The 27-year-old Russian blamed the system of judging after he placed second behind American Evan Lysacek in Thursday's final.

Plushenko was sure he had successfully defended his title after opening with a tricky quadruple toe-loop- triple toe-loop combination.

But the judges preferred Lysacek's routine which did not include a quad.

The decision has caused anger in Russia, where even Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has come out in support of Plushenko.

Plushenko had claimed he might retire rather than carry on but has now instead reset his sights on Sochi, when Russia will host the Winter Olympics for the first time.

He said: "I would like to compete, I would like to skate in 2014, in Sochi, I'm gonna try, I'm really gonna try."

But he cannot hide his bitterness about what has happened here, claiming that his routine should have scored higher than Lysacek.

Plushenko said: "Take for example the short programme, I did quad combined with triple, he did three triples.

"And the judges gave me only three points more, it's completely...completely...well, I don't understand.

"How is it possible to compete without quads?

"This guy [Lysacek - pictured] cannot jump a quad.

"His skating is very good, but mine is not bad also.

"I agree you need to skate, you need to spin, but you know, I think you don't have just to skate, we need to jump too."

Plushenko, a three-time world champion, won gold in Turin four years ago to add to the silver he won at Salt Lake City in 2002.

He returned from a three-year retirement in a bid to become the first man to win consecutive figure skating gold medals since Dick Button in 1952.

But he lost after struggling on several jump landings in his free skate, scoring less technically than Lysacek.

Plushenko said: "Take [Elvis] Stojko for example, he was skating 15 years ago and he was doing quads.

"In 2002 in Salt Lake, [Alexei] Yagudin won with two quads

"Let's say I'm happy with my performance, I'm not happy with the result.

"But we can talk for two more years about that, nothing changes, nothing.

"My spin is not bad, my steps are not bad, my performance here was much better than in the European Championships, I had transitions, I had more choreography."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
February 2010: Putin tells Plushenko that he is worth gold as Russian anger grows