“Plushenko brought the best out of himself at the 2014 Olympics, we didn’t even expect him to be able to do that” – Lakernik

Evgeny Plushenko At the Olympic Games in Sochi, he gave his best, he is the hero of these Games, honorary vice-president of the International Skating Union (ISU), Alexander Lakernik, told .

The Winter Olympics were held in Sochi in 2014. Adelina Sotnikova won gold in women’s single skating. Maxim Kovtun won the Russian men’s qualifying championship, but Plushenko ended up going to the Sochi Games. He helped the Russian team win gold in the team tournament. Plushenko was supposed to compete in the singles tournament, but due to a back injury he withdrew one minute before his performance in the short program.

— The Sochi Games were marked by the good results of our athletes, a lot of effort and money was invested in preparation. The result was good. Sotnikova is our first Olympic women’s skating champion. The Palais des Sports was completely full when we arrived at the start – the stands were half empty, and during the last two warm-ups you looked up and realized that there was nowhere for an apple to fall. The public supported the athletes well and made a positive noise.

— Do you think Sotnikova’s victory was deserved?

— The athletes were close, the judges evaluated according to the current system. The judge is not entirely responsible for the result, but only part of it.

—Shouldn’t Kovtun have gone to the Olympics after all?

— I don’t know everything, Plushenko is the hero of these Olympic Games anyway. Without him, we might not have gotten the final result of the team tournament. He tried his best, we didn’t even expect him to be able to do it. The team really needed Plushenko,” Lakernik told .