BOSTON — With the Salt Lake City Olympics a year away, American figure skaters and ice dancers will begin to jostle for medal position. And the first major step toward Olympic gold is the U.S. Championships, held here this week.
Here, the nation's elite skaters will begin proving their worthiness to judges. Because in figure skating, an Olympic medal is not always won in the few minutes spent on the ice. It is a sport governed by reputation, where judges are notoriously kind to proven champions and notoriously harsh on the new kids.
Take, for example, Michelle Kwan. Though an undisputed champion, Kwan's performance last season lagged as she adjusted to the rigors of college, dorm life and time away from family. And she has proven herself beatable this season as well, with lackluster performances at Skate America in October — where she won, despite an uninspired long program — and Skate Canada a week later, where she was beaten by re-invigorated Russian Irina Slutskaya.
Kwan undoubtedly will make the Olympic team, barring her retirement from the sport or the outrageous injure-for-hire plots of the past. But her performance at this week's nationals will speak loudly of her determination not to rest on her considerable laurels.
Here, she will be tested by the future of American ladies' figure skating: by 15-year-old Sarah Hughes, who earlier this season threatened to out-Kwan Kwan with her much-improved artistry; and by pixie Sasha Cohen, the 16-year-old whose balletic style and program difficulty make her a legitimate threat. Cohen was last year's national silver medalist, Hughes the bronze medalist.
Reputation likely also will smile on two-time national champion Michael Weiss, who makes his first major competitive appearance this week. Hampered by stress fractures in his left ankle and toe, Weiss withdrew from Skate America and placed a disappointing sixth at the Cup of Russia in November. Still, with two national titles and two world bronze medals to his credit, Weiss said in a telephone conference he feels comfortable going into this week's competition.
"I had an injury last year, and I was coming into it unproven. I'm very comfortable with that position," Weiss said. "Obviously Timmy and Todd have had good years and are definitely gearing up to skate well. But it's like that every year. It's always a showdown."
The "Timmy" and "Todd" in question are Timothy Goebel and Todd Eldredge. The former, who has earned the moniker "Quad King" because of his penchant for eye-popping quad jumps, has benefited from a coaching change (he now trains with Kwan's coach, Frank Carroll) and surprised even himself by beating World and Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin at Skate America. Infamous for his big jumps and little artistry, Goebel has made impressive strides in men's figure skating.
The latter is the foundation of American skating in the 1990s, having won national championships in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1997 and 1998. Eldredge is beloved in a way few skaters are, with luscious spins and solid jumps. But, there are jumps, and then there are quad jumps. The quad has eluded Eldredge for much of this season and likely will be one of the few things to separate him from a sixth national title.
Pairs champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman likely will retain their national title, largely because injuries have decimated the competition. The country also lost its most promising young ice dance team when Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek announced they would no longer work together. Reigning dance champions Naomi Lang and Peter Tschernyshev now have virtually no competition, and an already-thin field now verges on anorexic.
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com