u/ElegantFootball8741

“You have to understand that some things come easier to gifted children. Let me give you an example from my own life.
Throughout my career, I always had one main rival and competitor—Alexei Yagudin. I was a little younger than he was, and we trained together under Alexei Mishin.
One day, we started learning the triple Axel. Alexei mastered it in a week, while it took me a year and a half. Quadruple jumps came to him much more easily as well—to give you an idea, it would take him just two weeks, and he had them. He was incredibly talented. Apparently, I wasn't quite as naturally gifted, but I was willing to work hard.” - Plushenko quoted

i'm sorry

Their rivalry began in 1998, when Alexei Yagudin, who had also been training under Mishin, left him to work with Alexei Nikolayevich's "archrival," Tatiana Tarasova. Among the reasons given for the move was Yagudin's jealousy of Plushenko—he reportedly felt that Mishin devoted far more attention to Evgeni than to him.

Ever since then, Alexei and Evgeni have been trying to outdo—and outsmart—each other at every opportunity.
Yagudin, for example, says:
"Leaving Mishin was very hard for me. I cried. But I couldn't stay because Mishin used to humiliate me in public, saying, 'Yagudin is a bad figure skater!' Even now he says that Yagudin can beat Plushenko only when Plushenko skates badly, while Plushenko can beat Yagudin even when Yagudin skates well. And as for Zhenya... yes, we don't get along. But if he invited me over, I'd go. The only problem is, he never would. That's out of the question."

Plushenko is just as quick with a comeback:
"Yagudin always wants to be the center of attention, even when he loses. He's constantly talking about his injuries. About seeing a psychologist. I don't need a psychologist—I have no problems with my mental state!"
Then, almost as an aside, Zhenya adds:
"People often try to lure me away from Mishin. They offer me money. But I don't understand how anyone could betray their coach. He taught me much more than skating—he taught me how to dress properly, how to use a knife and fork, and, in general, how to live. He became like a second father to me. You don't abandon your father."

2002 Olympics: Salt Lake City, USA This one has a lot of reading lol (In the 2002 Olympic long program, Russia skated a good program although Anton had a stumble on a jump element before quickly regaining unison with Elena. Canada, meanwhile, had no obvious mistakes, although their program was easier. Four judges placed the Canadians first, while five had Russia as the winners, with the Canadians receiving higher technical scores and the Russians higher presentation scores. They were first awarded the gold and the Canadians the silver. After an investigation into the judging, the decision was made to award both pairs a gold medal. No silver medal was awarded in this event.)

Alexei: He is the 2002 Olympic champion, a four-time World champion, a three-time European champion, a two-time Grand Prix Final champion, the 1996 World Junior champion, and a two-time World Professional champion. Alexei 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. The 2001-2002 season simply belonged to Alexei Yagudin. After his retirement from competetive skating, Alexei 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 Belarus where he coaches. He is married to another former skater, Tatiana Totmianina, and has two daughters. He is 46 years old.

Sarah: She is the 2002 Olympic Champion and the 2001 World bronze medalist in ladies' singles. Sarah is the fourth of six children. One of her younger sisters, Emily, is also a figure skater and competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Sarah's win is widely considered one of the biggest upsets in figure skating history. She was the youngest skater in the competition, and was not expected to seriously challenge the favorites, Michelle Kwan and Russia's Irina Slutskaya. Sarah became the first woman in Olympic history to land two triple-triple jump combinations in a 4-minute free skate. Unlike most skaters, she also executed jumps and spins clockwise. She filed papwerwork to run for Congress in 2023, but withdrew from the race. She is 41 years old.

Gwendal: The pair also qualified to compete int the 1994 Olympicsm but Marina's French citizenship came a few weeks too late, and they were unable to compete. Gwendal holds a management degree from EMLYON Business School, a DEUG in materials science, and a maîtrise in STAPS from Claude Bernard University Lyon 1. He has two daughters, and he released a single "Baby Rock" in 2014. Their signature move was Marina lifting Gwendal off the ice, switching the traditional gender roles in lifts. In 2003, Gwendal founded a consulting firm, Soléus. He has also worked for Eurosport, interviewing athletes. He is 54 years old.

Marina: Competing with Gwendal, she is the 2002 Olympic champion, the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2000 World champion, and a six-time French national champion. Both her parents were also figure skaters.  She wanted to bring Gwendal back to Russia with her but his family was opposed, so she moved to France. She settled in France and began learning the language but experienced homesickness. She focused intensely on skating and insisted her partner, who was dividing his time between skating and his education, be equally focused on their career. Their first year together produced many quarrels and they came close to splitting up. Their coach, however, immediately felt it was a promising partnership, saying "They are like fire and ice". Marina married a Russian actor after the two met when they were partnered on a celebrity ice dancing television show. They have two children. The family currently lives in Moscow. Marina spends time in France and works with young ice dancers. She is 50 years old.

