Skating to “The Best of Plushenko,” the best of Yevgeny Plushenko was on display at a small figure skating event in Riga, Latvia, Friday night, where the 31-year-old Russian completed his comeback to competitive skating with a win.
Plushenko, who withdrew from the European Championships earlier this year with an injury after the short program, won the Volvo Cup, a Senior B event, with a 263.25, Plushenko’s highest score since a 261.23 at the 2012 European Championships, which he won.
Plushenko’s free skate is set to a medley of music known as “The Best of Plushenko,” an ode to the three-time Olympic medalist (he won gold in Torino in 2006) who is aiming to be Russia’s lone representative in men’s singles at the Sochi Games come February.
Aleksander Petrov of Russia was a distant second, some 45 points behind his countryman with a 218.75 total score.
Russia has only one men’s singles spot for the upcoming Games, which many believed would go to Plushenko should he be healthy enough. His score officially makes him eligible for the Olympics, which have international guidelines that skaters must follow.
The Senior B, a step below figure skating’s Grand Prix series, was a warm-up for Plushenko, who will skate at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow Nov. 22-24.
(Note: A previous version of this post stated that Plushenko’s score was a personal best. Because the Volvo Cup is a Senior B-level event, his score does not count towards his personal records.)
It’s an exciting day in the skating world as Olympic champion @EvgeniPlushenko starts his final season in Latvia. Женя давай! 🇷🇺
— Johnny Weir-Voronov (@JohnnyGWeir) November 7, 2013