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World Championships start Monday Kwan an obvious favorite, men's field full of contenders
Posted: Sunday March 21, 1999 12:16 AM
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- Just as in the Olympics last year, Michelle Kwan is a solid favorite at the figure skating World Championships. But this time, Tara Lipinski won't be around to beat her out of the gold medal. In fact, hardly anyone will challenge Kwan. The men, meanwhile, have three Russians who have been pushing each other all season, with three-time world champion Elvis Stojko of Canada merely an outsider. The week-long competition begins Monday with qualifications, which count this year as part of the changes the sport's governing body made in scoring. The World Championships often showcase early contenders for the next Olympics. However, who could have thought in 1995 that 11-year-old Lipinski would be the next Olympic champion? As for Kwan, her only loss in the past two years was at the Nagano Games to Lipinski. Kwan still needs the Olympic gold to establish herself with her American compatriots, no matter how well she does in world competitions. She has won the World Championships twice and finished second twice. Lipinski, no longer eligible for the Olympics or worlds, won once and finished 15th the other time she competed. But despite her success at the World Championships, Kwan always has the Olympics on her mind. She thought about that in Salt Lake City last month at the U.S. championships. "At the end, as I stood there in the center of the ice, it came to me all at once: `Oh my goodness, in a couple of years this will be the 2002 Olympics,'" Kwan said. This year Kwan has taken it easy. Avoiding the moneymaking but tiring Grand Prix schedule, she has been touring more and competing less. As a result, the U.S. championships were her first competition this season that required a full complement of triple jumps. Her artistry and consistent jumping -- despite an occasional fall -- put her far above the competition. Without Lipinski, Kwan faces only mediocre challengers from the former Soviet Union: Maria Butyrskaya of Russia and Tatiana Malinina of Uzbekistan. Neither should present an obstacle to Kwan winning the world title for the third time.
"It is a challenge each year, but it's her life," said Frank Carroll, her longtime coach. "As long as Michelle wants to do it and is self-motivated, she'll do it." Three Russian men, however, have been challenged all year. Alexei Yagudin, Yevgeny Plushenko and Alexei Urmanov have been taking turns beating each other. Yagudin is the two-time European champion, Plushenko is the Russian champion and Urmanov won the Cup of Russia on the home rink of all three. The competition probably will be decided by the free skating, as it has been every time these men have met. No matter what has happened in qualifying and the short program, whoever was the best in free skating was the winner. There is an unknown factor this year -- Stojko. The Canadian has competed only sporadically since severely tearing a groin muscle at the Nagano Olympics. He has not done well, barely winning the Canadian title and placing third at the Four Continents competition. "My doctors say it usually takes two years to heal from that, and I was back on the ice in six months," Stojko said. "It was a struggle and it still is. The time I'd had off put me behind all season. I've been behind everybody and trying to catch up." But if he is on, he could put two quads in his program. But then, so can Plushenko, and a couple of Chinese competitors. So it could come down to style, where Yagudin and Urmanov have the edge. The edge in pairs is slight now, due to the early favorites' recent performances. After winning the Olympic silver medal, Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikarulidze of Russia didn't lose until the European championship, when they were forced out two hours before the start of the finals because of her illness. Then Berezhnaya made several mistakes over the two programs at the Grand Prix finals two weeks ago, raising doubts about her condition. China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo ended up winning. The ice dance event promises to be close. It couldn't get much closer than the last two meetings between the top two duos, when one judge's vote decided the titles. Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov of Russian have stuck to their controversial drum routine throughout the season. Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France have a more traditional dance and are getting close to winning it all.
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