Over 100! Pluschenko beats his own scoring record

25 Dec, 2009 14:21 / Updated 14 years ago

Figure skater Evgeny Pluschenko, who will be defending his Olympic title in Vancouver, has just broken his own points world record at the Russian Championships in Saint Petersburg.

He has become the first man ever to be awarded more than 100 points for the short program. Pluschenko scored 100.09 points, almost ten better than his previous best.

The 27-year-old had retired after claiming gold at the Turin Olympics in 2006, but he’s now making his comeback.

And, of course, the Russian is among the main contenders for golds in Vancouver.

On the ladies' side, no one has so far matched Muscovite Sofia Biryukova at the Russian championships.

But even if she hangs onto her lead and captures the title, Sofia won't be able to compete internationally as she's only 13 years old.

Current world ice-dancing champions Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin produced the best compulsory dance to take the lead in their category.

And Shabalin is confident they are in the right form to keep impressing in Vancouver.

“We have been preparing this program since July and I think we are in great shape at the moment. We performed exactly how we planned to, but I think we still have a lot in reserve,” Shabalin noted.