Yagudin stars on ice and off with young fans

Figure-skating champion Alexei Yagudin is cool on the ice, but manages to melt girls' hearts at the same time. In addition to capturing both the Olympic Gold medal in Salt Lake City and the World Championship title last year, the 22-year-old Russian skater was chosen by Sports Illustrated for Women as one of the "75 Sexiest Men in Sports," and People Magazine named him one of 2002's "50 Most Eligible Bachelors."

Also pointing to his popularity in America are hundreds of Web sites for Alexei admirers - primarily, young women. Yagudin will entertain fans when he takes to the ice in "Smucker's Stars On Ice" at the Sovereign Bank Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Now in its 17th consecutive year of touring the United States, the show visits more than 60 cities. "Skating on tour is completely different from competing," Yagudin says, speaking by telephone from Tampa, Fla., where he recently performed. "During competitions, you skate for the judges. On tour, you do your routine for the audience, and hopefully, they enjoy it." But even without the pressure of competition, Yagudin said touring is physically demanding. Making his debut with "Stars On Ice," Yagudin skates three solos and three group numbers.

"It's physically harder because sometimes you do four shows in a row and travel to a different city every few days," he said. Yagudin is part of an impressive lineup of skating champions - some appearing in "Stars On Ice" for the first time, others returning to the tour. Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, Todd Eldredge, Kurt Browning, Katarina Witt, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, and Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur make up the cast of the two-hour show, which includes solos, duets and ensemble numbers to music ranging from Elvis to Ozzy Osbourne, Leonard Cohen to Bon Jovi, and Tony Bennett to Will Smith. The show features the debuts of 2002 Olympic Pair Champions Sale and Pelletier of Canada and Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze of Russia, all four of whom emerged from last year's unprecedented Olympic controversy with gold medals. While three-time U.S. National Pair Champions and World Bronze medalists Ina and Zimmerman are new, three-time U.S. National Pair Champions Meno and Sand have been in the show before. Also returning are two-time Olympic medalist Witt; World Champion and six-time U.S. National Champion Eldredge; four-time World Champion Browning; and two-time U.S. National Dance Champions Roca and Sur. Yagudin began touring with "Stars On Ice" in December following a phenomenal year of competitive skating. His performance at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games not only earned him a gold medal, but the highest marks ever received by a single skater in Olympic history. He repeated his success at the 2002 World Championships in Nagano, Japan, by winning his fourth World Championship title and earning six perfect scores for his short program. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Yagudin began skating at the age 4, encouraged by his mother, Zoya. By the time he was 14, he was competing internationally. In 1996, he won the Junior World Championships, and in 1998 he joined forces with the legendary coach and choreographer, Tatiana Tarasova. Under her tutelage, Yagudin became the first Russian to win a World Championship and the second youngest World Champion in history - he was 18.