Ice Champs Go On Defense Eldredge, Kwan Must Face Up To Big Challenges

Defying all figure skating trends, Americans Todd Eldredge and Michelle Kwan prepare to defend their world titles this week. They also are ready to defend their sport - Eldredge from the quad, Kwan from encroaching youth.

Eldredge, a four-time U.S. champion, will try to keep the title without bowing to the almighty quad, the gravity-defying, four-revolution jump that nearly all of his top rivals have nailed in competition.

Kwan’s test will be regaining her composure after surprising stumbles that allowed 14-year-old Tara Lipinski to snatch the U.S. championship last month, then the prestigious Champions Series final in Canada.

At just 16, Kwan’s faint edge of maturity prematurely has made her the guardian of grown-up grace in a sport giving way to youthful athletic skills. So far this year, youth is ahead, bundled in Lipinski’s miniature 4-foot-8, 75-pound frame, capable of landing seven clean triples in a single free-skate program.

Despite Lipinski’s success, the well-tested Kwan remains a favorite at the weeklong World Figure Skating Championships, which begin today in Lausanne. No one, least of all Lipinski, expected major titles to come so soon. And Kwan was virtually unstoppable until the last two competitions, winning 11 of 12, along the way trading in her little girl’s pink costume and developing artistic sophistication.

It’s a transformation that Lipinski has begun, focusing on improving her speed and presentation while trying to erase her youthful image.

“This year we have more of a sophisticated program,” Lipinski said. “I wear my hair in a bun, my dresses are a little different from last year. But other than that, I’m just working on the ice making my program richer.”

If the enormous pressure spooked Kwan in her two losses last month, Lipinski is staving off jitters by viewing herself not as U.S. champion, but as a middle-ranked world skater. “Last year I was 15th, so I can only get better from that,” she said of her performance at the 1996 worlds.

With an uncertain women’s field, all eyes and bets will be on Kwan and Lipinski. China’s Chen Lu will be back after sitting out every competition since finishing a close second to Kwan at last year’s world championships.

After a year of nursing a foot injury, even Chen concedes it will be “virtually impossible” to wind up on the winners’ podium.

European champion Irina Slutskaya, 17, of Russia, is struggling against a growth spurt. She is a strong contender for at least a medal. And Nicole Bobek, her career revitalized after injury and coaching changes last year, finished third at the U.S. championships. In 1995, she was the surprise U.S. champion and finished third at the worlds.

The men’s competition, meanwhile, is bursting with talent. Any of a half-dozen top skaters could skate off with the gold, and all of their competitive energy seems to have collected around the question: How many revolutions does it take to be the world champion?

Eldredge is betting on three.

The 25-year-old world champion won his fourth U.S. crown last month without the quad. And he’ll probably be the only holdout among the top title contenders.

Canada’s Elvis Stojko and Russian skaters Alexei Urmanov and Ilia Kulik landed quads earlier this month at the Champions Series final in Hamilton, Ontario, and they’re sure to try again, most likely in combination jumps. U.S. silver medalist Michael Weiss, whose quad at nationals was disqualified because judges ruled his second foot brushed the ice upon landing, also will try one.

Eldredge, who has yet to try the jump in competition, remains convinced the world championship can be won without it. He points to Hamilton to prove his point.

Stojko landed the first clean quad-triple combination in competition, and won. He plans to up the ante in the race for revolutions at Lausanne by repeating the feat, adding a second triple axel to his long program and a triple-triple combination to his short.

But at Hamilton, Eldredge beat Urmanov and Kulik despite their quadruples. That alone, Eldredge argues, is enough to declare figure skating safe from compulsory quads.

“I don’t think that it is becoming a jumpfest,” he said. “I think there really is a lot of emphasis put on the jumps, obviously, but also on the artistic and the total program.”

Eldredge has been practicing the quad as a safeguard, but gives every indication he won’t try it under the pressure of competition. After hurting his right ankle on a triple axel in practice last week - just after hitting a quad - he is less likely to take chances that might cost him.

The Russian pair of Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov will be back to defend the world title against rivals Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev, back on the Russian team after finishing fourth at nationals, and Germans Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer, winners in Hamilton.

Americans Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, the bronze medalists in last year’s worlds, skated a troubled routine at nationals, possibly leaving room for new U.S. champions Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen to claim their first international medal.

In ice dancing, Oksana Gritschuk and Evgeny Platov are coming off a European championship win in January and are in form to defend their world title with a mesmerizing Arabian routine. Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz upset the second-best Russian pair, Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov, at Hamilton.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WORLDS SCHEDULE Schedule for the World Figure Skating Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland: Today: Men’s qualifying. Monday: Women’s qualifying. Tuesday: Compulsory dance; pairs short program. Wednesday: Men’s short program; pairs free skate. Thursday: Original dance; men’s free skate. Friday: Women’s short program; free dance. Saturday: Women’s free skate.