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I don’t know about Evgeny, but many figure skaters are pretty much starved. The dark, ugly, messy side turns toward steroids, powder supplements (which eventually destroy kidneys), etc. I am not saying this is true in this king’s case, but in all too many, it is and it is wrong. No medal is worth the cost of inhuman suffering inflicted on some athletes.

for who? What do you think about Hanyu? What should he do?

They didn't have a more qualified Russian male skater at the time, that was the issue. They had young Maxim Kovtun, and when Plush tried to pull out before the men's event, he asked the Federation to bring Maxim in to replace him. Maxim was actually the Russian champion at the time but he had nowhere near Plushenko's Olympic experience. The Federation claims not to have been able to find Maxim (which sounds weird to me) so insisted that Evgeni skate anyway. Maxim had not distinguished himself much in international competition yet and Plush had always brought home medals for Russia before. So you can see why they took the chance they did. The Federation clearly didn't think Kovtun could finish on the podium, and in following Maxim's career afterward it seems that they were correct. In fact I felt bad for Evgeni. He had stated four years previously that he wanted to close his career in Russia, where he was a national sports hero. He always was a goal-oriented competitor. He trained hard and after his back surgery in 2012 he basically had to learn to walk again to compete. I know why Plush wanted to compete in both competitions. If he had won even a bronze medal in the men's event (which for him could still have been attainable), he would have had 5 Olympic medals, making him effectively the all-time men's Olympic champion into perpetuity. What a way to end such a storybook career! But alas, it was not to be. But Evgeni made the right if heartbreaking decision that day. No medal is worth paralyzing yourself or risking your life. He caught such unfair hell for this outcome in Russia afterward that it put any irritation I might have felt towards him after Vancouver totally away. I'm happy for him that he's so enjoying this new phase of coaching and starring in ice shows. He gave me such great pleasure as an athlete in his 20 years competing.

His surgeries have everything to do with his age. A 12 year old body won't recuperate the same way as someone who is 30, 40 or 80

@@cgt9056 this. Agreed. Putting the pressure on the body at that age is damaging compared to an 18 year old body. the younger the body, the easier it will bounce back. But when you get older, its harder to do. in Athletic years, Plushenko was an old man.

He’s good, having incredible ice shows and teaching kids in his Angels Ice academy. Has a family, two of his own sons and two adopted (of his wife).

Okaaaay

He should have retired after 2006. Winning gold but instead he kept coming back with an unrealistic dream and lost the 2010 Olympics and lost big time in 2014. Always leave while on top instead of as a loser.

Ridiculous opinion. He won silver in 2010 and won team gold in 2014. Many skaters retired without any medals on OGs.

@@usfanlovesjiwoo1978 You should be retired. No one else has done anything similar to what he did. The best and the only one forever

@@usfanlovesjiwoo1978 imagine if Yuzuru would have retired after his first olympic gold in 2014 🙄 ridiculous right?

@@fernandamartinezjaimez9648 I think everybody should skate for as long as they enjoy it, but I dont think that somebody should retire last second at a competition and screw over the other Russian men who missed the opportunity to go to the olympics. I wouldn't mind if hanyu skated at another 2 Olympics and didnt get the high results, but I would mind if hanyu withdrew last second at an Olympics and another Japanese skater missed out.

And he could have withdraw after the team even and let Maxim skate in the individual event.

@@benbailey159bb Plush tried to withdraw before the start of the men's event. He was already in pain, which was clear from watching him double two of his triple jumps at the end of the team event. He had a gorgeous skate in the team event but after 3 minutes in that program one could tell something was up. Plushenko could do triple jumps in his sleep, even at 31. He told the Russian Federation about the medical issues. The Russian Federation attempted to bring Maxim Kovtun in to replace Plush but apparently could not locate him. They then pretty much told Evgeni he had to skate, as Russia had only one spot in the men's competition.

@@cherylhulting1301 From what you said he should have withdraw after the team event. The not being able to find Kovtun is nonsense. Alternate's are always there in case they're needed it's literally why they are there. As soon as the individual men's even started it was too late to substitute Kovtun in so it is Plushenko's fault for not withdrawing if he clearly knew in the team even that he wasn't ok. He'd got the gold he came for in the team event so there was absolutely no excuse for not withdrawing from the singles and letting Kovtun skate.

@@benbailey159bb Take it up with the Russians, Ben. This is the explanation that both the Federation and Evgeni gave for the behind-the-scenes negotiations. As I told you, Plush tried to withdraw from the Games before the start of the men's individual event. He skated twice in the team event, which was stressful for his back. After that he asked to have Maxim brought in to skate instead for the men's event. Kovtun was not seated as an official alternate so he was not under any obligation to skate for the Federation, and quite frankly probably didn't feel like skating for them. They had given Plushenko the one spot available for a Russian man to skate and the Federation was relying on him to win. Given his record of achievement, Evgeni still seemed like a good bet for a medal to the Russians. We are, after all, talking about a skater who never went to the Olympics without earning a medal. Hell, he has 53 total gold medals alone. But Evgeni was told to skate by his Federation when Kovtun was not available, and he's not going to buck that, especially in view of the pressure from the Federation and his fans to perform. Plushenko is a proud man and frankly he would likely have preferred to have withdrawn quietly instead of having to leave in front of a stadium full of people who considered him to be an icon. That's a horrible moment and it's still hard to see it even now. This wasn't exactly the way he planned to end his competitive career. But do you realize what danger Evgeni was in? With that huge triple axel in the warm-up he literally snapped one of the titanium bolts holding his artificial vertebra in place, and two others were loose too (imagine the strength of a man who can break a bolt like that). The X-rays taken of his back showed that one of the pieces of the broken bolt was dangerously close to his spinal cord, and that's why he couldn't feel his landing leg. If he had skated he might have done some significant damage to his spinal cord and might not even be walking now. That's what a close call we're taking about here. So show the man some respect. He kept fighting until it was too dangerous for him to continue to do so. Catch me again when you learn to fight like that.

@@cherylhulting1301 yeah except he was still selfish because he didn't withdraw after the team event but waited until the day of the singles