Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko, who withdrew from the individual competitions at the Sochi Games due to injury, said that the operation on his spine will be shown to television viewers, ITAR-TASS reports.

"There will be an operation on March 2, they will take out one of the four screws that is broken. I think many will see it, because I want to show how it will happen," said Plushenko.

At the same time, the figure skater confirmed that the operation would be shown live. However, he did not reveal any details, noting only that "it will be some kind of live broadcast." Answering a clarifying question about what program it could be on, the figure skater only said: "Not Malakhov, why?"

According to Plushenko, only after the operation will it be possible to talk about the future prospects of his sports career. "This time I will not rush," he said. "A year ago I had an operation, and I needed to make it in time to perform at my home Olympics, but now I have plenty of time," he explained. "I need to recover properly, without rushing, so that there are no such consequences," the figure skater added.

Plushenko said that, according to doctors, out of 50,000 such screws that had to be used for his treatment, only two or three break. "It's good that everything ended this way, because there could have been complete paralysis or some other consequences," he noted.

By showing his surgery on live TV, the skater most likely wanted to dispel possible speculations about his health. Let us recall that in 2013, after the athlete announced that he had undergone a spinal surgery, many doubted this fact, and the skater was accused of excessive PR.

Plushenko was injured at the 2013 European Championships in Zagreb, which took place from January 21 to 27. During the short program, the skater fell and withdrew from the competition on the recommendation of doctors due to a back injury. Immediately after this, Plushenko went to Israel for treatment, where he underwent surgery. Doctors allowed the Russian athlete to perform jumps in June 2013.

Plushenko: The screw from his back will be pulled out live on air