WORLD CHAMP THRILLS CIVIC CENTRE CROWD

By LORI LITTLETON, Expositor Staff

BRANTFORD _ Alexei Yagudin has everything he ever wanted and now he's just enjoying himself on the ice. Yagudin, 22, was the cause celebre at the PharmAssist Skate the Nation tour, which stopped at the Civic Centre in Brantford Monday night.

Yagudin, who has recently captured gold medals at the European Championships, Grand Prix, world championships and Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, is now looking to just enjoying skating.

``My coach said to me before the my long program (at the worlds), `Who, if not you? When, if not now?''' he said after Monday's show. ``Now, is my pleasure time and I want to do it.''

On Monday, in front of about 2,000 people, Yagudin performed pieces of both his Olympic long and short programs and the crowd ate it up. Every sword jab and snow toss, when he jumped and twirled and when his feet, frantically moving in tiny steps, propelled him from one end of the rink to the other.

Yagudin said he loves skating and is thrilled to be performing seven times during the show, which also featured Olympic gold medalists Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze and world champion Maria Butyrskaya.

``I've never skated so many times in a show,'' Yagudin said. ``It was really hard work during the season and now I can enjoy myself and try to make people happy.''

Yagudin also enjoys skating in front of Canadian fans and Monday night was no exception.

``Canadians are really good, they are the Number 1 fans of figure skating in the world,'' he said. ``The people are really loud IJI really appreciate the applause I get when I perform.''

Even though no one's judging him, Yagudin said being on tour is actually more physically and emotionally demanding than competition because he skates so often.

``When I go for the jumps I'm still a little nervous. It's fun to play for the crowd, but still they want to see your jumps,'' he said, adding he's going to work the quad into his exhibition skate later on in the tour.

That will help him in future competitions, he explained, because if he can land the quad in the dark, he will certainly be able to consistently land it with the lights on during competitions.

After Skate the Nation wraps up in Sault Ste. Marie on April 18, Yagudin will join Stars on Ice with Kristie Yamaguchi and Kurt Browning.

Last year, after the Skate and Nation and Stars on Ice tours wrapped up, Yagudin sat in the dressing room crying.

``It was just a few months of touring and then it was over,'' he said. ``I'm really happy with the tour. It couldn't be any better.''

Aside from Yagudin, Brantford skating fans went nuts and jumped to their feet for American pairs Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze and two-time Olympic silver medalist Brian Orser.

Orser, who choreographed the show, said he was flattered by the crowd's reaction.

``Kurt (Browning) and I laugh because when I just turned pro, kids would come up to me and ask me for my autograph. Now, mothers whose kids skate and (grandmothers) ask,'' he said. ``I had my first great-grandmother (ask) this year. And now Kurt's running into the mothers and grandmothers.''

Orser, 40, won Olympic medals in 1984 and 1998 and said he's thrilled to still be skating. When he turned professional, Orser predicted he would skate for another five years.

``I never guessed I would be skating at this level 14 years later,'' he said.

``I love skating with this current group. It's a great thing to skate alongside Takeshi (Honda) and Alexei and Jennifer (Robinson). They're all young and so good.''