Back pain sidelines Plushenko; Abbott crashes
SOCHI, Russia - After awkwardly landing a triple axel jump in his warmup just before Thursday night's short program of the men's figure skating singles event, Evgeny Plushenko clutched his back as he bent over in obvious pain.A couple minutes later, after consulting with his coach Alexei Mishin, at the boards, Plushenko went to the referee and withdrew from the competition.
Plushenko, 31, said after the withdrawal he had felt more pain Wednesday in practice after doing a quadruple jump, adding that he could not jump at all in practice Thursday morning. He said the pain got progressively worse with each jump in the warmup.'I almost cried out there,' Plushenko said. 'I'm sorry for my fans and everybody, but I tried.'A few minutes later, the drama increased when four-time U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott crashed on the landing of his opening quadruple jump, slid into the boards and lay on his back, with a hand on his side. After about 15 seconds on the ice, Abbott got up and resumed the 2-minute, 50-second program.'I was in a big jumble and a lot of pain,' said Abbott, 28, who also fell on the quad during his short program in the team event last Thursday. 'When I heard the crowd cheering, I got up and said I had to finish this for them.'At first, it was like I was in shock. Then the adrenalin kicked in.'I think my personal story is about perseverance and getting up when you fall. Maybe I'm not Olympic champion but I can teach the world that.'Abbott has said he is retiring from competition after the Olympics. He finished ninth at Vancouver in 2010.Plushenko has had recurrent back problems for several years. He complained of pain in his spine after helping Russia win the team event Sunday night, and it had then seemed doubtful he would compete in singles.He was 2006 Olympic champion in singles and won silver medals in 2002 and 2010. The team event gold had tied him with Sweden's Gillis Grafstrom as the only figure skater to win four Olympic medals.Plushenko had skated well in both parts of the team event, finishing second in the short program and winning the long. He had delighted the Russian crowds at the Iceberg Skating Palace with his showmanship, and NBC had been heavily promoting his Thursday appearance.
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