The last time the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held in Salt Lake City - 1984, when they were also the Olympic Trials - the outcome of all four championship events was almost assured before competition began.
Scott Hamilton already had won three straight national championships when he got to Salt Lake. He was a three-time world champion. All that was left for him was an Olympic title, which he earned three weeks after leaving the Salt Palace with his fourth straight national title.Like Hamilton, Peter and Kitty Carruthers were three-time national champions in the senior pairs division, and they'd been third and fourth in the world. They won their fourth national title in 1984. So did ice dancers Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert, who'd also been third and fourth in the worlds.
Rosalynn Sumners was a veteran champ, having two national titles and a world championship when she arrived in Salt Lake. She repeated, too.
Things have changed for the '90 Nationals starting Tuesday and winding up Sunday at the Salt Palace and Bountiful.
There are still defending champions in all four senior events - Christopher Bowman, Jill Trenary, Kristi Yamaguchi/Rudi Galindo in pairs and Susan Wynne/Joseph Druar in dance - and they could all wind up with second straight golds. Trenary was third in the '89 Worlds and fourth in the '88 Olympics, and Bowman was second in the '89 Worlds, seventh in the '88 Olympics. Wynne/Druar and Yamaguchi/Galindo were each fifth in the last Worlds, and Wynne and Druar were 11th in the Olympics.
But this is the first-time title defense for all but Trenary, who did not repeat her '87 championship.
"This is a proving year, still," says Kristin Matta of the U.S. Figure Skating Association. "It's not the same as it was in 1984, when people had established themselves."
"That happens when you get closer to an Olympic year," says Ida Tateoka of South Jordan, an Olympic/World Championship judge and an organizer of the '90 Nationals. "They're still Olympic caliber," Tateoka says, "and if this were 1992, they'd be going to it."
The Worlds are next up for the best skaters here, with the top three in men's and women's singles and pairs and top two in dance advancing to Halifax, Nova Scotia, next month.
As in '84, the women's singles holds the most suspense.
Just as a young Tiffany Chin was coming on strong in '84 to challenge the older Sumners and Elaine Zayak, now it's 18-year-old Yamaguchi making a bid to unseat Trenary, 21.
Tateoka refuses to play favorites, but she admits to admiring the show Yamaguchi gave in the Salt Palace Jan. 24 at the Campbell's Soup on Ice demonstration. That exhibition also featured Bowman, Wynne/Druar, Yamaguchi/Galindo and Bountiful's Holly Cook, who's hoping to medal after placing fourth last year.
The knock on Yamaguchi has been that she looks young and little; many judges favor a "woman" look. But Yamaguchi may now have overcome that, and her program could include seven triple jumps.
Trenary has ability and the look - extension, head position and audience rapport. "That's her strong point," observes Kris Sherard, Cook's coach. "She has a really nice figure, a pretty face, and she's pleasing to watch. I don't think Tonya or Kristi are as good at projecting."
Tonya is '89 bronze medalist Harding, who beat Trenary and Yamaguchi at '89 Skate America. Harding could be the first American woman to do a triple Axel. It's more difficult than other triples - because of takeoff position, it requires 3 1/2 turns.
An interesting subplot: Yamaguchi is one of few skaters to medal in two events in one year. Is this the year the dual training will catch up? In the men's singles, Bowman's a crowd pleaser being chased by a pack of five or six. His consistency may be the answer to another gold.
Daniel Doran took silver last year, a big jump. Paul Wylie, a Harvard University student, is 25, extremely experienced and third last year. "When he's on, he's unbelievable," says Matta. He was fourth in '84, 10th in the '88 Olympics. "It's a crucial year for him," says Matta.
Erik Larson and Todd Eldredge are up-n-comers, and Mark Mitchell is Cook's favorite - she calls him her best friend, even though they only see each other once or twice a year at competitions.
In pairs, the No. 2 and No. 3 finishers of last year have retired, leaving the fourth and fifth finishers - Sharon Carz/Doug Williams and Calla Urbanski/Mark Naylor - to chase Yamaguchi/Galindo.
In dance, Wynne/Druar's closest competition has come from April Sargent/Russ Witherby, who've been first or second in their last three meets. Jeanne Miley/Michael Verlich are "dynamic and get the crowd going," says Matta.
Two-hundred two skaters in senior, junior and novice levels are expected to participate in the '90 Nationals. Among juniors, names to watch are Tisha Walker, Kyoko Ina and Shepherd Clark.