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'Just awesome' Eldredge wins gold; Goebel lands quad; Russians rule pairs
Posted: Saturday August 01, 1998 09:15 AM
UNIONDALE, New York (AP) -- On a night when a 17-year-old brought the crowd to its feet with a rarely seen quadruple salchow, Todd Eldredge added a Goodwill Games gold to his collection of figure skating medals. Eldredge completed his personal progression, clinching the men's singles with a brilliant free skate Friday night. He already had Goodwill bronze from 1990 and silver from 1994. The pairs gold medal went to world champions Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, who beat archrivals Artur Dmitriev and Oksana Kazakova. Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek of Poland overtook Xue Shen and Hongo Zhao of China for the bronze. Timothy Goebel, the only American ever to land a quad in competition, did it again with a salchow that left his coach, Carol Heiss Jenkins, jumping behind the corner boards and the Nassau Coliseum crowd of 5,790 roaring. Goebel, sixth after the short program, finished fifth. "I was absolutely thrilled," he said. "It was probably the best program I've ever done in my entire life. At the end of my program, I knew that I did exactly what I was supposed to do. The crowd knew it was a quad. I was impressed that they knew. And I was really glad they were so behind me." Eldredge, the five-time national champion and former world champion, who was fourth at the Olympics and second at the worlds, captivated the crowd as he captured the gold. Throwing triple jumps from one end of the ice to the other during his 41/2-minute program, he nailed every move effortlessly. When he finished with a combination spin that left him twirling like a top at center ice, the crowd roared and he punched the air in exhilaration. "I did eight triples," Eldredge said. "But I was not as tired as I thought I would be. I guess maybe that was because I was skating very well." Coach Richard Callaghan greeted him as Eldredge came off the ice, calling the performance "just awesome." As the crowd cheered "Six! Six! Six!" hoping for perfect marks, the judges came close, awarding the U.S. champion four 5.9s for technical merit and five 5.9s for performance. The silver medal went to Alexei Urmanov and the bronze to Evgeni Plushenko, both of Russia.
Urmanov, recovering from a groin injury that sidelined him for 16 months and prevented him from defending his Olympic title, received three 5.9s for presentation. Wearing maroon skating outfits that included an evening coat and striped cravat for Sikharulidze, the Russian couple protected the lead they had earned in the pairs short program with a flowing 41/2 minutes on the Nassau Coliseum ice. The Olympic silver medalists earned three 5.8s and a 5.9 from the Chinese judge for presentation. It marked the second straight gold in major international competition for Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze, whose first place at the worlds was somewhat tainted by the withdrawal of Dmitriev and Kazakova because of food poisoning. Just weeks earlier, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had finished second to Dmitriev and Kazakova in a battle of Russians for the Olympic gold. "We feel good because we know we can concentrate," Sikharulidze said. "If we can make everything how we want - new elements - I think we can move ahead in our skating." Dmitriev and Kazakova, second before the free skate, experienced some rough moments. They were slightly out of synch on a side-by-side double axel into a double toe loop near the start of their program and Kazakova slipped, losing her balance for an instant. They received no mark higher than 5.8 and got a 5.2 for technical merit from the United States judge. Two falls by Xue doomed the Chinese chance for a medal.
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