Three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir is considering bringing back a quadruple jump in his free skate.
Weir rarely has used the four-revolution jump, although he did a quad toe loop in the 2008 season when he won a bronze medal at the world championships. That was the last time Weir was a factor in a major international competition.
He said after January's U.S. championships that he wouldn't be doing one in Vancouver. But his coach, Galina Zmievskaya, has urged Weir to begin practicing the quad, and he says he is proud of "the clean one" he did during Monday's run-through. That quad had a funky landing, though, and when he tried three more, he popped one into a double and the others had only three revolutions.
Still, it could be in his repertoire for Thursday's free skate; the men begin today with the short program.
"What do I have to lose?" asked Weir, who won his third consecutive American title in 2006, then finished fifth at the Turin Games after being second in the short program. "I'm not a favorite for a medal here. If I feel like doing it, I will do it."
Most of the top competitors in Vancouver will do quads in their free skates, although fellow American Evan Lysacek , the world champion, has eliminated it because it causes too much stress on his left foot. U.S. champ Jeremy Abbott will attempt a quad, as will defending Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko and Turin silver medalist Stephane Lambiel . The quad long has been a staple of 2007 world champion Brian Joubert 's programs.
BOBSLEDDERS LIKE TRACK: The head of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is OK with the track at the Whistler Sliding Center.
American skeleton athletes trained on the track Monday for the first time since Nodar Kumaritashvili' s death. They were among the majority of competitors who started at the top of the track, bypassing the option of starting from a lower spot. Luge events were moved down the track to make races slower and safer, and indeed there wasn't a single wreck in the finals.
GETZLAF MAKES RoSTER: Two goals and two assists for the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday convinced Canadian hockey officials that Ryan Getzlaf is ready for the Olympics.
Getzlaf was playing his first game since spraining his left ankle. Flyers forward Jeff Carter was flown to Vancouver in case Getzlaf wasn't ready, but Getzlaf was included on the roster submitted Monday.
U.S. PLAYER SKIPS PRACTICE: American forward Erika Lawler didn't break any bones or sprain any ligaments when she crashed into the boards Sunday. But she was bruised enough to miss practice Monday.
Coach Mark Johnson is optimistic Lawler will play today against Russia.
DOPING BAN APPEALED: Five-time Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein says she's making a last-minute appeal to compete at the Vancouver Games despite a doping ban.
The German says on her Web site that she has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
A committee handles late appeals for the Olympics.
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