At the beginning of the summer, two Olympic champions had aspirations of competing again this season after taking last year off. And now, at the beginning of the season, one of them is definitely in but the other needs yet another surgery.

2014 Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova showed off her new programs this past weekend in Sochi as part of a Russian domestic event. And just following that debut, Team Russia added her to the lineup of Rostelecom Cup. It will be her first international competition since winning the Olympics a year and a half ago.

2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, however, had another injury setback as he will need surgery to repair a cracked disk. He will miss the rest of the season but still maintains hopes of making it to the 2018 Olympics. At the Sochi Olympics, Plushenko withdrew from the individual competition with a back injury after helping Team Russia win the first-ever Olympic team event.