: this is the desire of the skater or the committee makes him. As a result, the story took not just a difficult turn, but, frankly, the most brutal. Not every thriller will see this, let alone the shock experienced by the fans, realizing that the figure skater Evgeni Plushenko is taking part in this situation. What really happened to him?
The attitude of the fans
When Plushenko announced that he would not participate in the free program, serious excitement began in the stands. To convey how Russian viewers behaved and felt, who did not really understand what happened with Plushenko, there would not be enough words. You just had to see it. After all, compatriots of the skater came from all over Russia to become witnesses of a great victory, to rejoice for gold. It was a real tragedy. In addition, people paid a lot of money not only for travel, but also for accommodation, because prices in Olympic Sochi cannot be called modest. No other skater was as interested as Plushenko.
Press attacks
As soon as they announced the removal of the athlete from the competition, the journalistic fraternity was literally furious. All journalists grabbed their phones, voice recorders and began to convey the words of future articles, while trying to find out what happened with Plushenko. It became clear that this is not just a sad event, it is a tragedy of an all-Russian scale.
Opinions, as always, were divided again. Some will blame Plushenko on what the light stands on, others will pity him humanly, wondering that Plushenko has his back, and still others will curse him for failing his country, because he should have foreseen such a turn of events. In any case, everyone agreed on the same opinion - the career of a brilliant athlete is over.
Athlete Press Conference
When Eugene went to the journalists, his face was imprinted with true sorrow. He is still so young, but at the age of 31 he survived too much, devoting so much strength and emotions to great sport. Eugene was really sorry for all the journalists present, even if they expressed different positions, it hurt along with the skater, many of them tried to understand what was happening with Plushenko. Moreover, this applied not only to the representatives of the domestic press, but also to the foreign one. The whole world suffered.
Eugene tried to explain what happened. He urged everyone not to believe the evil languages ​​that spoke of the planned actions, supposedly the athlete knew in advance about such an outcome. The skater assured the opposite, he said that he was confident in his abilities and his victory. Experts, figuring out what happened to Evgeni Plushenko, learned that during training during the jumps, Evgeni fell unsuccessfully and again injured his back. But here he did not give up, he decided to take the strongest pain medication and still go on the ice, because he even tried to take part in the warm-up. During the test rental, Eugene realized that he could not jump, and he did not want to perform for the sake of usual participation, not seeing any sense in this.
Yana's support
The wife of Yevgeny Yana Rudkovskaya, shortly before he went on the ice, appeared in the mixed zone. There were tears on her face. In the future, Yana commented a lot on what happened, calling her husband the greatest athlete who helped win gold in team competitions at this Olympics. He really strove for victory, doing everything in his power.
Ordinary viewers immediately asked the question: why didn’t the committee replace the injured Plushenko? The fact is that this could be done only if the athlete announced his withdrawal from the competition in advance. The figure skater Maxim Kovtun was really in Sochi at that moment, but he could no longer perform.
Coach about the situation
Coach Evgeni Plushenko Alexei Mishin tried to explain the situation to the press. As it turned out, the replacement could be made no later than the morning of February 10th. But at that moment, Eugene planned to speak, because the injury in training was received later. He did everything he could, tried to complete the cascade, but his physical condition did not allow it. When asked by journalists about the participation of the skater in the next Olympics, Mishin answered that this, of course, is an exaggeration. Evgeni Plushenko, whose injury shocked millions of spectators, will not leave the ice, but these will be performances in ice shows, nothing more. Further struggle for medals can make him disabled.
Ending a sports career
After the speech of his coach, Eugene himself announced that his career was coming to an end. The skater did it in English, for foreign reporters, and in Russian, for compatriots. Next, the skater spoke about his plans. First of all, he needs treatment. And in the future, Eugene will prepare a grandiose project, but so far does not consider all the cards to be disclosed, so as not to spoil the surprise.
