Plushenko, Lipnitskaia golden for Russia
Sochi (Russia) (AFP) - National idol Yevgeny Plushenko and rising star Julia Lipnitskaia got hosts Russia off the mark on Sunday sealing gold in the inaugural team figure skating event at the Sochi Olympics.
Watched by President Vladimir Putin, the 31-year-old Plushenko took his fourth Olympic medal after gold in 2006 and silver in 2002 and 2010.
But his achievement was almost overshadowed by Lipnitskaia, who sealed the victory at the age of just 15 to euphoria at the Iceberg Skating Palace.
"I'm 31 years and this means everything to me. It's so much history," said Plushenko.
"It's the first medal for Russia this Olympics. I love being first."
He joins Swede Gillis Grafstroem as the only skater to win four figure skating medals -- three in gold -- between 1920 and 1932.
Lipnitskaia remained solid despite some nerves towards to end of her skate to "Schindler's List" as she struggled to land her final triple jump.
She nevertheless scored a personal best 141.51 points with America's Gracie Gold helping the United States take bronze by finishing second in the women's free skate.
"I was a little bit nervous after Yevgeny because I didn't want to let the team down," said Lipnitskaia, who was not even born when Plushenko won his first world medal in 1998.
"He was very happy for me at the end and congratulated me in the kiss and cry. My main motivation today was not to let the team down."
Russia sealed the gold even before the final round with world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White later earning a standing ovation for their free skate to "Scherherazade" with a new world record score of 113.69.
Olympic champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White of Canada were second with Russians Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov third.
Putin later joined the skaters rinkside wearing the team colours.
"He said 'Well done, but don't relax, you still have the individual events to come'," said ice dancer Ekaterina Bobrova, who competed in the short dance on Saturday.
But it is uncertain whether Plushenko will continue in the men's individual events on February 13 and 14 as he complained of a pain in his back after his performance.
"First I have to rest and talk to the doctors, perhaps implant some more stuff into my back," said Plushenko, who had surgery on his back last year.
Plushenko landed just one quad as he went away from his planned programme to "The Best of Plushenko" made up of fragments of his performances over the years to music by violinist Edvin Marton.
"Today is just a warm up, I'm not skating with Yuzu (Hanyu) or with Patrick Chan so we decided on no quad today but just to skate clean."
He scored 168.20 with Canada's Kevin Reynolds landing three quads to achieve 167.92 and Japan's Tatsuki Machida finishing third with 165.85.
Plushenko said he hoped to compete in the individual events and even target the 2018 Games in South Korea.
"Why not?" He said. "Perhaps I should try, don't know."
The three-time world champion admitted that he had been more worried about his teammates, some of whom were inexperienced at the Olympics.
"They are all very strong skaters but some of them were skating for the first time (at the Winter Games) so I was a little bit nervous for them."
Ice dancer Dmitri Soloviev said: "There's 15 years difference between the youngest and oldest in the team, there's such a huge gulf in ages. But we proved that we deserved the gold medal. We are such a strong team."
The team event, making its debut in Sochi, brought together figure skating four disciplines - men's, women's, pairs and ice dance.
Nations scored points in each of the eight segments -- four short programmes and four free skates, with 10 points per first place, down to one point for 10th.
The hosts won five of the eight sections to take gold with 75 points. Canada took silver with 65 with the United States bronze medallists with 60.
"It was a great first Olympic team event that will go down in history," said White. "It was important getting a medal and doing it as a team."
Canadian pairs skater Kirsten Moore Towers added: "It?s brought us closer as a team cheering everyone on. Of course there is extra stress not only skating for your teammate but also for your team."
The first individual event gets underway on Tuesday with the pairs short programme.
