Evgeni Plushenko-HIStory-Biography

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He made figure skating history with 4-3-2 and 4-3-3

Evgeni Plushenko is known for his great ability to jump, but he has always wanted to push figure skating a little bit more and to put new elements into his programs. In the 1999 NHK trophy at practice he did a 4 toeloop - 3 toeloop - 2 loop. When the time of the competition started and it was Evgeni's turn, his first jump which was usually a 4 toeloop - 3toeloop turn out to be a historic one, he added the double loop at the end, doing the first 4-3-2 in history of figure skating. Nobody could believe it, even though they saw it in practice, nobody though that he would actually do it. After that, that jump became Evgeni's trademark. Zhenya was happy with his combination jump but the plan was soon to do a 4-3-3. Although he landed in several practices (including during Europeans 2001) he did not attempted on competition until the Olympics where he had a step out in the last loop; but that mistake will not stop Evgeni for trying it again. Cup of Russia 2002 was the event selected to see a new historical jump. The day of the free skate when Evgeni was going to perform his first jump; he did history once again by doing a 4 toeloop - 3 toeloop - 3 loop!

"I have forbidden myself to think about medals"

Evgeni learnt that in the year 2000 and he learnt it the hard way. The 1999-2000 could have been the most successful season in Evgeni's career he won 7 competitions out of 9 and it started pretty well. He had two very good, and crowd-judges pleasant programs, he did not lose a competition trough the Grand Prix series.

He was the reigning and two times Russian champion, he won his first Grand prix Final and he won his first European title.

Everything was ready for the Worlds and he was in great condition, Evgeni arrived to Worlds as one of the very favorites for that title. The qualifying and short program showed that Zhenya could be worrying too much, since he ended up second in both. Still the chances for the title were not far at all. The day of the free skate, he was the last one to skate, Yagudin fell in his free skate so Evgeni had a lot of chances to win but everything went wrong, he planed the combination 4-3-2 but fell on it, then he messed up his skate and after all he finished only fourth...

That was the first time after a long time that he did not get any medal at a competition. (last time that he did not make the podium was in the Grand Slam of Skating 1998). After the competition he said: "My expectations weren't right for the free skate, I was already thinking of about what I was going to get if I win, I was already thinking about the Gold medal. Maybe that wasn't right. I was thinking too much about winning." The result was that he worked very hard on himself, especially he decided not to think about medals anymore. The shock about loosing the Worlds was too intense and he was determined to not let this happen again.

In the season 2000/2001 he won (almost) everything

That was the last time Zhenya though about winning that much, and it worked. The 2000/2001 is been one of the most successful season in his career so far, he just lost once in a pro-am competition. Zhenya showed great stability in this season, he didn't make any significant mistakes. He was the only skater who showed five different programs in this season ! Short program (Bolero), free skate (Once upon a time in America), qualification (Gypsy Dance) and two different exhibitions (Pasadena and Sexbomb). At the Grand Prix Final he showed the most difficult free skate of all time so far: Two quadruple-triple combinations, one with a double loop and five different triples! In this season he received 13 times the perfect mark 6.0!!

Then again, that season looked way too much like the last one, once again Zhenya was the Russian, European and Grand Prix final Champion, the difference was that this time Evgeni was physically and psychology in the right path. He said: "I am not thinking about winning or medals. I just skate. I do what I have to do. If it goes well - that’s good, if not - then I’ll win next time. Last year (1999/2000) I had felt stress before every competition. I was overwhelmed with a desire to win and it was a mistake."

Still there were many that thought that Zhenya could drown like he did last year, and Evgeni prove them wrong since day one, still when they asked him if he was going to win, Evgeni never answered that question: "So I do not want speak about this, because is for me bad luck, superstitiously but if I win for me of course is good, is my dream and my mother's dream." The Worlds gold medal was still missing in his large collection of gold medals and after 3 unsuccessful attempts, the pressure was big on him.

His happiest moment...

His Worlds performance was one for remember, since the qualifying round where he showed his old program "Gypsy Dance", the program that cost him the title a year ago. At the short program he skated to "Bolero", breathtaking beautiful and a totally clean skate. He was first after the short program. So he was in the best position for winning gold but still he may remembered what happened last year. But he was sure this time he was not thinking about gold, he thought about to skate clean and that worked off. At his free skate he skated his program "Once upon a time in America". After he did the 4-3-2 clean he probably knew that this time it will work out. Everything was totally clean with not the slightest mistake, he could even afford to leave out the second quad to not risk a fall. After the skate he pumped his fists into the air and he almost start to scream and cry, you could just see how happy he was. He won his first World title at the age of just 18 years! His dream finally became true. All the hard work paid off. Afterwards he said: "It has been my dream to become World Champion since I was four years old, when I started to skate. Now this dream has come true. My next dream is to become Olympic Champion!"
Asked about what his happiest moment in his career was, he answers: "Winning the World Championships."

Evgeni just fell twice in competitions that season, he nailed all his jumps as it was the easiest thing on earth, his artistry improved very much, the dream winning Olympic gold seemed to be very close and nothing seemed to stop him from that, he seemed unbeatable but....

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