Ilia Kulik
Posted: Wed February 4, 1998
He's the Leonardo DiCaprio of figure skating, an apple-cheeked
heartthrob with mischief in his eyes and trampoline springs
in his legs. Russia's Ilia Kulik, 20, also happens to be
the most complete package among the men vying for the gold
medal in Nagano, a
skater whose mix of classical ballet training,
out-of-your-seat athleticism and theatrical flair makes him
the hottest young star on
ice.
MANNY MILLAN
|
Kulik, who was born in Moscow, has been turning heads since
winning the world junior championship in 1995. Tall for a
figure skater at nearly six feet, he combines the long,
clean lines of 1988 Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano
with the speed and
natural pizzazz of four-time world champion Kurt Browning. At
the world championships in Edmonton in '96, Kulik's first
year as a
senior, he wowed the judges with the height of his jumps
and his impeccable landing positions—free leg held high,
toe pointed,
arms extended, back straight, head up. He finished a strong
second—three of the nine judges placed him
first—to Todd Eldredge of the U.S., after
which
Boitano
commented, "He
jumps like a
god."
Kulik's work was
considerably less divine last
season when he switched coaches and training venues. He
moved from Moscow, where he had been coached by Victor
Kudryavtsev, to Marlborough, Mass., where he put himself
under the wing of the theatrical Tatiana Tarasova, one of
the winningest coaches in
the sport. Over the years Tarasova had worked with a number
of Olympic champions in both pairs and ice dancing, but her
experience with singles skaters was limited. Kulik was
inconsistent and, many believed, out of shape the entire
season. He finished a
dismal fourth in the European championships, was also fourth
in the Champions Series finals and fell to fifth at the
worlds. "Maybe the preparation
wasn't enough," Kulik says. "Maybe I
wasn't comfortable where the jumps and spins and step
sequences were
placed in the program. I thought I could do it anyway, but
this year we tried to build the program so it was more
comfortable for
me."
Increasing Kulik's stamina was also a priority. Tarasova's
choreography requires high energy, and Kulik was making
most of his mistakes late in his performances. At
Tarasova's bidding Kulik brought a Russian conditioning
expert, Leonid Raitsin, to
Marlborough last summer, and Raitsin put Kulik through a training
regimen of bicycling, running and
weightlifting. Kulik, lean as a rail at 160 pounds, says he can
feel the difference. "Now I run faster, jump higher,
stretch further," he
says.
His results have reflected that. Kulik has won three of the
four events he has entered this season, including the
Russian nationals and the Champions Series finals, where
he beat his chief Olympic rivals: Elvis
Stojko of Canada; Eldredge; and Kulik's countryman Alexei
Yagudin. Afterward Kulik displayed some of his cheeky wit
when a bespectacled Phil Hersh of the
Chicago
Tribune questioned whether Kulik's costume—a yellow-and-white,
polka-dotted vinyl number that looked like a collision
between a taxi and a dairy cow—complemented his music,
Gershwin's
Rhapsody in
Blue. "Phil," responded Kulik, "I don't like
your glasses either, but that doesn't make you a bad
writer."
In mid-January Kulik, suffering from a pinched nerve in his
back, pulled out of the European championships. It was the
recurrence of an old injury and kept him off the ice for
two weeks. But rest and daily ultrasound treatments eased
his discomfort, and
he had resumed full workouts by the end of the month. His
long program includes two triple-triple combinations and a
quad, and most observers believe if he lands his jumps, no
one can beat him artistically. "The top six men are
all favorites for the
gold medal," Kulik says. "It's not ice dancing.
Anyone who performs his best can
win."
In the competition for heart palpitations, though, just
mail it
in.
—E.M.
Swift
Issue date: February 9, 1998
|
