Even with a creaking knee, Yevgeny Plushenko proved that he was still the 'King on Ice' as the Russian showman obliterated his rivals to win a seventh European championship crown on Saturday.
In his first international competition since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Plushenko showed that he lost none of the swagger or acrobatic skills that have become his trademark as he ran off with the title by a huge margin of almost 15 points.
The 2006 Olympic champion's flawless exhibition to El Tango de Roxanne from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack meant he has now remained unbeaten in Europe since 2005.
His closest challenger in Sheffield was Russian training partner Artur Gachinski. France's Florent Amodio, winner 12 months ago, finished third.
Plushenko's score of 261.23 showed that his bid for a gold medal at his home Olympics in Sochi in 2014 is not just a pipe dream and he was quick to fire off a warning to his rivals.
"I'm very proud of myself. When I'm healthy, I can skate a little bit more and a little bit better," the 29-year-old, who will skip the world championships in March while recovering from knee surgery, told reporters.
"My dream is (competing at the) Sochi 2014 Games and of course I would like to be on the podium."
Rivals such as world champion Patrick Chan, Gachinski and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi would no doubt have breathed a sigh of relief that they will not have to worry about Plushenko in Nice this year.
If they had hoped that a two-year break and Plushenko's advancing years would have slowed him down and made him a rank outsider for the major titles they were clearly mistaken.
The dress code for the men's free programme appeared to be white shirts and black sparkling suits and Plushenko got lost in a crowd while warming up in the final group of skaters.
But once the distinctive sounds of El Tango started to float around the arena, there was not mistaking his flying mane of blond hair as he pulled off 11 soaring jumps, including a quadruple toeloop.
Plushenko had opted not to attempt the quad in his short programme on Thursday due to his dodgy knee but on Saturday he went all out to impress the judges and was the only skater among the top six contenders to pull off a clean display.
His gamble not only paid off but even had his usually poker-faced coach Alexei Mishin slamming the side hoardings in delight.
In his first international competition since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Plushenko showed that he lost none of the swagger or acrobatic skills that have become his trademark as he ran off with the title by a huge margin of almost 15 points.
The 2006 Olympic champion's flawless exhibition to El Tango de Roxanne from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack meant he has now remained unbeaten in Europe since 2005.
His closest challenger in Sheffield was Russian training partner Artur Gachinski. France's Florent Amodio, winner 12 months ago, finished third.
Plushenko's score of 261.23 showed that his bid for a gold medal at his home Olympics in Sochi in 2014 is not just a pipe dream and he was quick to fire off a warning to his rivals.
"I'm very proud of myself. When I'm healthy, I can skate a little bit more and a little bit better," the 29-year-old, who will skip the world championships in March while recovering from knee surgery, told reporters.
"My dream is (competing at the) Sochi 2014 Games and of course I would like to be on the podium."
Rivals such as world champion Patrick Chan, Gachinski and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi would no doubt have breathed a sigh of relief that they will not have to worry about Plushenko in Nice this year.
If they had hoped that a two-year break and Plushenko's advancing years would have slowed him down and made him a rank outsider for the major titles they were clearly mistaken.
The dress code for the men's free programme appeared to be white shirts and black sparkling suits and Plushenko got lost in a crowd while warming up in the final group of skaters.
But once the distinctive sounds of El Tango started to float around the arena, there was not mistaking his flying mane of blond hair as he pulled off 11 soaring jumps, including a quadruple toeloop.
Plushenko had opted not to attempt the quad in his short programme on Thursday due to his dodgy knee but on Saturday he went all out to impress the judges and was the only skater among the top six contenders to pull off a clean display.
His gamble not only paid off but even had his usually poker-faced coach Alexei Mishin slamming the side hoardings in delight.
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