American figure skater Michelle Kwan is seen as she rehearses her routine during practice at White Ring Arena Tuesday. Associated Press

Real Olympic drama begins

Web posted February 18, 1998

By Dennis Sodomka
Staff Writer

NAGANO, Japan -- Now it's time for the heavy hitters to take to the ice.

No more pairs and dancers and men who fall trying to do too many jumps. It's time for the darlings of the television ratings, the women's singles. Tonya and Nancy are gone, but there will be new drama in the rink.

Starting today, Michelle, Tara and Nicole take center stage, aiming for an unprecedented U.S. medals sweep. They are the last hope for American figure skaters shut out of medals so far this year.

Quick, can you remember the last time the U.S. team didn't win a single medal in figure skating? It was 1932, the only year since the Winter Olympics began in 1924 that American skaters didn't take home a single medal.

That likely won't happen this year. The only question seems to be whether the U.S. women will take two or three medals.

Leading the charge for the United States is reigning national champion Michelle Kwan, 17. She received perfect 6.0s from eight of the nine judges in the free skating program at the nationals.

The feat capped a comeback.

After winning the World Championship in 1996, she grew

so much so quickly it threw her balance off just a bit on jumps and spins.

She was forced to make adjustments.

After being in Lillehammer as an alternate in 1994, she is ready for her first Olympic experience.

``Being at the Olympics? Wow!'' she said. ``I feel like I want to cry. Seeing the Olympic rings and all of the signs throughout Nagano is a great scene.''

Her strengths are her artistic interpretation of the music. The perfect scores in the nationals were for artistic merit.

Tara Lipinski, 15, is the reigning world champion. She moved up when Kwan faltered. Then at the nationals, she fell in her short program, only to perform a masterful long program to move up to second.

She is considered a technical wizard and performs her jumps with precision. She is the first female skater to perform a triple loop/triple loop in a World Championship. She also is the youngest U.S. ladies champ and youngest world ladies champ.

She seems unfazed by the pressure put on her.

``I just do my sessions, work on my routines. I think I'm ready,'' she said.

Waiting quietly in the wings is Nicole Bobek, the old lady of the group at 20. She started skating in 1981 and has been competing internationally since 1990. She is the 1995 U.S. champion and world bronze medalist, but has never broken into the elite.

``Being here at the Olympics means everything to me,'' Bobek said. ``It is something I have wanted for my entire life.

``My confidence level is high. I have the jumps, no problem. It is just a matter of going out there and doing it.''

Asked if she thought there could be a U.S. sweep, she said, ``Anything is possible. We are all very strong and all very confident in our own ways. Between the three of us, hopefully there is something that everyone likes.''

The rest of the world won't give the medals to the Americans by default.

Germany's Tanja Szewczenko dropped out of the competition, leaving Russians Irina Slutskaya and Maria Butyrskaya and China's Lu Chen as the top challengers to the Americans.

The competition has two parts. The short program today counts for 33.3 percent of the skater's total score and includes several required elements. It has a two-minute, 40-second time limit to music selected by the skater.

The free skate Friday is worth 66.7 percent of a skater's total score. It is limited to four minutes, 40 seconds with music selected by the skater.

Change of pace, creativity and innovative moves are not required, but certainly encouraged.

To see an exciting, 360-degree virtual reality view of several Nagano sites, please visit @ugusta, The Augusta Chronicle Online, at www.augustachronicle.com/

nagano.