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Gladiator Gone Global

Alexei Yagudin

April 8, 2007
Interview & Photos © Kathleen Bangs
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2002 Olympic gold medalist and four-time World champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia.

Walking the downtown streets of Baltimore, Alexei Yagudin pauses in front of a storefront window for a photograph. It's a tiny mirror shop, next to a café, and in this European-style neighborhood, one could momentarily imagine they've found themselves transported to a distant Paris or Prague. A collection of small antique mirrors, some gilded and some plain, hang in the long windows. A myriad of reflections cast an array of the Olympic champion's image, each variation a metaphorical facet of the expanding sport, entertainment and business universe that now revolves around the twenty-seven year old's increasingly hectic life. It is almost the end of the US Stars On Ice tour, but that means in only a few days he'll join Russia's major Ice Symphony tour.

Both superlative skill and showmanship long ago rendered pre-show practice sessions unnecessary for the four-time World champion. Yet on this day, Yagudin decides a practice is in order, mainly to prepare for the upcoming Japan Open Pro Am. With the spirit of an upcoming fight in his mind, Yagudin was happy to reel off a triple lutz-triple toe combination. A few minutes later he is ecstatic with the return of an old friend in the steady landing of his first triple axel in four years. It was a jump Yagudin owned not so long ago, a trademark triple axel regarded by the sport as huge, powerful and consistent. He may have quit the eligible arena of competition in 2002, stating, "There is nothing left to win", but true gladiators never fade away, they just find new arenas to wage new battles.

Kathleen: On April 29th, you'll be competing in Tokyo at the Japan Open Pro-Am event. How did you do last year at this competition?

Alexei: I was last (laughs). But I feel like something big happened today, and now I hope I'm ready for Japan. That was my first triple axel in four years, and my first triple lutz - triple toeloop combination in a long time. It's one thing to be able to do it at the practice when you're kind of playing, but another thing completely to do it at the competition. Lots of skaters can land the jumps at practice, but that's not what counts. Nothing really counts except what happens on competition ice. Losers can do lots of things at the practice.

Kathleen: At this event you're going up against eligible figure skaters who are in their prime and still competing?

Alexei: At last year's Japan Open my spins and steps were fine. I got good levels and artistically I was second behind Stephane Lambiel (two-time world champion). It was the technical mark that worked against me. I did only four jumps and they were trying quads, and still I wasn't that far behind, but I just couldn't get enough points with the jumps that I had.

Kathleen: What placement at this year's event would make you happy, or at least satisfied?

Alexei: (Long pause) To be in the top six (laughs). Seriously, it depends on how the other people skate. If I do the max and do what I did today – the triple axel and the triple lutz combination – I still can't be first against the best guys in the world.

Kathleen: Your former protégé, Brian Joubert, just won his first world championship. And now the two of you will compete together on Team Europe at the Japan Open. What are your thoughts on Joubert getting what many would call a much-deserved and long overdue world title?

Alexei: Well, it's interesting considering that last year he did two quads in an almost perfect long program, and came in second. This year he won with just one quad. But I'm just really happy for him. I know the French haven't won a world title in a long time, and it's more interesting for the sport if it's not just the same one person winning over and over again. For instance, in tennis sometimes it's cool when someone other than Roger Federer wins, because even though he's a great player to watch, the occasional defeat keeps things exciting.

Kathleen: Brian was so close to the top in previous years, coming in second place at the 2004 World championships. Then in 2005 he had that disastrous free skate in Moscow at the World championships, and a disappointing sixth-place finish at the 2006 Olympics. What do you think got him back up to the top of his game?

Alexei: You cannot be good or bad all of the time. It always goes up and down. There were a couple of years when he struggled, but he's a talented figure skater. If you keep working hard, one day it will come to you, so I guess he had his day. After seeing him land three quads in a single program at this season's Cup of Russia, I knew he was capable of getting the world title, and also hopefully of giving that kind of performance again for the Vancouver Olympics. That's not until 2010, a long ways away. This season he won everything, so now he has to strategize what is the best way to go during the next three years to get an Olympic gold medal.

Kathleen: If you had to the pick one outstanding characteristic of Brian that made him a world champion, what would it be?

Alexei: His stubbornness. He's a very stubborn person. That's not a bad thing, especially when you have to fight and you have to be strong. So, it's a more positive than negative thing for him.

Kathleen: In 1998 you made a rather brave act for a teenager and moved, alone, to the US to train with coach Tatiana Tarasova. You were very happy in the US and the first time I interviewed you, back in 2002, when asked what you missed most about Russia, besides your family, you had a surprising response.

Alexei: Yes. I said that I missed nothing about Russia.

Kathleen: Obviously things have changed. Two years ago you moved back.

Alexei: When I moved back in May of 2005, it was almost as big of an adjustment as it was when I first moved to the US in 1998. Essentially I left Russia an uncertain boy and returned a man. During the first months I was back in St. Petersburg I was trying to figure out what was going on with the country politically, socially, and just how in general people lived. What was happening with the economy, what types of businesses were working, that sort of thing, and about the different laws. Things had definitely changed, especially Moscow, it had become a different world.

In previous visits to Moscow I remembered that as soon as I'd get to the train station in the center of the city there would be so many gypsies and homeless people, and it was just generally dirty and rundown. I always had a negative feeling about Moscow. Now it is like visiting a museum. Things are new and there are so many modern buildings and conveniences. Everything has been remodeled and they have built so much new stuff and there is interesting architecture popping up everywhere. There is even a China Town going up. You can see a strong European influence, but in some places also a North American influence. There are very upscale stores and malls, and a very wealthy upper class exists to support all of this.

Kathleen: For years you've been successfully involved in real estate holdings here in the US and in Canada. Now you've started your first business in Russia, a limousine service. People from Moscow have told me that over half of all businesses in Russia are mafia controlled, and that the corruption is rampant. How do you handle that environment and what effect does it have on your business?

Alexei: You know, it's like in life you have a safety box, but for every safety box you still always need to have a key. You have to find a right way to deal with things. I started the transportation business, what you would call a limo service, last year. I know that there are laws in Russia, and that not everyone really cares about them, yet they suddenly care and remember the laws when they need help. Honestly, if you do everything by the book, you're going to be totally fine.

I'm proud of my business. Right now we're operating cars only in St. Petersburg, but there is plenty of work there because there is a lot of tourism and so many new hotels. Our clients can get transfers from the airport to hotels, or if they'll be in town on business they can hire the car and the driver to chauffer them around and act as a translator. All of my drivers speak another language besides Russian, and right now we can accommodate German, French and English. The company presently operates ten cars, mostly Renault and Opel. I'm trying to import some Lincoln Town cars for the VIP service which includes cell phones, DVD players and wireless internet.

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