The president of the International Olympic...

Plushenko, 27, won the Olympic silver medal in the men"s free skating, beat out by the U.S."s Evan Lysacek who took the gold medal. He disagreed with the result, saying he should have been given the gold. He did not want to take part in the traditional victory lap and hurried to remove the silver medal from his neck.

"He [Plushenko] should respect his competitors, which I think he does. He has probably pronounced some words in the emotion of disappointment, but definitely he has to respect his opponents, of course," the Los Angeles Times quoted Jacques Rogge as saying Saturday.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said earlier that Plushenko"s silver medal is "worth gold," while many fans and sports commentators supported Plushenko as well.

"I think he was very disappointed, obviously, and some times in disappointment, you express things you wouldn"t express at another time," Rogge also said.

Plushenko called Lysacek"s performance "a dance" rather than

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