Great athlete and strong man
Despite the grave situation, the brutal criticism against him, Evgeni Plushenko is not going to give up. He is a strong personality. Now everyone understands that Plushenko won his main prizes earlier, and now his professional career has been completed, but there are many other plans that need to be implemented. Life did not end there. This is just the end of her first chapter, which will be many more in the book of Eugene’s life.
Confluence of fatal circumstances
Just a few days before the short program, there were rumors that volunteers began to spread. As you know, these people worked at the Olympics, in this case, the Iceberg Palace. In training, volunteers cleaned the area after the skaters, helped carry their belongings, offered athletes and coaches tea. So, it was these volunteers who began to say that Evgeni Plushenko would refuse to speak, would not even try to participate. At that moment, everyone missed these words past their ears, expecting a grand victory. Was Eugene capable of this? Able to fail your country and your people? Unfortunately, gossip just by coincidence coincided with a difficult reality. When looking at an athlete, many have a question about what Plushenko is sick with. Thus, it became clear that all this is just a fateful combination of circumstances.
Plushenko is a talented skater, a strong personality. One should not believe rumors whose purpose is to denigrate his image. A huge number of people love and appreciate Eugene, no matter what happens.
Was the choice right
Many people recall the time when the Figure Skating Federation decided that Plushenko should still play for Russia. There were doubts, a lot of controversy and rumors. However, now it was because of the skater that the great sports power was left without prizes in men's single skating. While the young athlete Maxim Kovtun could well prove his worth in sports and take any place.
Eugene himself repeatedly gave interviews to numerous publications, where he tried to explain his action. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondents, the skater tried to refute rumors that his removal from the competition had been planned in advance. He had no thoughts about speaking only in a team, taking gold and leaving. These are just rumors, and very cruel. Eugene said that he had done everything possible for his country. The athlete also thanked those fans who, despite everything, remained with him, thanks to their faith, he managed to get together and not lose heart. It is for them that Plushenko is ready to work on ice in the future, as much as possible.
Deputies did not stand aside
The position of the famous politician, the leader of the LDPR party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, has become rather ambiguous. He, of course, did not keep silent about what happened at the Olympics. About Eugene, he said that sport is not a joke, you can’t participate here today, but tomorrow there’s either victory or the road to others. As for the completion of a career, on the eve of the competition they don’t think about it.
Later it became known that the deputy Zhirinovsky spoke with the words that amendments to the laws on sports are needed. He suggested that the athlete had the right to speak at the Olympics only twice, and also limit the age limit to no more than 25 years. In addition, Zhirinovsky considers it necessary to ban participation in the Olympics with serious injuries. The deputy said that healthy athletes should win medals. The blame for everything that happened Zhirinovsky lays entirely on the Federation. This is their mistake, they should not have allowed Plushenko to compete. Moreover, the deputy demanded the dismissal of doctors involved in the examination and treatment of the skater, because they should have been banned.
State Duma deputy
Igor Lebedev, who is also the son of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, believes that the ministry of sports just needs to control the federation so that such mistakes are no longer made. However, Lebedev is by no means on Plushenko’s side. The deputy called everything that happened a betrayal both by the Federation and by the skater himself. He took too much on himself, and as a result he failed the whole country, which was left without the slightest hope for a prize. This is dishonest in relation to Maxim Kovtun, who could well have fought for the medal. Igor Lebedev also cited many examples when great athletes, despite the most serious injuries, fought and brought medals to the country. One of these was Dmitry Nosov, a deputy of the LDPR, whose arm was broken, but he still won the bronze. To which Vladimir Zhirinovsky already emphasized the need to limit the age limits. The deputy reiterated that after athletes reach 25 years old, they need to say goodbye to great sports and not participate in the Olympics. And the story of the deputy Nosov only confirms this point of view. After all, he was just lucky, but if, because of his broken arm, the performance went wrong? Moreover, you need to give way to the young, to develop youthful sport. Young athletes, full of strength and energy, are enough, they can very well manifest themselves and win medals.
Many condemn Evgeni Plushenko primarily because he himself had to understand a situation that did not allow him to participate in the Olympics.