Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin ( rus, Алексей Константинович Ягудин, , ɐlʲɪˈksʲeɪ̯ kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪt͡ɕ ɪ̯ɪˈɡudʲɪn, Ru-Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin.ogg; 18 March 1980) is a Russian former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. He is the 2002 Olympic champion, a four-time

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002), a three-time European champion (1998, 1999, 2002), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (1998–1999, 2001–2002), the 1996 World Junior champion, and a two-time World Professional champion (1998, 2002). Yagudin is the only skater (all disciplines included) to have achieved a Golden Slam, a victory in all major championships (Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championships, Grand Prix assignments, Grand Prix Final) in the same season (2001–2002). In 2003, Yagudin was awarded with the

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

IV degree of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 2017, he was inducted into the

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located at the Broadmoor Resort in Co ...

. After his retirement from eligible skating, Yagudin has toured as a professional skater and appeared as a show host, an actor and a figure skating commentator for Russian television networks. In 2019, he opened the Figure Skating Center Alexei Yagudin in Minsk, Belarus where he coaches.

Early life

Alexei Yagudin was born on 18 March 1980 in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. When Yagudin was four, his father moved to Germany, severing all contact with his wife and son. His parents would officially divorce when he was 12. He graduated from the Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health.

Skating career overview

Early career

Yagudin was introduced to skating at age four by his mother, Zoya, who saw the activity as a way to improve his health. He learned all his double jumps before age ten, the five triple jumps before age twelve, and the triple

Axel jump The Axel jump or Axel Paulsen jump, named after its inventor, Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, is an edge jump performed in figure skating. It is the sport's oldest and most difficult jump, and the only basic jump in competition with a for ...

before he turned thirteen. His first coach was Alexander Mayorov, and then he was introduced to the famous Russian coach Alexei Mishin when Mayorov moved to Sweden in 1992. Yagudin trained in Mishin's group from 1992 to 1998. He began competing at the international level in 1994, and won the 1996 World Junior Championships. The famous rivalry with fellow Russian skater

Evgeni Plushenko Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time Europe ...

began when they trained in Mishin's group, and intensified after Yagudin left.

Senior career

In 1997, Yagudin competed in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

for the first time and won a bronze medal. In 1998, Yagudin led a Russian sweep of the medals at the 1998 European Championships with

in second and Alexander Abt in third. Later that year, he competed at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics despite a severe case of pneumonia, and finished in 5th place. A month later, he won the 1998 World Championships. He became the first Russian single skater from the post-Soviet era to win the World title. He was the second-youngest male World Champion at the age of 18 years and 15 days, 6 days older than Donald McPherson in 1963. About two months after the event, Yagudin left Mishin and joined Tatiana Tarasova, who would coach him until his retirement in 2003. In the 1998–99 season, Yagudin won eleven out of the thirteen competitions in which he participated, which included the defeat of Kurt Browning in the World Professional Championships, and winning the Grand Prix Final. At the 2000 European Championships, he finished ahead of both Plushenko and former Olympic champion

Alexei Urmanov Alexei Yevgenyevich Urmanov (; born 17 November 1973) is a Russian figure skating coach and former competitor. He is the 1994 Olympic champion, the 1993 World bronze medalist, the 1997 European champion, the 1995–96 Champions Series Final ...

to win his second continental title. He successfully defended his world title against Plushenko at the 2000 World Championships in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million1999–2000 Grand Prix Final due to a knee injury, and then lost to Plushenko at the Russian Championships and 2000 European Championships. At the 2000 World Championships, he won his third consecutive world title. Yagudin's 2000–01 season was marred by injuries and inconsistency. He lost to Plushenko at the 2000–01 Grand Prix Final, Russian Championships, and the 2001 European Championships. He sustained a foot injury shortly before the 2001 World Championships in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. He stood in fifth place after the qualifying round and placed second in the short program, receiving a standing ovation and compliments of 'It was all about heart and guts' for his performance of ''The Revolutionary Etude''. He went on to win the silver medal after ranking second in the free skate. Yagudin started the 2001–02 Olympic season with a bronze medal at the 2001 Goodwill Games in September. He altered his training regimen as a result, and then enjoyed the best season in his career. He defeated Plushenko at the 2001–02 Grand Prix Final and regained his European title. At the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, Yagudin won the men's event, receiving first-place votes from every judge throughout the competition, became one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic champions. He received four 6.0 scores for his free skate. Yagudin's perfect marks are the most for an Olympic performance since

Jayne Torvill Jayne Torvill, OBE (born 7 October 1957) is a British professional ice dancer and former competitor. She and her partner Christopher Dean are considered amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Wint ...

and

Christopher Dean Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer considered, with his skating partner Jayne Torvill, amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal ...

