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http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031102.wyags02/BNStory/Sports/?query=figure+skating
By BEVERLEY SMITH
Globe and Mail Update
Mississauga, Ont. — Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin said farewell, but not forever, to his Canadian fans at the Skate Canada International Grand Prix event Sunday.
He''s Russian, but skating-mad fans in Canada who appreciated his sheer athleticism, his flying footwork, and the dramatic way he wore his soul on his sleeve, adopted Yagudin as one of their own. The love affair went both ways.
Last week, Yagudin announced his retirement from Olympic-eligible skating, but vows he will return — and soon — to pro competitions. He''s already signed up for the World Team Challenge in Vancouver on Dec. 3.
Yagudin won nine of 11 competitions during the 1998-99 season, his first under the tutelage of famous Russian coach/choreographer Tatiana Tarasova. At age 18, he became the second youngest world champion in history, then went on to win three more.
At the Salt Lake City Olympics, Yagudin earned four perfect scores of 6.0; No other Olympic skater ever earned more than one. At the world championships that followed in Nagano, judges gave him six perfect scores for his short program, one of them for required elements.
He''s the only skater to have won four major events in one season: Grand Prix Final, European championships, world championships and Olympics. He prepared for his 2002 Olympic win in Calgary.
Yagudin was to have competed at two Grand Prix events this season, but withdrew from them recently. He was disappointed not to have been picked for Skate Canada, where he won a gold medal with an emotional Gladiator routine three years ago.
A serious hip injury curtailed his amateur season last year but Yagudin said Sunday his hip did not drive him out of the Olympic-eligible world.
The young Russian got special permission from the International Skating Union to perform two routines after the Parade of Champions exhibition that closed Skate Canada Sunday. Only the competitors who skated all week are allowed to show off their wares at the exhibition, but Yagudin took to the ice later. Almost everybody in the audience stayed.
A fan''s flag, held by rinkside, showed an affection for Yagudin that has endured. It was an alternate version of the Canadian flag, with a heart instead of a maple leaf in the centre, and Alexei''s name splashed in big black letters across its face.
When Yagudin first stepped on the ice, the large crowd gave him a noisy standing ovation. Yagudin fought back tears. "I''m such a lucky person that I have met so many people in this country," Yagudin told them. "You have always supported me in bad times and in good times. . . . I always skate for your smiles and your applause."
He admitted afterward he was so overwhelmed with emotion, that his legs "were destroyed,
"It was so hard to skate today," he said. "It was not a regular exhibition. I was so nervous, that I could barely skate." When he flew into Toronto, he said he felt as nervous as he did before the Olympics. His routines were a shadow of his ability, skated slowly, but with heart. He wasn''t really in shape either. After he had surgery on the hip earlier this year, he said it took a long time to recover. He did not skate for more than two months. When he tried to return to skating, his hip began to bother him again, and he was off the ice for another 1 1/2 months.
However, he said in practice, he can still land quadruple jumps; there are a couple of triple jumps that bother him more. It was hard to force himself to work out, he said.
His future will revolve around coaching, skating in pro competitions and possibly getting involved somehow in the music and film world, he said Sunday. He vows he will bring pro skating back to a high level with his talents. He is a part of the extensive Stars On Ice tour.
Yagudin has already attended two Junior Grand Prix events as a coach, watching Tarasova in action..
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