Plushenko Olympic bid on track after comeback title win

Russian figure skating great Yevgeny Plushenko boosted his hopes of competing at the 2014 Winter Olympics by making a winning return to competition at the Volvo Cup in Riga. Skating to "The Best of Plushenko" medley of music, the 31-year-old Turin Olympic champion said he had proved to himself he was back on track for the Sochi Games. Plushenko achieved a personal best mark of 180.91 points for his free skate for a new personal best total of 263.25 to finish ahead of compatriots Alexander Petrov (218.75) and Sergei Borodulin (202.40). However, because the Volvo Cup is a Senior B-level event, Plushenko's score does not count towards his personal records. "I was a bit nervous but not as much as I was ahead of the short programme," Plushenko said. "Today I performed well the programme that I've prepared for the Olympics and proved that I'm back. The most important thing is that I managed to prove it to myself." Plushenko, a silver medallist in the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2010 Vancouver Olympics, added that despite feeling confident he remained cautious. "Now I really feel I managed to perform a comeback," said Plushenko, who has not competed since withdrawing injured from the European championships in January. "But I don't even try to predict anything after undergoing 12 operations. "I'm looking forward to continuing competing and hope to perform at my fourth Olympics. But in sport I just live for the day. I'm very happy with today's free routine and a quadruple, which I managed to perform. "But most of all I'm happy that I didn't get tired after my free programme. Especially taking into consideration that I was close to my top performance today. This free routine is almost all of my life!" Earlier this year, Plushenko said that he would take part in the ISU Grand Prix meet in Moscow on November 22-24 and probably then in Russian nationals and the European championships ahead of the Sochi Games. But on Saturday he refused to unveil his plans for the remainder of the season saying that he may change his preparation plans to be in his best form for the home Games in Sochi. "I just haven't decided yet whether to perform at Moscow stage of ISU Grand Prix circuit," he said. "My main goal is my fourth Olympics, where I want to earn a place at the podium. And I'm ready to change my plans radically to prepare for the Games in the best possible way." Plushenko believes he is close to his previous best adding however he still has plenty of work to do. "I feel I'm not so far from the peak of my form. But there's still a lot of homework to do to reach it." In the summer, the three-time world and seven-time European champion underwent back surgery in a bid to make a comeback in time for the Olympics on home soil. Source: AFP