One of my favorite skaters in the late 1990s, early 2000s, was Russia's Alexei Yagudin. I first saw a 16-year-old Alexei skate on TV when he competed in the 1997 Champions Series Final in Hamilton, Ontario. Alexei's rendition of Bizet's "Carmen" was a bit rough around the edges, but I was impressed with the sheer force of his triple jumps and his overall dramatic impact. It was clear that Alexei was not only a powerful athlete, but a skater who understood the presentation side of the sport. Everyone predicted that Alexei would be a star of the future, but no one could have predicted how soon that would happen. The very next year, Alexei was World Champion, winning the title over veteran American champion Todd Eldredge on Todd's home soil in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 1998 World title was the first of three consecutive World Championships in Alexei's career (98-00). He added a fourth World title in 2002 when he competed at the championship in Nagano, Japan (the same site as the 1998 Olympics) after winning his Olympic Gold Medal in Salt Lake City, Utah. Alexei's final World title in 2002 was extra sweet because the previous year at the 2001 Worlds in Vancouver, Canada, he lost his World title to his young Russian rival, Evgeni Plushenko.
Alexei and Evgeny used to be training mates under famed Russian coach, Alexei Mishin, before Alexei left to train with Tatiana Tarasova, the same coach who led Ilia Kulik to an Olympic Gold medal in men's singles and Oksana Gritchuk and Evgeni Platov to Olympic gold in ice dancing at the 1998 Games in Nagano. It was rumored that Alexei left Mishin because he felt his coach was showing favoritism toward Plushenko and spending more time with the young prodigy, who is two years younger than Alexei. At the Salt Lake City Olympics, the two Russian teammates were referred to as "bitter rivals". Whether the rivalry was fabricated or blown out of proportion as a tactic by the television company to create more drama and viewer interest, or was actually real, I do not know. In any case, the competition between the two skaters was an exciting time for skating fans.
In In the 2000-01 season, Alexei was convincingly defeated by Evgeni in the European Championships, the Russian Nationals, The Grand Prix Final, and the World Championships in the 2000-01 season. Alexei was struggling with a painful foot injury and consistency. Despite his struggles, Alexei produced an unforgettable short program to Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude" en route to his World Silver medal. For his stellar short program, he landed a colossal quadruple toe loop, triple toe loop combination, a triple axel, and a triple lutz. Alexei also put on an uninhibited display of heart and guts, receiving a standing ovation, and accolades from fans and skating experts alike. He proved that despite an up-and-down competitive season, no other skater could reach his level of passion, emotion, and audience connection.
Though Alexei finished second that year in Vancouver, the defeat turned out to be a good thing, as it fueled him to enter the following Olympic season with a vengeance. That season, he won every event he entered, defeating Evgeni in every encounter.
Since Alexei left the amateur ranks in the fall of 2002, he has been greatly missed. He toured with Stars on Ice for a few years---and I was fortunate enough to see him skate live--but I haven't seen him perform for many years since he moved back to St. Petersburg, Russia. Alexei remains one of my favorite skaters of all time.
Enjoy Alexei's "Revolutionary Etude" by Chopin:
For a video of Alexei skating his short program to "Winter" at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, click here: http://susanfieldofgold.blogspot.com/2011/02/mid-terms-study-break-alexei-yagudins.html
For a video of Alexei's version of "Carmen" from the '96-97 season, as well as a video of his main rival Evgeni Plushenko's version of "Carmen" from the 2002 Winter Olympics (where Evgeni finished second to Alexei), click here: http://susanfieldofgold.blogspot.com/2010/11/battle-of-carmens-round-1.html
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