Playback ’15] Beautiful hostesses were also excited! The night of “The Czar of Russia” Plushenko’s descent on Ginza!

What did “FRIDAY” report 10, 20, and 30 years ago? In “Playback Friday,” we revisit the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we will look back at the “Figure Gold Medalist Arrives,” which appeared 10 years ago in the July 3, 2003 issue of “FRIDAY!　Beautiful hostesses were also excited to see the “Czar of Russia,” Plushenko, at a club in Ginza.

He has competed in four consecutive Winter Olympics, winning a total of four medals, two gold and two silver. Figure legend Evgeny Plushenko (32 at the time), nicknamed “Mr. Pull” by Japanese figure fans, is revered by many. This is an article about the world-famous superstar’s descent to Ginza (the descriptions in parentheses are quotes from past articles. All ages and titles are current at the time).

The “Czar of Russia” descends on Ginza

It was after 9 p.m. in mid-June 2003 when Plushenko entered a certain club in Ginza accompanied by two Japanese men.

“Plushenko is currently in Japan to make guest appearances at ice skating shows that will be held throughout Japan from May to mid-July. On this night, the president of the event company that sponsors the show gave him a tour of Ginza.

The club the group visited was a high-class restaurant with an ultra-luxurious interior in the style of a Greek palace. The club the group visited was a high-class establishment with an ultra-luxurious Greek palace-style interior, which was, indeed, a place suited to the “Czar of Russia.

At the time, Plushenko was 32 years old and already the father of four children. He married in 2005 and had a baby boy, but they divorced in 2008. In 2009, he remarried to Yana (40), seven years older than him, with whom he had two children, and had a boy with her in ’13. The “Big Daddy” is a man who is known for his “nightlife” in foreign countries out of the sight of his wife, but we are curious to know what he is up to.

Even the Ginza hostesses were enchanted by the fun!

“As one would expect from such a big star, we were seated with only the top-class beauties in the restaurant. However, Mr. Pru did not get carried away, and he was chatting with the girls over a glass of wine and a translator,” said a customer at the restaurant.

He drank as elegantly as he did on the rink. He left the restaurant with a smile on his face after about 30 minutes.

The Ginza hostesses, who are used to seeing celebrities in their line of work, were excited to see the Plushenko delegation off and excitedly said, ” I was so nervous I couldn’t hug you.

Even in private, Plushenko was as noble as an emperor. In fact, at the previous year’s Sochi Olympics, he had won the gold medal in the team competition, but had announced his retirement after abstaining from the individual competition. However, just one month later, he announced his return to active competition.

He injured his back in the individual competition at last year’s Sochi Olympics and announced his intention to retire, but the surgery was later a success, and he is eager to compete in his fifth Olympics. She has been flying her triple axel effortlessly in ice shows, and her presence is still outstanding. The Russian figure skating world is struggling with young talent, so depending on how she finishes, there is a good chance she will be able to compete in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in three years.

We wonder if the “hospitality” from the Japanese beauties has helped her to strengthen her energy for Pyeongchang.

Defending Putin and bashing from around the world

After announcing his challenge for the PyeongChang Olympics, Plushenko was also approved for the ’18 Russian team’s candidate list for the PyeongChang Olympics, but he missed the ’15-’16 season due to a back injury, and in the spring of ’16, he underwent surgery for a cervical hernia. In the spring of ’16, he underwent surgery for a herniated cervical vertebrae, and was inactive for most of the season. Then, in March ’17, he announced his retirement and said he would open a skating academy in the suburbs of Moscow to teach younger skaters.

Yuzuru Hanyu (30) was also an admirer of the “absolute champion. Unexpectedly, Hanyu won the gold medal at the Sochi Olympics when Plushenko abstained during the competition. Surprisingly, the only direct confrontation between the two was in the short program of the team competition in Sochi, which Hanyu won. They did not meet again at the PyeongChang Olympics.

In recent years, Plushenko has been teaching younger skaters at his academy and appearing in ice shows. When the International Skating Federation announced measures to ban the Russian national team from participating in the World Figure Championships in France due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2010, he posted an angry comment on social media.

《I cannot remain silent. We cannot mix sports and politics. This decision is wrong. This is discrimination. We cannot infringe on the rights of sports.

Plushenko’s post itself was an assertion that was sympathetic to the feelings of the athletes. However, when he wrote 《I believe in our president》 at the end of this post, it caused an uproar that drew a great deal of bashing from people in Western countries, including Japan. Furthermore, when Russia and Belarus were excluded from the Beijing Paralympics, he sent enthusiastic cheers to the Russian delegation, despite the intense bashing he received from around the world. It seems that the noble “emperor” is still alive and well.