Plushenko second after short program at European C'ships

SHEFFIELD, England — Evgeni Plushenko got upstaged by his own training partner.

Artur Gachinski snatched the lead from the 2006 Olympic champion at the European Figure Skating Championships Thursday after Plushenko opted not to do a quadruple jump in the short program.

Gachinski completed a quad and he finished with 84.80 points, a mere 0.09 points ahead of Plushenko. Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic, the 2008 European champion, was third (81.14 points), just ahead of emerging star Javier Fernandez of Spain (80.11).

"I'm pleased with the performance considering the circumstances. A program without a quad was like a trip into the past," said Plushenko, who returned to competition last month for the first time since 2010.

The three-time world champion has a long history of knee and back injuries, and he decided to start his program with a triple lutz rather than the quad so as not to aggravate them.

"When I do the quad toe, I need three or four minutes to recover from the pain," Plushenko said. "Therefore we decided not to do the quad today. It was either doing a program without the quad or not competing, and I want to finish this competition."

Still, it speaks volumes that Plushenko is in contention for his seventh European title without even trying that hardest of jumps in his showy routine, set to the emotional "Storm" by Yanni. A master at thrilling audiences, Plushenko hasn't lost the art of playing the showman.

Enticing the judges by circling in front of them before his routine, the triple world champion was all smiles as he gave a performance full of energy and expression. At one point, he aimed a kick in front of a TV camera at the end of the rink, with his mouth wide open.

His jumps were largely spot on, too, with a triple axel particularly impressing the judges.

At 18, Gachinski is 11 years younger than Plushenko. He has drawn comparisons to Plushenko because of his eye-catching shock of blonde hair and also training with Alexei Mishin, Plushenko's longtime coach. He showed Thursday he is a worthy successor to Plushenko. He was the only skater among the top men to do a clean quad, which is a must-have jump for male competitors these days.

Not only did the teenager score 15.83 from his dazzling opening quad toe-triple toe combination, the bronze medalist at last year's world championships received the highest levels for his spins.

Defending champion Florent Amodio of France, who is fourth with 78.48 points, wobbled after a quad salchow.

SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA — Agnes Zawadzki sure knows how to shake things up.

The U.S. junior champ only two years ago, Zawadzki outskated not one, not two, but three former winners Thursday night to claim the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

One of the few women to skate cleanly, her sultry routine to a blues medley earned her 66.24 points and put her three points ahead of defending champion Alissa Czisny going into the free skate Saturday. Ashley Wagner was third.

Mirai Nagasu, the 2008 U.S. champ, was fifth after botching her opening jump. Rachael Flatt, the 2010 winner, was way down in ninth after a lackluster performance in front of an enthusiastic hometown crowd.

"I'm really excited," Zawadzki said, still grinning 15 minutes after she got off the ice. "Everything's finally clicked."

Earlier Thursday, Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker took a big lead in the pairs competition, winning the short program by more than four points.

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