Plushenko quits politics, eyes 2014 Games

3 Dec 2011, 3:30 pm   -   Source: AAP

Russian figure skating star Yevgeny Plushenko is quitting politics to focus on preparing for the 2014 Olympics.

Russian figure skating star Yevgeny Plushenko is quitting politics to focus on preparing for the 2014 Olympics, in a surprise move announced just two days before parliamentary elections.

"I am leaving A Just Russia party. I am not joining any party," Plushenko said at a news conference in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, a video of which is posted on the website Fontanka.ru.

Plushenko, 29, a three-time world champion and 2006 Olympic champion, represented the parliamentary opposition party in Saint Petersburg's city parliament from 2007 but had one of the worst attendance records.

The skater only put in an appearance a few times during his whole period as a lawmaker, Fontanka.ru wrote. Deputies also complained that Plushenko was involved in commercial activities while receiving a parliamentary salary.

A Just Russia, an opposition party that rarely troubles the Kremlin, is contesting the national parliamentary elections on Sunday, but Plushenko was not standing as a candidate.

He said that he was too busy to concentrate on politics. As well as touring with skating shows, he has hosted the Russian version of "Stars on Ice" and performed on stage for Russia's Eurovision-winning entry.

"Today politics isn't for me, due to my return to amateur sport, due to my preparations for our Olympics in 2014. Therefore I won't be able to combine political activity with serious sport," Plushenko said.

Plushenko is hoping to be one of Russia's main gold medal hopes in the 2014 Winter Olympics which it is hosting in the southern city of Sochi.

His wife, pop producer Yana Rudkovskaya, wrote on Twitter that she was "very glad" Plushenko had quit, saying she had a conflict with the leader of the party's Saint Petersburg faction.

Numerous Russian sports figures have joined the ruling United Russia party. Former Olympic gymnasts Alina Kabayeva and Svetlana Khorkina represent it in parliament while boxer Nikolai Valuyev appears in an electoral campaign video.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube