Evgeny Plushenko was victorious Monday in his first competition since his figure skating silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, but two shaky routines proved much work lies ahead if he is to complete a much-trumpeted comeback.

Plushenko chose the Russian national championships in Saransk as the springboard to revive a glittering career that he seeks to round off with a gold medal at his home Olympics in Sochi in 2014. He admitted he had found the going hard, and had yet to fully recover from knee surgery earlier this year.

"It was tough," Plushenko said. "First and foremost, psychologically. I haven't performed in a long time, and the injury has an effect."

"But I'm happy I'm back, I'm happy I won."

Plushenko skated a rough-around-the-edges free program Monday with a quad toeloop that he fluffed the previous night in the short program. He under-rotated some jumps and stepped out of others, but the ordinary competition meant the points were still enough for his ninth Russian national title.

The 2006 Turin Games gold medalist said landing the quad was "very important, because I needed to conquer the painful fear of a knock to the left leg."

He said he would need a second operation on his knee in the near future, perhaps after the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, starting January 23.

Plushenko's return to the competitive ice since being beaten to the gold by American evan Lysacek in Vancouver has been delayed by injuries and illnesses, as well as a brief disqualification by the International Skating Union after he took part in exhibition events, which is banned under amateur skating rules.