Evgeni Plushenko-Article

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From: http://www.utro.ru/articles/2005/04/05/424929.shtml
Evgeni Plushenko gets surgery for the groin injury.
Russian skater Evgeni Plushenko had two surgeries. A week ago, he flew to Munich with his coach Alexei Mishin. The local doctors diagnosed him with inguinal hernias. Last Thursday, the hernia was removed from the right side, and on Friday – from the left. RSSIF President Valentin Piseev told “Vremia Novostei” in the interview that according to Plushenko mentor, he will be able to practice on ice in early May. Be reminded that in the middle of March, Plushenko withdrew from Moscow’s Worlds due to injury. After the QR and SP, Evgeni was third behind Stefan Lambiel and Brian Joubert.
Evgeni didn’t skate the short program well as he fell on the quad when he didn’t slipped on the landing. The injuries affected him – during the QR, he injured his back in addition to having a groin injury.
After the short program Evgeni said, “I had an injection today so the pain calmed down during the performance. Because of the groin injury, I was preparing for two weeks only and it’s unrealistic to get into the optimal shape in that time. Of course, I could’ve skipped the event but I’ve chosen another way and I have no regrets. It’s possible I’ll loose the Words, but it’s not scary, it’ll be OK at the end. I didn’t let the fans down. Russia didn’t have an event of this rank for more than a century.”
After the SP, in theory, Zhenia had a chance to win. To do that, he needed to skate a perfect free program. Before that, Alexei Mishin, Plushenko’s coach, admitted that it’s unlikely for the Russian to win in this condition. The coach said, “ He can skate in the shows now, but perform like a World champion – there are doubts.” It turned out several days later that the skater would need a surgery. He went thru a short treatment in the Central Institute for Injuries and Orthopedics in Moscow. The doctors agreed that he has an inflammation. The skater went abroad to get an exact diagnosis and work on the correct treatment.
Translation by Trinity