Continental divide
Kwan's absence, Stojko headline Four Continents
Posted: Monday February 22, 1999 10:12 PM
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Michelle Kwan chose to skip the inaugural ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships to focus on the Worlds. AP |
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) -- Eighty-eight athletes from 13 countries will compete for $517,000 in prize money at the inaugural ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships that begins on Tuesday.
The new event, open to skaters from North America, Asia, Australia and Africa, is billed as the equivalent to the century-old European Championships.
Given that some participating countries such as Mexico, South Africa and Australia are not strong figure skating nations, however, the competition will not have the same depth as the Europeans.
The entry list is also weakened by the absence of leading Americans Michelle Kwan, a two-time world champion, new U.S. men's champion Michael Weiss, and pair team Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, who all chose to skip the Four Continents event.
Carolyn Kruse, chair of the USFSA's international team selection committee, said "it would have been too much" for Weiss and Ina and Zimmerman to compete here, given that they just came off the national championship a week ago and will fly to St. Petersburg, Russia, next week for the Grand Prix Final.
"It's a scheduling problem," said Kruse. "Our sports medicine committee recommends at least three weeks between competitions."
As for Kwan, Kruse said, "She just wants to train and work towards Worlds."
That makes Canada's three-time world champ Elvis Stojko the headliner here, and the favorite to claim the top prize of $22,000 in the men's event.
The women's field has no world medalists. Tatiana Malinina of Uzbekistan, eighth at the '98 Olympics and a Grand Prix finalist this season, and Japan's Fumie Suguri, who also made the list for the Grand Prix final, are the leading contenders for the women's gold.
In the pairs event, world top-10 ranked Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China and Canada's Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz will battle for gold and the $33,000 that goes with it.
In ice dance, Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, third-ranked in the world, should waltz away with the title and $33,000. Most in the field of 12 couples have never even been to the World Championships.
No competitors will go away empty-handed, however, since the last-place finishers in singles get $2,200 and in pair and dance $3,300.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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