's free dance in 1984 and set a record for a men's skater in the Olympics. After the Olympics, Yagudin won his fourth

title, receiving six perfect 6.0s for his short program and another two for his free skating at the competition. He became the first singles skater to receive six perfect marks for the short program, including the first ever perfect mark for required elements. This record cannot be equaled or broken because the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

introduced the

ISU Judging System The ISU Judging System or the International Judging System (IJS), occasionally referred to as the Code of Points (COP) system, is the scoring system that has been used since 2004 to judge the figure skating disciplines of single skating, men's an ...

after the 2002–03 season. Yagudin was diagnosed with a congenital hip disorder after the Olympic season. He was advised by doctors to stay off the ice for several months. Yagudin chose not to follow this advice and competed at

2002 Skate America The 2002 Skate America was the first event of six in the 2002–03 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington on October 23–27. Medals ...

. He won the short program, but withdrew due to his injury before the next segment. He later announced his retirement from competitive skating. His final performance as an eligible skater came during a farewell gala at Skate Canada with a performance of a new program, ''Memorial'', and his short program from the previous season, ''Racing''. Yagudin was awarded with the

IV degree of the

in 2003. He never won the Russian Championships, losing mainly to

Professional career

Yagudin then turned professional in 2003, touring with

Stars on Ice Stars on Ice is a touring figure skating show produced by IMG. It was co-founded in 1986 by Bob Kain, IMG executive, and Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in men's figure skating. The production is a theatrical show featuring a ...

and Ice Symphony in Russia. In 2004, Yagudin toured with ''Stars on Ice'' for the second year in a row. He also worked with the French figure skater

Brian Joubert Brian Joubert (; born 20 September 1984) is a French figure skating coach and former competitor. He is the 2007 World champion, a three-time (2004, 2007 & 2009) European champion, and the 2006–07 Grand Prix Final champion. On the domestic le ...

as a consultant coach. In November he won two professional competitions with two new programs, ''The Feeling Begins'' (music by

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

) and ''Moon Over Bourbon Street'' (music by

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

). The next year, he continued with the Stars on Ice tour and his ''Passion'' program was choreographed with a difficult acrobatic routine that took place seven meters up in the air. Since returning to his hometown of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 2005, Yagudin has skated in various Russian ice shows and took part in the Russian TV show ''Stars on Ice'', later renamed ''Ice Age''. In 2006, after a full Olympic cycle since Salt Lake City, Yagudin performed his famous ''Winter'' program on tour and a new program ''Sway'' (music by

Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a neo-burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the troupe mainst ...

). In 2007, Yagudin first toured in the U.S. with the ''Stars on Ice'', and then toured in Russia. He skated a comic number ''Blues for Klook'' and a flamenco number ''Legenda''. In July 2007, Yagudin underwent surgery to have a titanium hip joint implanted. In August, Yagudin announced that he intended to return to eligible sports after more than four years of competing as a professional skater. His former coach Tatiana Tarasova and former choreographer Nikolai Morozov agreed to coach him should he return. However, Yagudin suffered another injury while on tour in November 2007. Afterward he stated that returning to competitive skating would be too difficult under the circumstances. In June 2010, he skated in the ''Supermatch: Medalist on Ice'' show in Korea, performing ''Sway'' and ''Winter''. On September 4, he participated in the ''Artistry on Ice'' show in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. During the show, the wedding ceremony of the famous Chinese pair skaters

Shen Xue Shen Xue (; born 13 November 1978) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With her husband Zhao Hongbo, Shen is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion (2002, 2003 and 2007), a three-time ...

and

Zhao Hongbo Zhao Hongbo (; born 22 September 1973) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With his wife Shen Xue, Zhao is the 2010 Figure skating at the Olympics, Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Figure skating at the Olympics, Olympic bronze medalist, a three ...

, the 2010 Olympic champions was held. As one of the invited guests he gave his blessing to the couple and performed ''Winter'' and ''Sway'' afterward. It was his first visit to China. In 2011, Yagudin told an interviewer that due to the hip replacement surgery he had undergone, he is no longer able to do all his triple jumps. He continues to perform his popular ''Winter'' program in shows around the world. In 2017, he was inducted into the

. In 2019, he opened the Figure Skating Center Alexei Yagudin in Minsk, Belarus.

Acting and host career

In Russia, Yagudin has worked as a show host, actor and a figure skating commentator for Russian television networks. In fall of 2006, he took part in the Russian TV show ''Stars on Ice'' having a former gymnast, Oksana Viktorovna Pouchkina, as his partner. He later realized that a return to eligible skating would not be feasible, and continued his professional career, taking part in the Russian TV show again, which was renamed ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

''. This time he was paired with a pop singer

Victoria Dayneko Viktoriya Petrovna Dayneko (; born 12 May 1987) is a Russian singer, songwriter, and actress. In 2004, she started her career in Russia after her victory at the Star Factory-5 All-Russian TV show. Dayneko's songs have topped the Russian charts, ...

