05.10 Russia's Plushenko Guaranteed Olympic Place if Fit - Rival Coach

SOCHI, October 5 (R-Sport) � Turin Olympic figure skating champion Evgeny Plushenko will be guaranteed a place at next year's Winter Games in his native Russia if he can show he is fit, the coach of his main rival for Russia's spot in the competition said Saturday.

Plushenko, 30, has not competed since January's European championships, when a back injury forced him to withdraw, but he is due to take to the ice at the Cup of Russia Grand Prix next month.

"Zhenya [Plushenko]'s participation in the Olympics and his place in the team isn't up for discussion," said Tatiana Tarasova, who coaches his rival Maxim Kovtun. "If he's fit, then he'll compete."

Tarasova has worked with many of Plushenko's rivals over the years, including providing choreography for Evan Lysacek, the man who beat him to Olympic gold in 2010.

Russia, traditionally one of the world's premier figure skating countries, saw its allocation of Olympic men's singles places reduced to one as a result of the 18-year-old Kovtun's poor performance at the last world championships, when he finished 15th and Plushenko did not compete.

Kovtun will compete alongside Plushenko at the Cup of Russia in November.

Kovtun is positioning himself as a potential Russian Olympian in case of injury to Plushenko and has added two quads to his short program, raising it to the sort of difficulty performed by the sport's elite skaters.