Tatiana Tarasova, Russian coach:

When Aleksei Yagudin was skating, I didn’t follow Plushenko’s career at all. Zhenya has been skating amazingly this season, especially on the Russian Championship. I like the way he’s perfecting himself. He feels the music, he knows exactly what he is doing. There are some minor flaws, but I’m sure Zhenya and his coach will eliminate them even without my advices. What is really important is the skater’s health. Then he will be invincible. Oleg Vasiliev, Olympic Champion, coach of pairs skater Tatyana Totmianina – Maxim Marinin: One has to wait for the appearance of a skater able to compete with Evgeni in technique, artistry and other components. I don’t see the possibility of appearance of such a skater neither in Russia nor in the world. Plushenko can lose and we’ve seen that recently in Colorado Springs. The ice is slippery and anything can happen. Although to defeat Evgeni one has to raise a super-skater. And it’s not a task for a month. There’s a possibility such a skater will have been raised by Olympic Games. It’s a very complicated but anyways rather feasible mission.

Andrei Lutai, Mishin’s pupil who took the 4th place on the Russian Championship:

To beat Evgeni one has to master the quad jumps. Not all of them, three will be enough. And to reach Evgeni’s level of artistry. I hope to achieve that result maximum in two years. I didn’t show my best skating during the Russian Championship. I still experience some problems with triple axel. Vladimir Kotin, winner of Euro and World Championships, coach of “The Vorobjovy gory” figure skating school: Plushenko can lose the competition only if he doesn’t wish to win it. Theoretically it is possible that someone can beat him due to the flawless and brilliant skating. Especially if we take into consideration the new judging system used during the Grand-Prix. Emanuel Sandhu can inspire a lot of other skaters. Among those who can be Plushenko’s rival number one I’d like to emphasize Takeshi Honda. He executes two different quads in his free skate. It doesn’t always work in Evgeni’s case. However too many unsuitable details must match for Evgeni to lose some important competition.

Ilia Klimkin, silver medalist of the Russian Nationals 2004:

Zhenya can lose only if the judges are not fair. When will I be able to beat him? Well, only if I jump higher than my head and flip several times.

Alla Kapranova, choreographer:

I can’t possibly imagine how can someone surpass Evgeni in presenting his program. His every gesture, every movement is polished to perfection. Another question is for how long Zhenya will be able to follow his unique way of getting the victory? I mean the combination of classical St.Petersburg choreography and modern fresh melodies. Let’s recall the last Olympic Games. Plushenko lost because he hadn’t prepared with his coach a victorious program. His rival managed to do that and he won. Aleksei Gorshkov, coach of Bulgarian skaters Albena Denkova – Maxim Staviski: Everything is cognized in comparison. If we examine Evgeni’s closest rivals than he appears not to have any drawbacks at all. We can also compare him with some ideal model. In that case we have to create such a model before comparing, but it’s impossible to do that. Since there is no limit for perfection, Zhenya should long for an ideal. On the other hand who knows... perhaps Zhenya is already an ideal skater.

Alexander Zhulin, Ice Dance World Champion, coach of Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov:

Plushenko is a phenomenon of figure skating. I think people will always remember the famous rivalry of Plushenko and Yagudin that pushed further figure skating. For some time it seemed to me that Plushenko’s programs lacked artistry. However he managed to improve this component greatly. There is little or no people with the talent equal to Plushenko’s. But he shouldn’t relax. There are two more years till Turin. It’s very difficult to live realizing you’re the best.

Victor Kudryavcev, coach of the Russian Federation:

Having seen Plushenko’s amazing free skate in St.Petersburg one can only applaud charmed. He is the supreme skater of the present. To tell you the truth I have never seen such a remarkably striking performance before. It’s so cool we have Plushenko in Russia.

Translation by Daniel