Not new to the block
Ina, Zimmerman the wild card in U.S. pairs
Posted: Tuesday February 09, 1999 01:58 PM
| |
Ina, with previous partner Jason Dungjen, won the last two American crowns before Dungjen suffered an injury last March. Chris Cole/Allsport |
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- It's rare that a newly created team is favored in any sport. It's particularly unusual in figure skating, where years of detailed practices are necessary for a couple to challenge for a title.
Yet Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, together only a few months, are the odds-on choice to win the pairs competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Ina has been at the top before, with previous partner Jason Dungjen. They won the last two American crowns and were fourth at the Nagano Olympics.
But the skaters barely were coexisting after seven years together, and after Dungjen's injury forced them to withdraw from the world championships last March, they split.
"I still wanted to skate, so I began looking for an experienced partner, which isn't an easy thing to find," Ina said. "John has been successful as a pairs skater and he was looking for a partner, too."
Actually, Zimmerman couldn't have imagined he would wind up with one of the best pairs skaters in the United States. He smiles when asked about the pressure of teaming with someone who has won the national championship and been to two Olympics.
"Who wouldn't want to skate with someone like Kyoko, who's won all those championships and knows how to handle the pressure?" said Zimmerman, who at 25 is one year younger than Ina and finished third in U.S. pairs in 1997 with former partner Stephanie Stiegler.
Even better, they now train with Tamara Moskvina, the most accomplished pairs coach in the world. Moskvina had the top two couples at Nagano and, in addition to being the best storyteller in the sport, she is an innovator. Moskvina will gamble with routines, pairs maneuvers and, yes, the makeup of her duos.
"She's the best," Zimmerman said. "It's really an honor to work with her, and after what she's done with so many great pairs, we're working very hard to learn from Tamara."
They've learned their early lessons well. Ina and Zimmerman already have qualified for the Grand Prix finals, although they have yet to win a competition. They were second at the prestigious Lalique Trophy, however, and have been skating against high-level competition.
They won't meet such impressive competition at nationals, which begin tonight with compulsory dance and several junior events. With 1998 world runners-up Jenni Meno and Todd Sand now skating on tour, two teams of siblings figure to challenge for medals.
Danielle and Steve Hartsell steadily have moved up the ranks and were third at last year's nationals, just missing a trip to Nagano. They began this season with a win at the Vienna Cup and were fourth at the Skate America and NHK Trophy international events.
The Hartsells are 18 and 21, respectively. That gives them the edge in age over sister-brother combination Tiffany and Johnnie Stiegler: she is 15 and he is 16.
The Stieglers -- both younger siblings to Stephanie, Zimmerman's onetime partner -- were fourth at the '98 nationals and also came in fourth at the most recent world junior championships.
Another strong junior team, Laura Lynn Handy and J. Paul Binnebose, placed second at those worlds.
It's difficult to picture any of those young couples beating Ina and Zimmerman.
"This is the next big step," Zimmerman said. "Making the Grand Prix finals was big, and this is our first nationals. We've had a good year so far, but there's a lot more ahead."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
