M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A to L

M ....like ......
    • Moscow His birthplace and home town. Left his family there when he changed coaches.

    • Marlboro His residence town from summer 96 to summer 98, near Boston, Massachussets.

    • Music Often classical, sometimes movie soundtracks, recently more "modern"... rather ecclectic.


N ....like ......
    • Nadejda His mother, a technical english translator.

    • Natural He was often called 'The natural skater".It's obvious when you watch him skate around during practice. He was made for gliding, ice is his element. He belongs to the air too, with about 0,75 s suspension on the 3 axel and up to 0,80s during a quad.

    • NEFSC New England Figure Skating Center. The 4 rinks facility where he used to train in Marlboro (96/97,97/98).

    • Nerves His weakness until olympic season.A flaw his rivals thought would shoot him down in Nagano.But that was without knowing his victory in Münich and the change in his mind since the beginning of the season. Now he's a real fighter with nerves of steel. and came a new expression : cool like Kulik !

    • Nike It seems to be one of his favorite sportswear trademark. I hope he receive some free sweat-shirts and gloves for the great advertising he makes."Just did it !" Nagano, feb 14th.


O ....like ......
    • Olympic ...Gold, Champion, and so on ...You are all aware about it, ain't you ??! 
      		ILIA'S OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST 1998 !!!!!!!!

    • Originality In choreographies, music, footwork and .....costumes !! see Outfits

    • Outfits Let's not make this place a bloody discussion forum about it. The facts are that his costumes are a little more off the beaten track than his main rivals' are (I won't give no names in respect to the skaters !). Some say it's too fussy, too feminine, too ugly, ...Seems to me Ilia can wear anything, it's still Ilia skating and he's always good-looking.(Isa and I were on the verge of fainting when we discovered his short program costume, live in Münich !!!!You know what I mean, the one with the flesh-coloured pieces...!!!!).
      Copyrighted Photo by : J.Barry Mittan


P ....like ......
    • Personnality Any serious info welcome. From what we can see of him, he's a rather serious and nice guy, hiding a strong and passionate temper. We can guess he likes joking and making fun but doesn't show much. Complex duality between some sort of shyness or inclination to solitude and the desire of showing himself and contacting people. World wide ambition but staying in his own inner world buble. "His character is very clever" Tatiana Tarasova. see also Lunatic,Gemini.


    • Presentation High marks for his, and a large agreement of the judges about it.

    • Podium He has already stood on many , and each time, wore his most serious mask, making us wondering what he is thinking about. Until he climbed on the first olympic step in Nagano.That night, he couldn't hide his happiness anymore, the mask dissolved and revealed the smile of a young boy in front of his first Christmas tree.Beatitude ! He tried to stand the Russian Anthemn and flag lift but his face betrayed him, his eyes going from a place to another, lost and probably a little wet. This podium was a blessing.Girls ! What a gift he gave us on St Valentine's day !!!!
      Photo : Snowlets eye


Q ....like ......
    • Quad Do you like this jump ? I don't. Except when ilia makes it a real jump, huge and natural, not that mad rotating stuff landed in the last turn with no grace !!! PLEASE ILIA, TAKE CARE OF YOUR BACK FIRST, quads can wait ....

    • Quest ...of the Holy Gold.Fifteen years of dedication from Moscow ice ponds to Marlboro training center, years of standing the cold,the physical and mental strains for one of the most demanding sports.For what ? Something a handful of people on the planet can ever access, Gold, the first step of the podium, a whole world recognition, a trace in history,.....a smile of Happiness.


R ....like ......
    • Russian ...rocket ! His soul is russian, his sensitiveness to music is russian and his skating...russian but not too much.

    • Romeo Which better role for a passionate skater of 19 ? Ilia was our Romeo during season 96/97 and it was another marvelous program, very intense (and maybe a little hard to stand physically).Black or White costume (We preferred the black one)

    • Revolution His short for olympic season. Wonderful choreography, wonderful footwork in serpentine and circle, wonderful interpretation and wonderful costume !!! see the pictures in the Gallery .

    • Rhapsody in Blue ...or let's say in black-spotted yellow and from now on, in Gold ! He called his old fellow composer Gershwin for this season free program. Is the shirt as lucky as the composer ?

