LOS ANGELES ? If Kyoko Ina has her way, her third trip to the Olympic Winter Games will be the charm ? and she's banking that it will be made of gold, silver or bronze.
Ina and her partner, John Zimmerman, earned a trip to Salt Lake City with a win here at the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships pairs competition. Though it was enough to give Ina and Zimmerman the win, their interpretation of "Variations on a Theme of Paganini" was less than perfect. The team made mistakes in both their side-by-side jumps and their final throw triple Salchow.
Clearly bothered, Ina said the team will use the time between now and the Games to polish their program.
"If we skate like this, we're not even going to be a factor at the Olympics," Ina said, calling the team's performance "the worst to date."
Two-time national silver medalists Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn claimed the remaining spot with a gutsy, if flawed, come-back performance. The team had to withdraw from the entire competitive season after Dulebohn suffered a fractured hip. The Olympic trials was their competitive debut. They moved up from third place after the short program, beating out up-and-comers Stephanie Kalesavich and Aaron Parchem for the second spot.
"We made a little miracle happen tonight," Dulebohn said. "Three months ago we were in a really dark place. I'm really proud of Tiffany for skating with me through this year."
Their free skate revealed some rough edges that will need to be refined before the Games, however. Both fell on their side-by-side triple toe loops; only their artistic marks gave them an edge over Kalesavich and Parchem, who also fell on their side-by-side jumps.
Danielle Hartsell and Steve Hartsell, 1999 national champions, withdrew from the competition just prior to the free skate. Steve Hartsell said he suffered a groin injury in practice earlier in the week, and did not feel it was safe to compete.
Their last minute withdrawal may have rattled Ina and Zimmerman, who followed them in the skating order.
The Salt Lake City Games will be Ina's third Olympic experience, having competed in 1994 and 1998 with Dungjen. Ina and Dungjen narrowly missed the podium in Nagano, finishing fourth.
With Zimmerman, Ina has another ? perhaps final ? shot at a medal. However, it won't come easily. The pair has performed well this season, with silver medal finishes at all three of their Grand Prix events.
But they continue to struggle with nerves and consistency. Zimmerman admitted after this week's short program competition his confidence wavered, and he is recovering from a broken finger suffered when he mishandled a football during a casual game of catch. Salt Lake City will prove an even more daunting test.
With the men's and pairs Olympic teams in place, only the ice dance and marquee ladies teams have yet to be chosen. Saturday's competition will feature Michelle Kwan in her quest for the one title that has eluded her ? Olympic gold. But first, she'll have to hold off an impressive group of up-and-coming skaters, including Sasha Cohen, Sarah Hughes, and Angela Nikodinov.
In the dance event, Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev likely will lead America's ice dance team to Salt Lake City. Saturday's competition will determine which team will accompany them.
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com,mtitze@desnews.com