Ice princess
Kwan cruises into World Pros, confusing state of skating
Posted: Thursday December 10, 1998 11:18 PM
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Michelle Kwan shouldn't encounter much resistance at the World Pro Championships AP |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michelle Kwan doesn't concern herself with any
figure skating power plays. She leaves that to the politicians and
rulemakers.
Kwan concentrates on what she does best -- skating. This weekend,
she'll headline the strongest field of any event this season in the
World Pro Championships.
This year, at least, the International Skating Union, which
governs the Olympic-eligible level, sanctioned certain pro-am
competitions. The world pros at the MCI Center is one of them.
It's also the biggest challenge Kwan will have -- not even at the
national championships in February will she face anything near the
competition in this event.
"This competition is a great event because it is a chance for
all of us as amateurs to compete against professionals," she said.
"I'll get to skate against Lu Chen and ... also work on my short
program and interpretive long program. It will help me throughout the year and heading into other competitions and for next year."
Kwan hasn't committed to nationals yet, but barring injury,
she's a lock to compete in Salt Lake City. With Tara Lipinski
no longer eligible and Nicole Bobek still slumping, Kwan might
easily win her third national crown.
"I hope to be there, but I want to be 100 percent," she said.
"I love competing at nationals and it's in Salt Lake, where the
(2002) Olympics will be, which is another good point."
Is 2002 on her agenda, as well?
"I think it would be fun to test the waters," said the Olympic
silver medalist and two-time world champion. "It was pretty
confirmed when I finished the long program at Nagano -- even before
then -- I knew what I liked best was competing. When I stop liking
that, it's the time I will be ready to move on."
She moves into the world pros with a triple lutz-triple toe loop
combination in her repertoire. But she isn't expecting to use it,
sticking to an easier triple toe loop-triple toe loop combo.
Kwan realizes she must continue to upgrade her technical skating
and jumps. One reason she lost the Olympic gold medal to Lipinski
was her rival's willingness to try more difficult maneuvers. Kwan
will soon need those moves.
"People who are coming up will be very strong and determined,
and you have to be ahead of the game and keep on working," she
said. "I still have to put in the same effort, determination and
motivation to reach 2002. I know it won't be easy."
The competition Friday and Saturday nights isn't too tough, and
it's familiar to Kwan. She usually handles Chen and Bobek easily.
Oksana Baiul, the 1994 Olympic champion, is making a rare competitive
appearance, while Katarina Witt also hasn't skated much this year.
That could leave Yuka Sato of Japan, who has performed well as a
professional, as Kwan's chief challenger.
Among the men, world champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia,
five-time U.S. champ Todd Eldredge and 1996 U.S. winner Rudy
Galindo face Canada's Browning, who has dominated the pro level the
last three years.
The pairs features Olympic champions Oksana Kazakova and Artur
Dmitriev of Russia, and bronze medalists Mandy Wotzel and Ingo
Steuer of Germany.
For once, there will be extra focus on the dance. Two-time
Olympic champions Pasha Grishuk and Yevgeny Platov will be there --
but with different partners. Grishuk now skates with Alexander
Zhulin, with whom she admits to once having an affair while he was
married to Maya Usova. Platov, meanwhile, now skates with Usova.
It will be the first meeting for the estranged-united couples.
"I just want to say we are all human, and, of course, we make
some mistakes," Zhulin said. "I'm sorry for my actions. We're tinking about the future, new programs, just thinking about the future, nothing about the past."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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