23 January 2010 / REUTERS, TALLINN
Russia’s Yevgeny Plushenko kissed the ice after showing his rivals he has no intention of giving up his Olympic crown next month by easily winning gold at the European Figure Skating Championships.
The two skaters making their comebacks after absences from the sport beat those who had been keeping the podium warm for them with Switzerland’s popular Stephane Lambiel taking the silver when his mesmerizing spins lifted him up from fifth. Last year’s champion Brian Joubert of France took bronze after an error-strewn routine. Plushenko scored 255.39 points, with Lambiel on 238.54 and Joubert on 236.45.“I am just really proud, everything went well. Of course the most important competition this year will be the Olympic Games,” Plushenko, whose last major competition had been the 2006 Turin Games, said in a rink side interview. Lambiel, who has come out of retirement, got a standing ovation after his delightfully presented routine to Verdi’s La Traviata, with fans whooping when they saw he had scored enough despite slipping on to his bottom during a simple step sequence.
