No show Plushenko

The talented Plushenko has had to cancel his Lausanne appearance Keystone Archive

Russian figure skating star Evgeny Plushenko has been forced to pull out of next week's European championships in the Swiss city of Lausanne because of a hernia injury.

The 19-year-old world and European champion announced his withdrawal on Tuesday. As well as being a blow for the Swiss organisers, Plushenko’s injury looks set to seriously hamper the Russian’s own preparations for next month’s Winter Olympics.

With his injury expected to take around three weeks to clear, Plushenko may only be able to resume training some ten days before the Salt Lake City spectacle.

The Lausanne event had already been deprived of two other crowd-pleasing Russians after double world champions Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were forced to pull out of the pairs event.

The duo ruled themselves out after Bereschnaja injured her ankle.

The organisers in Lausanne can still boast a strong field of competitors, however, with reigning European women’s champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia and the Italian European and world ice dance champions Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio among the big names on show.

swissinfo with agencies