Figure Skating Legend Evgeni Plushenko Pulls Out Of Olympics After Injury Minutes Before His Routine

Russian figure skating legend Evgeni Plushenko has pulled out of the Olympic men's figure skating competition.

Just minutes before his scheduled start time in the short program he appeared to tweak his back on a warm-up jump. After grimacing as he skated around the ice, he was forced to withdraw from the competition.

He told the judges, and simply skated off the ice:

This was going to be the final international competition of the 31-year-old's storied career.

He dazzled the crowd with a flawless routine in the short program of the team event. But after multiple injuries to his back and knees in recent years, his body just couldn't hold up.

A huge loss in what would have been one of the most interesting events of the Olympics.