Russian figure skating royalty felt right at home in the Iceberg Skating Palace as they gave the host country the lead in the first Olympic team competition in the sport.
The crowd roared its appreciation for Evgeny Plushenko, who has competed only twice in international competitions since winning the silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics four years ago.
At age 31, Plushenko landed his quadruple toeloop/triple toeloop combination, followed in quick succession by a triple axel and a triple lutz in his fourth Olympics. Plushenko was the 2006 Olympic champion and was also second in 2002.
Only 19-year-old Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan scored more points than Plushenko in the 10-man field.
"I’m feeling good," Plushenko told reporters. "I’m in front of you. Still alive. And not dead."
Russian world champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov were then superb in the pairs event. Trankov gallantly kissed his partners hand after they performed their best short program of the season. They also had the highest point total among 10 pairs to give Russia the lead on the first of three days of team competition.
Russia has 19 points, followed by Canada with 17, China with 15, and Japan with 13. Germany, France and the United States were in a three-way tie for fifth place with 10 points.
In the team event, figure skating has returned to the old "ordinals" point system with a twist. Now first place gets 10 points, second place gets 9 points, all the way down to 1 point for 10th place.
The ladies and ice dancing short programs will be held Saturday. Only the top five teams will advance to skate a long program. The pairs long program will cap the Saturday schedule. The men, ladies, and ice dancing long programs will be Sunday with the first medals in the event at stake.
Plushenko’s participation at these Olympics had been controversial. He had wanted only to compete in the team event, but officials insisted he also participate in the men’s singles.
"Believe me, it is so difficult skating an Olympics at home because many people are here, waiting for something incredible," Plushenko said.
He said it was hard to concentrate, but was happy he skated a clean program, especially after 12 surgeries.
The crowd chanted "Ross-i-ya! Ross-i-ya" when he came onto the ice. Many people waved flags.
"Sometimes it helps when people clap, but today I felt kind of dizzy," Plushenko said. "But it’s my fourth Olympic Games, so it was fun. It’s something new for me."
Plushenko said the noise came "from there, from there, from there, from everywhere."
However, the Iceberg wasn’t full. With an occupancy of 12,000 for figure skating, the upper sections were packed, but the lower bowl had large sections of empty seats. Some were filled as the evening wore on, but an estimate placed attendance at about 8,000.
Around the Rings asked a Sochi 2014 staff member for an official attendance figure. She was gone a few minutes, then returned to the press room and shrugged her shoulders.
There were enough enthusiastic spectators to perform the first "wave" of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
"That was great," said U.S. pairs skater Marissa Castelli, who was fifth with partner Simon Shnapir. "It was a little relaxing. It just felt great to be in there."
Added Shnapir, who was born in Russia, "Skating in Russia is huge, of course. The energy in the building we felt all night long."
A team event has been held only twice before, both times in Japan at a competition called the World Team Trophy. Canada won in 2013.
In the "kiss and cry" area, skaters are joined by their teammates to hear their scores. The Germans brought a cowbell.
"We’re all cheering for each other. It’s just amazing to be part of that team," said Castelli.
Written by Karen Rosen in Sochi
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