Alexei returns as a star

Copyright 2002 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.

When Alexei Yagudin was in Kitchener last December, he sobbed with relief after narrowly winning the Grand Prix figure skating final over arch-rival Yevgeny Plushenko.

When he returns Sunday to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, expect nothing but smiles from the Russian as he performs with Stars on Ice.

Yagudin, a four-time world champion and the only man ever to win the Triple Crown of figure skating -- the European, Grand Prix and world titles -- all in one season, will be having a ball, even though he'll be working harder than ever.

"I love it," the 22-year-old said in a recent phone interview from London, Ont., where he was appearing in the Skate the Nation Tour.

"Emotionally, it's way easier to do shows, but physically, it's way harder."

Coming off gold medal wins at the Salt Lake City Olympics and world championships in Nagano, Japan, Yagudin triple-Axeled right into the show circuit with barely enough time catch his breath

In Skate the Nation, choreographed by Canadian Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, Yagudin is on the ice seven times per show. In Stars on Ice, he does two solos and two or three group numbers.

It's his chance to learn from the seasoned pros who, he said, "know how to play to the public."

"It's a great opportunity for me to learn new steps that I can put into my program," he said.

A program for the next competitive season, perhaps?

Yagudin insisted he is undecided about his future.

He said he's definitely planning to compete in Skate Canada and Skate America next season, but in the next breath added he "could decide tomorrow" to turn professional.

Yagudin dominated the 2001-02 season. "I've got everything," he acknowledged. "But each world title means a lot for me."

So, too, does being on the show circuit with Stars on Ice luminaries like Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, Todd Eldredge, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler and Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz. All of them will perform at the Kitchener stop.

Yagudin said travelling with the other skaters, some considerably older than he is, is like being part of a big family.

"They all care about each other. The skaters are like my second parents."

Yagudin was so dejected when the touring season ended in Vancouver last August that he sat in the dressing room and cried. "I couldn't imagine that everything was over."

Yagudin could be excused for craving a family connection. He trains in Connecticut, half a world away from his family in St. Petersburg. He grew up sharing a tiny two-bedroom apartment with his parents and grandmother.

Yagudin was sickly as a youngster and his mother, Zoya, put him in figure skating at age four in an effort to boost his physical stamina. When he was 12, his parents divorced and Yagudin grew increasingly close to his mother.

"She was father and mother for me -- all I needed," he said.

She still won't watch him compete. "She can't, because it's so emotional," he said.

Yagudin and Plushenko shared the same coach, Alexei Mishin, until the summer of 1998 when Yagudin sought out legendary Russian coach Tatyana Tarasova, who by then was based in the United States.

He hasn't looked back. "I'm happy here," he said.

He also likes skating in Canada, especially in shows. "Canadian fans are No. 1," he said. "During the group numbers, when everyone is so crazy and so loud, that's the best thing I can get from skating."

Olympic gold is sweet, too, he admitted.

Tarasova inspired him before Salt Lake with two simple questions: "If not you, then who? If not now, then when?"

He answered with a superb performance technically and artistically.

Although a favourite with young women fans, Yagudin brushes aside questions about his Sexy Alexei nickname. "I've heard about that, but I don't pay attention," he said.

The skater's closest companion right now is his cocker spaniel, Lawrence. He doesn't have a girlfriend.

But, he added teasingly, "I'm still searching."

ABOUT THE SHOW

If you don't have a ticket yet for Stars on Ice, your chances of getting one are slim.

"We're basically sold out," Wendy Kane, vice-president of winter sports for the show's owner IMG Canada, said yesterday.

"Tickets are very, very limited and they are for individual seating."