Anton: He and Elena Ekaterina Gordeeva selected the pair as her and Sergei Grinkov's skating doubles in a documentary on the team after her husband's death. had an on-and-off romantic relationship between 1996 and 2002. They are still close friends, and he is godfather to one of Elena's children. In 2003, the pair retired from competitive skating. From 2002 to 2006, they toured with Stars on Ice, then returned to Russia. In 2010, he registered as a candidate for the presidency of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, but withdrew after the constitution was altered, stating that the changes left the president as nothing more than a figurehead. In 2023, following the death of the incumbent president Aleksandr Gorshkov, Anton became the acting president. In February 2025 he was elected as president. Anton is divorced and has one son. He is 49 years old.

Elena: With Anton, she is the 1998 and 1999 World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist and 2002 Olympic champion. Elena first competed with Oleg Shliakhov for Latvia and won gold at the 1995 Trophée de France. Oleg was an abusive asshole, verbaly and physically. While training together in January 1996, she suffered a serious injury, when Shliakhov's blade sliced into her skull while the pair were practicing a side-by-side camel spin. She was left partly paralyzed and unable to speak. During her hospitalization, Anton heard of the news, and traveled to Latvia to be with her. She recovered rapidly and began competing again in November 1996 with Anton. Within two years of the accident, Elena and Anton had established themselves as one of the best pair teams in the world. In November 2011, she announced her retirement from performing. She now coaches at the Yubileyny rink in Saint Petersburg. She is 48 years old.

David: The Canadian Figure Skating Association invited the pair to compete at Skate Canada, where they immediately made a statement by placing second in the short program, ahead of reigning Canadian Champions.Their successes made them favorites for the Canadian title, but they struggled technically and finished second. The silver medal earned them a spot on the Four Continents and World teams, but David's back pain forced the pair to withdraw from both competitions. They would ultimately spend two months off the ice recuperating. After the Olympics, the pair turned professional and toured North America with Stars on Ice. The man unfortunatly doesn't seem as good with relationships as he is with skating. David was married to ice dancer Marie-Josee Fortin for a year before he began skating with Jamie and ended his marriage. He and Jamie were married for 5 years and had one son before divorcing. They continued to skate together after their divorce until retiring in 2012. He has been married to Ekaterina Gordeeva since 2020. He is 51 years old.

Jamie: With David, she is the 2002 Olympic Champion and 2001 World Champion. Jamie competed first as a singles skater, winning the novice bronze medal and placing eighth in junior's at the Canadian Championships. In 1994, she won the short program and finished with the bronze medal in the junior event at the Canadian Championships. After a single practice together, she moved to Montreal to skate with him. Their Olympic controversy resulted in several changes to the judging system. Initially, anonymous judging was incorporated to "relieve outside pressure" from judges by separating their names from their marks so pressurers could not know whether the judge had acted as they wished. After two years of this system, the Code of Points was implemented and began use in the Grand Prix season of 2003–04, and full usage for all 2004–05 competitions and thereafter. After their 2010 divorce, she married her season 1 Battle of the Blades partner Craig Simpson, they have also since divorced. She said that they separated due to Simpson's disagreement with her political views. She posts a lot of fake news articles on Facebook, and is a passionate anti-vaxxer. She is 49 years old.

"I don't think anything extraordinary has happened. In figure skating, we've long been accustomed to athletes switching to compete under different flags. It's common practice, much like transferring from one club to another in football. Yes, this involves citizenship, so the reaction is naturally more emotional. I can understand why people feel that way.

The heightened attention surrounding this story is primarily due to the Plushenko surname and Sasha's own popularity. But he is only 13 years old, with a long career ahead of him, and anything can happen over that time,"

"As a nation, we recently followed Ilya Malinin's career closely, even though he competes for the United States, and we still regard him as one of our own. That's why a 13-year-old athlete's decision to represent Azerbaijan in order to compete internationally does not seem out of the ordinary.

I've seen how Sasha works in ice shows and the dedication he brings to his performances. In any case, I wish him the best of luck. We'll continue to support him, just as we celebrated the successes of both Ilya Malinin and Mikhail Shaidorov," Yagudin was quoted as saying.

Plushenko has already reacted to that:

“Now that's a situation where Alexei Yagudin will be cheering for a Plushenko!!!!

In all seriousness, it meant a great deal to me that the entire sports community supported my son.

A sporting career is short, challenging, and unpredictable. You won't find many dinosaurs like me anymore—someone who was still competing at the Olympic Games at 31 years old!

I'm very grateful to Alexei and to everyone who views this issue through the lens of sport and opportunity for a 13-year-old boy who is only just beginning his journey in elite athletics.”

Alexander was heavily criticised for switching teams recently