Plushenko to skate in Olympics despite surgery

Evgeni Plushenko of Russia receives applause after the men’s short program at the European Figure Skating Championships in Zagreb on January 24, 2013. Plushenko will take part in next year’s Sochi Olympics, despite undergoing an operation on his spine, his coach Alexei Mishin said Wednesday.

MOSCOW - Three-time world champion Evgeni Plushenko will take part in next year’s Sochi Olympics, despite undergoing an operation on his spine, his coach Alexei Mishin said Wednesday.

Plushenko, 30, the 2006 Olympic champion, failed to win his eighth European title when he was forced to retire in Zagreb earlier this month with a back injury and on Thursday will undergo surgery in Israel on an intervertebral disc.

But Mishin told the RIA-Novosti news agency: “The complete post-operational recovery will take a long time but not too long to affect his preparations for next season and its main event, the Olympics.”

He added: “Tomorrow (Thursday) he will undergo surgery but we are not going to change the schedule of our preparations. The medics said that Evgeni will be able to walk and swim just four weeks after the operation.”

Plushenko, a 10-time Russian champion, has an “ineradicable” and “unshakeable” desire to compete in Sochi, which was the reason for the operation, he said.

He effectively retired from competition after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics but returned to the amateur circuit last year and won his 10th national title in December.