    • Rosy cheeks Lovely, ain't they ?! It's not make up (as I read it once !) except for traces of Tarasova's lipstick after a happy scene in the "kiss&cry" ! and it's nothing to be ashamed of. He just has hot blood in his veins and it shows !

    • Rebel ?


S ....like ......
    • Skating He loves it and we love his !

    • Serious/Smiling His Gemini character. see Personnality

    • Style He has his own. Something different than just ballet dancing. It seems he could developp it in his way with the suited choreographies of Tatiana.

    • Samurai ... program. His more recent exhibition program, conceived for Japan. Best skated and interprated in Münich after he won the Finale.

    • Sexy Well..."He is adorable and very sexy".
      It's not me talking, it's .... Sandra Bezic !!!

    • Speed He said : "I like moving fast".That's what he loves in skating. He almost got us scared with the kamikaze speed he had to his 3 flip in Nagano and even when he landed it, he almost glided into the boards.

    • Svetlana His sister, national swimmer.

    • Spins Not his best technical trick but interesting positions on the combo. I just wish he would change it some day. Could improve a little bit on the camel.


T ....like ......
    • Tatiana Tarasova His new coach since summer 96.Already built his choreographies for Adam's family and Aladdin in 95.Best know for succeeding in ice dancing (Bestemianova-Bukin,Klimova-Pnomarenko,Grishuk-Platov), she had never coached singles and took the challenge of doing it with one of the most promising youngster. "For me this was dangerous but very interesting".She said.After a season of transition and of uneven results, she was finally rewarded a world wide respect with Ilia winning the finale and the Olympics. She also seemed to love him like a second mother and couldn't help crying and huging him after his extraordinary performance in the olympic free.(Photo from NY Times)
    • Technical ...very technical on the jumps.That's how he can make them look easy and beautiful. Not to mention the quad ! Some said he was losing his technical abilities with Tarasova.The evidence of a NO came all along this season to reach a climax in the Olympics.What a technical firework !!!

    • Talent He skates like he breathes. see Gifted,Artistry,Body talk, Graceful.
      "His talent has only started to open, like a flower that you wait to bloom". Tatiana Tarasova

    • Tics Like a lot of skaters, he has these little chronical moves like snifing, blowing his hair up.And others habits like speaking to himself at the begining of programs or his serious head down attitude, hands on hips when he takes a break in practice.

    • Top skaters Ilia is among those few men on the planet to be at the top of the sport.


U ....like ......
    • Unexpected Dortmund,1995...................Copyrighted Photo by : J.Barry Mittan

    • Unic

    • Unmatched Name a skater who won the olympic gold with a better program ???
V ....like ......
    • Vibrations Good of course ! Those he feels to the music, those he gives us back,skating.

    • Vinyl A glossy lucky material for a wining lucky shirt !

    • Voice If you have never heard his, rush on any recorded interview. You'll be amazed by his deep bass voice. Just made for this wonderful and so warm russian language. A delight !


W ....like ......
    • Weapons Guns, japanese sword and "the one I prefer to have in my arsenal:the quad !"

    • Weight 72,5 Kg , before the Olympics , after a little loss.

    • WE LOVE YOU !

    • Will He surely has a lot of it to go on with hours of daily training, physical and nervous strains, fighting against his sport rivals, always trying to go further , higher, improve the technic, the art, ....It's not a sunday walk in the park ! We have to realize that.What he does is not only a gift from above, it's a lot of courage and abnegation too, and years of hard... see Quest.

    • Work Medals aside, this deserves our respect and admiration.

    • WAAOUUUU !!! french version of WOW !


X ....like ......
    • Xhibition

    • Xtraordinary !


Y ....like ......
    • Yagudin They were still good friends in Lausanne.Bad statements and russian federation decisions came between them past season, and a lot of rivalry during top competitions. But someone saw them together again in Nagano during the ladies event and I suspect good Mr Mishin to build up Alex against Ilia because he's not skating in St Petersburg, left Russia for Marlboro and is a danger to Mishin's gallery of skaters.Let's see what Mishin&Co will say when they move to Phoenix,Arizona !!!


Z ....like ......