Evgeny Plushenko has been cleared to skate in the European figure skating championships in Sheffield, England, next month, despite not having accrued enough points on this season's circuit to qualify, a Russian skating official said on Friday.
Plushenko hopes to use the championships as the next stage in his career revival after returning to the ice this month for the first time since winning silver at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
International Skating Union rules say for entry into the event, which the 29-year-old Russian has won six times, competitors are required to have put in at least one reasonable performance in preceding international competitions.
But Alexander Gorshkov, the head of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, told RIA Novosti that after an appeal, the ISU granted Plushenko a place at the January 23-29 event.
Plushenko on Monday won the Russian national championships, his first appearance since losing out on the Vancouver gold to American Evan Lysacek. The win came despite an nagging injury to his left knee. He said the knee would require surgery after the European championships.
