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Figure skating-Retired Plushenko to return to competition

By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy MOSCOW, April 17 (Reuters) - Double Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko, who announced his retirement after withdrawing from the individual event at the 2014 Sochi Games because of a back injury, is to return to figure skating. "I am slowly getting back into training and will shortly be getting back to competition," the 32-year-old Russian said in an interview with the TASS news agency. "I am planning to take part in grands prix this autumn and win the right to take part in the final grand prix in Barcelona. "I will need to compete against everyone in the qualification process to get into the Russian squad for the European and world championships," added Plushenko. "This will be the whole season for me. The main goal is preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics." Plushenko won the individual title at the 2006 Olympics and team gold in Sochi last year. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)