with whom he also recorded a song ''Needle''. In 2008, Yagudin finished the ''Ice Age'' tour and then made his debut as the title role of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

in the satirical play ''The President's Vacation'', written by Tatiana Chertova and Igor Kositsyn. It premiered at the Satire Theater in Moscow. His career as an actor continued with getting one of the main roles in a Russian TV series about figure skating ''Hot Ice'' (2009). He also adventured into a popular TV show ''Good evening, Moscow!'' as a host in 2009. In 2010, he performed in the ice musical ''City Lights'', written by Ilia Averbukh. That same year, he participated in the second season of ''Ice Age'' partnered with actress Valeria Lanskaya and would complete a third season of the show with her has his partner. In 2013, he acted with Miroslava Karpovich at the Moscow Comedy Theater in the play ''Don't Trust Your Eyes''. In 2018, he acted in two comedic plays with Anna Gorshkova in St. Petersburg, Russia. He has appeared numerous times as a host on ''I Want to Know'', a Russian television series where celebrities interview people to learn about their culture. Since 2019, he hosts his own television show called ''Ice is melting with Alexei Yagudin'' where he interviews athletes. In 2021, he was a jury member for the Russian talent show, ''I'm Almost Famous''.

Public image

Yagudin published his autobiography, ''Alexei Yagudin: Overcome'', in Japan in 2005. It was published in Russia in 2007 under the title, ''НаPRолом'', with extra chapters and photos added to cover his recent life. In 2011, Yagudin joined a Russian campaign to promote healthy lifestyles. He took part in free physical trainings held in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Kazan, and Novosibirsk. He stated, "I would like to achieve through this campaign at least the understanding of people that 30 or 40 minutes of their day can improve their health now and in the future." He was the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS ambassador for the

2019 European Games The 2nd European Games 2019 (, ''Jeŭrapiejskija huĺni 2019''; , ''Yevropeyskiye igry 2019''), also known as the 2019 European Games or Minsk 2019 (; ), were held in Minsk, Belarus, from 21 June to 30 June 2019. The games featured 200 events in ...

, saying, "Sport, in all its varieties, unites millions of people around the world and, as a UNAIDS Ambassador, I am absolutely convinced that an HIV status should not affect either the attitude towards a person or his ability to pursue his life plans." In 2020, Yagudin made controversial remarks about black transgender people in an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

story post, calling them "mistakes of nature" and wishing them to die. The post came in reaction to fellow figure skater and activist

Adam Rippon Adam Richard Rippon (born November 11, 1989) is a retired American competitive Figure skating, figure skater and media personality. He is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2018 Olympic bronze medalist in the team eve ...

making a donation to the Okra Project, a charity aimed at helping underprivileged black transgender people. Yagudin soon deleted the post and apologized for his comments the next day. Rippon criticized Yagudin for the comments and made another $1000 donation, this time in Yagudin's name, to the same organization. He spoke out against the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, posting an all-black image on his Instagram account with the message, "Stop this nonsense!"

Personal life

Yagudin moved to the United States in 1999 to train with Tatiana Tarasova. He lived in the United States for almost seven years before returning to Russia. In 1999, the

Champions on Ice Champions on Ice was a touring ice show in the United States. The show featured a large cast of both professional and Olympic-eligible figure skaters along with novelty acts such as skating acrobats. The shows were focused primarily on solo pe ...

tour dismissed him because of his alleged excessive drinking. Yagudin underwent hip surgery in 2003 after touring with ''Stars on Ice''. He assisted Tarasova with coaching over the summer and early fall until his arrest for driving while intoxicated in August 2003. On 2 June 2008, Yagudin's car was stolen with one of his World Championships gold medals in it. The medal and car were never located. In 2016, Yagudin married Olympic pair skating champion Tatiana Totmianina. She gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Elizaveta ("Liza"), on 20 November 2009. The couple stated they do not want Liza to become a competitive skater, and hope she will concentrate on studying and music as she grows up. On 2 October 2015, the couple's second daughter, Michèle, was born. They also have a

Yorkshire Terrier The Yorkshire Terrier, also known as a Yorkie, is a British breed of toy dog of terrier type. It is among the smallest of the terriers and indeed of all dog breeds, with a weight of no more than . It originated in the nineteenth century in the ...

named Varia. He identifies as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He admitted that he only wore a cross during his skating career because he found it beautiful and his children were not

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

. The Yagudin family resides in Moscow and France, where his daughters attended a French school.

Honors and awards

, 4th class (5 May 2003) – for outstanding contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, high achievements in sports at the XIX Olympic Games 2002 in Salt Lake City * National Sports Award "Glory," "Best Athlete of 2002" *2017

inductee

Programs

Competitive highlights

''GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix''

All events

Amateur status, senior-level

Amateur status, junior-level

Professional status

References

External links

*
Olympics.org
Athlete Profile – Yagudin {{DEFAULTSORT:Yagudin, Alexei Russian atheists Russian male single skaters Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Russia Olympic gold medalists for Russia Figure skaters from Saint Petersburg 1980 births Living people Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in figure skating Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games 21st-century Russian sportsmen 20th-century Russian sportsmen