Plushenko is considered one of the greats in men’s figure skating history. He is a four-time Olympic medalist and some might even go as far as saying he has been the dominant skater for the past 15 years. Prior to his withdraw, Plushenko helped Russia to their first gold medal of in Sochi. Many admire his will to keep skating through the very serious back and spinal pain that he suffers from.
However, all of that admiration has taken a turn for the worse. After completing his warm up run for the men’s short program on Thursday, Plushenko withdrew from the competition complaining of “severe spinal pain”.
The 31-year-old skater did undergo back surgery nearly a year ago but that is not stopping his critics from vocalizing their opinions. According to CBS News, one comment came from NewIgor Lebedev, a parliament member from the nationalist Liberal Democrats, “Perform through the pain for the honor of the country.”
Plushenko has gone on the record saying, “I’m disappointed because I tried my best. I want to skate. But this happened.”
Unfortunately, the sport has lost an amazing athlete and we are forced to say goodbye to a legend in the figure skating world.
