Mar 15, 2005 4 min read

MOSCOW (AP) – Struggling and slowed by injury, defending champion Evgeni Plushenko and Johnny Weir pushed their aching bodies through the qualifying round Monday at the figure skating world championships. Plushenko was solid but far from his best. Weir, the American expected to be the Russian’s toughest challenger, needed two injections of painkillers and a stern talk with himself before taking the ice.

The pairs short program featured defending champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia, compatriots Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov and China’s silver medallists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo in the first three places.

Totmianina and Marinin’s season has been a physical and psychological grind. But after a near-flawless program full of flowing moves accompanied by Schubert’s “Ave Maria” that earned 70.12 points, Totmianina said her horrifying fall at Skate America has faded into memory so much that she’s become bored talking about it.

“The answers are like ones learned by heart,” she said.

Petrova’s and Tikhonov’s tango program had some discrepancies, but they eased ahead of Shen and Zhao, who were off their acrobatic peak of breathtaking twists and precisely coordinated spins.

“Most of the problems are due to my foot injury, which is still bothering me,” Zhao said.

Switzerland’s Stephane Lambiel, who’s never won a major international competition, demonstrated some vivid precision skating to lead his qualifying group with 152 points – just ahead of the 151.90 that Plushenko recorded in winning the other group.

A new scoring system is in place for the first time at the worlds following the 2002 Olympic judging scandal.

Even an off-day for Plushenko is like a performance most skaters only dream of, and his qualifying performance underscored his assured landings and his evolving sophisticated style. But although his opening triple-triple-double cascade was precise, it paled in comparison to the quad-triple-triple series he has executed at his best. He didn’t even try a single quad.

“It was tough to skate,” Plushenko said. “I still can’t recover my breath because of a tightening in my back. It’s difficult to breathe.”

“He was skating beyond his maximum because of that long absence from practice he’d had because of his groin injury,” said his coach, Alexei Mishin. “Now he has pains in his back. It was not clear even this morning if he would be able to skate today.”

Weir also was tested. Because of tendonitis in his left landing foot, he took two painkiller injections about an hour before skating. But 15 minutes before he had to take the ice, he didn’t think he could do it. Then pride and discipline kicked in, goaded by memories of the 2003 U.S. championships when he stopped in the middle of the free skate.

“I don’t want to quit again,” Weir said. “That wasn’t my style and I don’t want to be that person again.”

He started well with a triple axel and had three more triples before things started to unravel, doubling a loop, eliminating a double axel, and singling a flip. He finished third in the group, behind Plushenko and Germany’s Stefan Lindemann.

In the morning qualification, Lambiel beat last year’s silver medallist, Brian Joubert of France. Joubert was the first skater of the morning and fell once. Evan Lysacek of the United States with 128.50 was third, just 3.5 points behind Joubert.

Lysacek, 19, said competing in his first worlds was “awesome.”

“I put a bit too much steam into the second triple axel, but that happens and I try to learn with each competition,” Lysacek said.

Japan’s Takeshi Honda, two-time bronze medallist, attempting a comeback after missing most of the previous season, sprained his left ankle on his opening jump and withdrew.