Personal Life
Alexei Yagudin was born in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, in Russia. He grew up as an only child in a single-mother family, as his parents divorced when he was young.
In 1999, Yagudin moved to the United States in order to train with Tatiana Tarasova. Later that year he was dismissed from the Champions on Ice tour, presumably due to a drinking problem. He was a resident of the United States for almost seven years.
In 2003, Yagudin underwent hip surgery after touring with Stars on Ice. He assisted Tarasova to coach over summer and early fall. In September, he was arrested for drunk driving.
In 2005, Yagudin published his autobiography, Alexei Yagudin: Overcome, in Japan.
At the end of 2007, his autobiography was published in Russia with the title НаPRолом. Extra chapters and photos were added to cover the skater's recent life.
On June 2, 2008, Yagudin's car was stolen with one of his World Championships gold medals in it. Both the medal and the car remain unlocated.
On November 20, his fiancée, Olympic pair skating champion Tatiana Totmianina gave birth to his first child, a daughter named Elizaveta ("Liza"). They also have a Yorkshire Terrier named Varia.
Yagudin has stated that he and Totmianina do not wish their daughter to become involved in competitive skating, and that they hope she will concentrate on studying and music as she grows older.
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."
Read more about this topic: Alexei Yagudin
Famous quotes containing the words personal and/or life:
“In the twentieth century one of the most personal relationships to have developed is that of the person and the state.... It’s become a fact of life that governments have become very intimate with people, most always to their detriment.”
—E.L. (Edgar Lawrence)
“We are conscious of an animal in us, which awakens in proportion as our higher nature slumbers. It is reptile and sensual, and perhaps cannot be wholly expelled; like the worms which, even in life and health, occupy our bodies. Possibly we may withdraw from it, but never change its nature. I fear that it may enjoy a certain health of its own; that we may be well, yet not pure.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)