Guards ensure smooth skating

Among the legions of fans descending on Spokane for the State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships this week likely will be a little-known subspecies: the skate fanatic.

“We have a pretty good idea of who some of the fanatical skating fans are – we know what they look like,” said Toby Steward, of Star USA, the Spokane company organizing the event. Steward, who has spent years preparing for the championships, said he had “rubbed shoulders” with most of the hard-core fans while scouting major skating events.

“I think they’re more or less just very passionate about the sport,” said Steward, although he added, “You do have some that are overboard.”

Steward may have been referring to fans like Ron Bensimhon.

Skating aficionados may remember Bensimhon, of Montreal, from the 2005 World Ice Skating Championships in Dortmund, Germany, when he hopped onto the ice shirtless, wearing skates, a yellow tutu, ski goggles and a small top hat. Bensimhon skated a few laps and performed an impromptu “ice dance” before being detained. His stunt reportedly spooked Michelle Kwan, who was about to perform.

Sgt. Chuck Reisenauer of the Spokane Police Department, head of security arrangements for the championships, said he and his officers would be keeping an eye out for potential troublemakers.

“Hopefully we’ll intercept them before that happens,” he said of those who might try to get on the ice without permission.

With four hours of live television coverage of the skating events, Reisenauer said, Spokane’s reputation is on the line.

“This is Spokane’s chance to be the best we can be in front of the entire country, and we’re going to have zero tolerance for that kind of behavior,” he said.

With skaters like Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes among the most recognizable female athletes in the country, Spokane police will also be on the lookout for fans who might cross the line between admirers and stalkers. According to Steward, there are “a few that may fit that title.”

Igor Shpilband, a former Soviet junior world ice dancing champion, is the coach of the ice dancing pair Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, who won silver at the 2006 Turin Olympics. He said he was not very worried about skate stalkers – at least not in America.

“In Russia, skaters are just like movie stars,” he said. “I don’t think we have that here yet. There are very few skaters in America that are well-known enough to have that problem.”

Security will be tight at the Arena and Convention Center, said Reisenauer, with even ticketed patrons strictly limited to where they can go. However, until a fan crosses the line between skate-mania and criminal behavior, there’s little police can do.

Bob Dunlop, senior director of events for U.S. Figure Skating, said solo competitors like figure skaters tend to attract more attention – positive and negative – than team-sports players. Without going into detail, he said that any information about risks was immediately passed on to security.

“It’s fair to say that if we have concerns we let our concerns be known,” he said.

Officers won’t be providing what’s called dignitary protection – in essence, bodyguards – for individual skaters, Reisenauer said.

Security costs will be borne by the city of Spokane as part of the original bidding process that brought the championships to the city. According to a Police Department schedule, anywhere from four to 16 officers are scheduled to work security during different parts of each day, but the number of officers working the patrols will vary depending on what’s needed.

With an enhanced police presence, additional private security guards and Washington state’s generally genial reputation, a peaceful skating championship looks likely.

Then again, it bears remembering that it was the Northwest’s own Tonya Harding, a Portland native, who created the biggest skating scandal ever at the 1994 Detroit Nationals, during which Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, hired Shane Stant to club Nancy Kerrigan on the leg.