Star on ice packs his blades for Edmonton

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It's somehow reassuring to note that even in the midst of seeming perfection, setbacks are a given.

Make no mistake, figure skater Alexei Yagudin, already a four-time world champion and three-time European top huskie, has had one of those fabled years. His performance at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics was notably uncontroversial, overlooked to some degree as a result. Russians live and breathe irony. All Yagudin did was totally mop the place up, picking up several 6.0's in performance and across-the-board 5.9's in technical merit en route to a gold medal the most compromised judge wouldn't dare question.

This Sunday, with the likes of Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, Brian Orser, et al, Yagudin will headline the Stars on Ice tour when it stops at Skyreach.

He was a bit of a glum boy the day we talked. Spring in London, and it was snowing outside his hotel window. "Ah, what can you do?" sighs the native of St. Petersburg, a 22-year-old veteran of many Russian meteorological outrages. "But it should be spring here, you know? At the least the season is over, that makes me happy."

There have been lows before. At the 2001 World's in Vancouver, his foot was injured to the point that several doctors recommended he quit the competition immediately.

Stubborn, some would say to a fault, he pressed on and finished second.

"Of course I was disappointed. But there was no chance that I would withdraw. None. And I did better than many predicted. This was an important decision, because it forced me to change my life. I had to become more positive, watch my diet, remain in control. Like anyone, I like to have fun, to hang out. You have to be yourself, but at the same time you don't want to ruin all those years of hard work. I learned lessons."

As in, possibly, developing the ability to keep focused in the carnival freak show of the 2002 Olympic figures event?

"I didn't care about all that. I felt sorry for the couples, although there is no doubt in my mind that the Canadians were better. Judges are humans, and they will do everything other humans do. I really don't think in our end there is too much to be done other than the obvious. But ice dancing is something else. They have to look deeply into that."

The Stars on Ice tour is almost a holiday, he says, and an invaluable educational tool.

"It's just a small group of people who like to skate, just a lot of fun and very supportive. I've never skated so much in my life and enjoyed it so much. I'm able to do this and still be eligible, which is good. And watching Brian Orser up close, or Kurt Browning, these people have things to teach me.

"The crowds are great and I am not just saying this to a Canadian journalist, but the crowds are number one in Canada," says the current Connecticut resident. "The most crazy, loud, know-ledgeable -- the best I've ever got."

As for the future? Well, there are no burning aspirations to direct a Hollywood feature or explore a career in microgravity research. "I'm young. I'm looking forward after the tour to going home, going to movies and shows, listening to music, play tennis and hang out. It's been a long year."

Still, like most of peers on the tour, he gets serious when conversation turns to the future of his chosen profession.