Alexandre Fadeev finds a balanced life

[SailorGalaxia518]

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

For several years after 1985 world men's champion and four-time European champion Alexandre "Sasha" Fadeev and his wife, Cydèle moved to Arlington Heights, Ill., they found themselves working six and seven days a week. He taught at as many as nine rinks, and she was the skating director in Park Ridge.

"I liked being skating director, but it was wearing me down a little bit," says Cydèle. "We hardly saw each other. We hardly took vacations together."

[Hsuhs]

Oh, Alexandre Fadeev, I remember him. And I remember him being blond! So I went to youtube, and yes, back in those days he indeed had blond hair.

"Skating's technical level was very difficult, and everybody was trying to reach this goal," he says. "Now, with the judging system, you don't have to reach that because it's not promoting that. For example, back then the quadruple meant a lot. In present day, it seems the quadruple doesn't mean anything.

"I was doing quadruples -- such as Salchow and toe loop -- and I know what it takes to even do it in a program," he adds. "It's not just physical, it's mental. It's major, major work. This is gone."

I disagree with the above, as I think quads still mean something, just not as much as they used to. Quads are pretty (if done well).

Also, I personally am glad to see a childfree couple of former skaters doing so well and being happy together.

[Medusa]

They find life in the Midwest very much to their liking. Sasha is now a U.S. citizen and says he hasn't been back to Russia since the end of the Soviet Union.

Huh? Not even once?

"Skating's technical level was very difficult, and everybody was trying to reach this goal," he says. "Now, with the judging system, you don't have to reach that because it's not promoting that. For example, back then the quadruple meant a lot. In present day, it seems the quadruple doesn't mean anything.

Joubert probably paid him to say that . But I totally agree of course. Fadeev !

[mskater93]

Sasha's pretty busy here. Oh, and when he's not, he talks about fishing. A lot. He's even brought in a cooler of fish for other ex-soviet skaters (that he caught)

[isk82]

He also toured with Brian and Katarina and was always fun to watch.

Nice article!

[lcd]

A terrific athlete in his day. Triple axels with ease. Wonderful to hear he is enjoying a happy and satisfying life still connected with the sport.