05.02 Sochi: Plushenko to Face Chan at Figure Skating Team Event

SOCHI, February 5 (R-Sport) – Russia on Tuesday confirmed that three-time Olympic medalist Evgeny Plushenko would compete in the team figure skating event in Sochi, while the country would be represented by world champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov in the pairs.

Plushenko, 31, was the only option for the event because Russia has only one men’s individual berth in the traditional singles discipline.

In the team event Plushenko, the Turin 2006 champion, will compete against gold medal favorite Patrick Chan, who was announced by the Canadians earlier in the day.

Plushenko was a controversial late pick for the Russian team after suffering defeat to up-and-coming skater Maxim Kovtun at the Russian national championships in December.

A near guaranteed source of points for Russia is the pairs team event, where gold medal favorites Trankov and Volosozhar will try to shake off a dodgy performance at the European championships.

A source told R-Sport earlier this week that Trankov and Volosozhar would be replaced by Ksenia Stoblova and Fyodor Klimov for the free skate.

The source said Russia will also be represented by two pairs in the ice dance, with world bronze medalists Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Soloviev performing the short program and Elena Ilinykh and Nitika Katsalapov skating the free.

Including a team event in the Olympic figure skating program gives skaters a second shot at a medal that they have welcomed, but it also comes with the inherent risk of injury before the traditional individual disciplines.

Countries send out skaters in all four categories: men’s and women’s individual, pairs and ice dance. They all perform a short program, the points are aggregated and the top five nations progress to the free program while the others are eliminated.

Adding tactical intrigue to the event, nations may switch skaters after the short program but only if the replacements are part of the country’s team in the traditional event.

The Olympic opening ceremony is Friday, but the team figure skating starts Thursday with the men’s and pairs short programs.