Plushenko no irá al mundial de patinaje en Torino 2010

MOSCOW - Olympic silver medallist Evgeni Plushenko has been ruled out of the upcoming world figure skating championships on medical grounds, it was reported by RIA Novosti news agency Friday.

Russian figure skating federation chief Valentin Piseyev said Plushenko would miss the March 23-27 competition in Turin on doctor's orders.

The 27-year-old Russian previously won the world titles in 2001, 2003 and 2004.

"On Thursday Yevgeny underwent thorough medical testing," Piseyev said.

"Some of Russia's top sport specialists recommended him to undergo a course of treatment and to completely withdraw from any physical activity in the next two weeks."

"Otherwise, his knees, that have been repeatedly operated in previous years can (suffer)," Russian figure skating chief added.

"We decided to follow their advice as Yevgeny has seriously decided to continue his career and perform at Sochi Olympics (in 2014)."

Piseyev said Sergei Voronov would replace Plushenko in the country's squad at Turin championships.

Plushenko, who was also silver medalist at Salt Lake City, lost his Olympic crown from Turin to American Evan Lysacek at the Vancouver Games last month.

However, Plushenko vowed that he would not take the loss of his title lightly, adding that he was determined to regain his Olympic title in 2014.

The Russian skater returned to competition this season after retiring for three years following his Olympic success in 2006.

He wanted to defend his Olympic title and also to show that the sport needed the quadruple jump after the last two world championships were won without one.

But he lost out to world champion Lysacek who won gold in Vancouver without even attempting the difficult four-rotation jump.

In an interview with Russian media, Plushenko slammed the judges for his defeat.

"I am not prepared to skate well and lose," Plushenko complained. "This is men's figure skating - not ice dancing."

Plushenko insisted he would have won under the old system which rewarded jumps more highly.

"Of course, I'm not happy with the result," he said. "I was sure that I had won my second Olympic Games. But this is the new system, the quad is not valued anymore.

"I thought it was enough and it should have been enough. Apparently this is what figure skating needs today," he added.