Olympic men's figure skating champion Alexei Yagudin is going to retire from amateur competition.
Russian Figure Skating Federation president Valentin Piseyev told Reuters that Yagudin was planning to officially announce his decision at a news conference in New York on Saturday.
He said the federation had received a fax from Yagudin saying he will no longer compete in the sport as an amateur skater. Yagudin has been troubled by a persistent hip injury for more than a year, forcing him to miss most of last season.
The 23-year-old Russian, who has lived in the United States for the last few years, underwent surgery last May in New York to alleviate the pain, but the problem remained.
Yagudin won world, Olympic and European men's figure skating titles during the 2001-2002 season.