Editing Evgeni Plushenko (section)

===2002–2006===
At the [[2002 Winter Olympics]], Plushenko and Yagudin were considered co-favorites.<ref name=nyt2002oly /> Plushenko finished 4th in the short program after falling on his quadruple toe loop,<ref name=ap020212 /> but skated a free skating to "Carmen" and pulled up to finish in 2nd place overall.<ref name=ap020214 />

Plushenko won most of the competitions he entered in the following four years.<ref name=isucr /> He finished second only twice. The first time was to [[Emanuel Sandhu]] at the [[2003–04 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final|2003–04 Grand Prix Final]] for misunderstanding the new [[ISU Judging System]] which was now in use. The second was the [[2004 European Figure Skating Championships|2004 European Championships]], where he lost to [[Brian Joubert]]. He had a difficult 2004–05 season. At the [[2005 World Figure Skating Championships|2005 World Championships]] in [[Moscow]], Russia, an injury forced him to withdraw after the short program. He eventually required groin surgery. He underwent surgery to correct the problem in [[Munich]], Germany in spring 2005.

Going into the [[2006 Winter Olympics]] in [[Turin]], Italy, Plushenko was the overwhelming favorite because of his past success under the new judging system.<ref name=nyt2006oly /> Plushenko skated two solid programs and became the Olympic champion. He finished the short program ten points ahead of his closest rival, setting a new ISU record for the short program.<ref name=usat060216 /> His free skating was just as strong, and also set a new ISU record.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/phsmfs.htm |title=Progression Of Highest Scores |publisher=Isuresults.com |access-date=13 February 2014}}</ref> Plushenko's free skating music was specially arranged for him by violinist [[Edvin Marton]].