Championships End With Surprises On Ice Spills, Upset Winners Enliven Last Night Of U.S. Skating Meet

Somehow, the coronations went sour.

What was supposed to be a simple process of affirmation at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships turned into a surprise-filled week in which a world champion was dethroned by a 14-year-old upstart and another was upstaged by a quad that wasn’t.

To heighten the intrigue, the three-time defending champions in pairs were beaten by the couple that chased them all those years, and the dance winners had to overcome a rare fall to grab their fourth title.

Rarely has American skating seen anything like Saturday’s free skates.

Todd Eldredge, the current world champion, won his fourth U.S. crown with a conservative program that won’t be nearly good enough next month in Lausanne, Switzerland.

And despite Eldredge’s joining the likes of Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano as four-time U.S. titlists, the headlines were grabbed by runner-up Michael Weiss.

That is, until 14-year-old Tara Lipinski stunned world champion Michelle Kwan in the women’s free skate and became the youngest gold medalist at the nationals.

“I don’t think anyone can stay on top and finish first every year,” Lipinski said with the wisdom of a sage.

Nor could anyone predict that Kwan would fall apart. A year ago, she was untouchable, the youngest American woman to win the worlds.

These nationals were supposed to be a mere formality and nothing that occurred in the short program on Friday changed that thinking. Kwan led, with Lipinski second.

Then Kwan flopped, sprawling to the ice twice on jumps as nerves got to her for the first time in anyone’s memory.

“I haven’t fallen very much in the competitions, and I guess right now I have to learn something from this, kind of get my head together,” Kwan said.

Lipinski soared through the opening with grace and power. She even put together a triple loop-triple loop combination that almost nobody tries.

Suddenly, Lipinski becomes a threat for next year’s Olympics, even though most plans had her gearing toward Salt Lake City in 2002.

“I think Tara is bright enough to accept she had a great night and the champion had an off night,” said her coach, Richard Callaghan, who also trains Eldredge. “And because she had a great night, she is the champion this year. But because she will have a long career, there will be some highs and lows.”

The USFSA told everyone to forget what they thought they saw Weiss accomplish.

Like Lipinski, he was the last skater in the free program. And he also made history - but only for an hour.

Weiss nailed a quadruple toe loop, the first American to complete a four-revolution jump in competition. The judges thought so, giving him six near-perfect 5.9s for technical merit. The audience thought so, giving him a long standing ovation after a program that included two massive triple axels, one in combination, and two triple lutzes, one in a jump series.

Even the president of the USFSA, who was seated in the stands, thought so - until watching a slow-motion videotape long after the event ended.

“He came down on his landing foot and, essentially pushed off with his second foot,” said Morry Stillwell, USFSA president, a longtime judge.

Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen finally caught Jenni Meno and Todd Sand in pairs after three straight runner-up finishes. Meno and Sand’s sloppiness and a strong performance to a difficult free skate by Ina and Dungjen made the difference.

The dance was won by favorites Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow. But even they had to go through something strange when she slipped to the ice early in their program.

“It’s not something we expect to happen,” she said.

Which is how it went pretty much all week.