Maybe it's his first name. Todd just doesn't have the ring of Elvis or Alexei or Rudy.
Maybe it's his ranking. Todd Eldredge isn't even a national champion right now.And maybe fanfare doesn't matter to Eldredge, something of a forgotten man at the World Figure Skating Championships.
Most of the attention heading into today's short program has been showered on two-time defending champion Elvis Stojko of Canada. Deservedly so, because Stojko has been the best skater in the world ever since the 1994 Olympics.
The winner at those Olympics, Alexei Urmanov of Russia, finally seems to have broken free of his post-Games funk. He beat Stojko at the Grand Prix championship last month in Paris, and is considered a co-favorite.
Then there is U.S. titleholder Rudy Galindo, seeking to complete an almost absurd ascent from the fringes of the sport to the top.
Doesn't leave much room for a guy from Chatham, Mass., named Todd, does it?
Well, sure it does, particularly since this guy has the credentials, too. After all, Eldredge capped an amazing comeback of his own a year ago by finishing just behind Stojko at worlds.
"It takes a little pressure off," Eldredge said of being overlooked. "Obviously, there still is pressure. The pressure I put on myself is still there."
The men's short program, worth one-third the total score, preceded the pairs final. In Tuesday's pairs short program, Germany's Mandy Wotzel and Ingo Steurer skated first, yet pulled off a rare coup by winding up on top.
They were followed by three Russian pairs: Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov; Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov; and Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev. U.S. champions Jenni Meno and Todd Sand were fifth, while Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen stood eighth and Shelby Lyons and Bryan Wells were 11th.
In ice dance compulsories, Olympic champions Oksana Gritschuk and Evgeny Platov got off to a good start toward a third straight world crown. They led countrymen Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov and Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz.
American champs Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow were seventh, while Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur were 14th.