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 Monday, March 19, 2001
Classic showdowns end the season
By Terry Gannon
Special to ABC Sports.com
The most important event of the year is held in a skating hotbed less than a year away from the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
That's a heckuva trifecta for the upcoming World Figure Skating Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia. This world-class, picturesque city north of the border is about to host a furious gold rush with wide-open races in all four disciplines. You want drama? Here it is: there is no clear-cut favorite in any of the four disciplines this year.
The Ladies event features a classic showdown and brings up the age-old question in skating: is artistry or athleticism more important? Michelle Kwan is the sport's ultimate artist on ice and is trying to win her fourth World Championship. Russia's Irina Slutskaya is the bubbly, energetic athlete who has raised the bar technically the past few years while twice winning the World silver medal. Slutskaya has beaten Kwan twice this season in major competitions including the recent Grand Prix Final and has the momentum. But we've all learned that counting Kwan out is sheer folly. Look for Michelle to be more focused and sharper than we've seen her all season. How important is this championship? Sixteen of nineteen ladies who have won the World title in their pre-Olympic year have gone on to win the Olympic gold medal.
|  | | Michelle Kwan is looking to win her fourth World Championship. |
Meanwhile, Maria Butyrskaya, the winner of the '99 Worlds in Helsinki, has struggled all season. Don't be surprised if 15-year-old American Sarah Hughes makes it to the podium. At this tender age she has already been to two World Championships and finished in the top five last year. One interesting sidebar: Hughes and Slutskaya both skate to Don Quixote and many feel that the American teenager interprets the music and character more convincingly than the veteran.
The Men's event is simply loaded! Yagudin, Plushenko, Eldredge, Stojko ... The top four names in men's skating will fight it out for the gold. Alexei Yagudin looks for his fourth world title in a row while Evgeny Plushenko has won every title the past few years except Worlds. Plushenko has dominated his former training partner as of late, but Yagudin is the ultimate gamer. He's at his best when the stakes are high.
Elvis Stojko, the three-time World Champion, is a major question mark. Out for almost the entire season with an injury, can he flip the switch to full throttle now right out of the gate? He'll have a boisterous home crowd that will react to his every move. And what about Todd Eldredge? His last World Championship was three years ago in Minneapolis and his silver medal performance at this season's National Championship was less than stirring. However, he now has the quad and his only World gold medal was won in Canada ('96 in Edmonton).
Ice Dancing presents another dramatic individual match-up. The reigning World champs from France, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, take on the World silver medalists from Italy, Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio. The Italians turned the dance world upside down with an upset win at the Europeans in the only meeting between the two this season. On the heels of that loss, the French withdrew from the Grand Prix Final, presumably because of an injury to Anissina. Some questioned the validity of that injury and felt that the World champs just didn't want to experience another loss right before Worlds. It will be a classic confrontation in Vancouver if both skate cleanly. It's anybody's guess as to who has the edge.
Finally, the Pairs Championship is totally up for grabs. "Wide open" doesn't begin to describe this loaded field. Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze are World champions twice over with vintage Russian line and style. Canadian champs Jamie Sale and David Pelletier emerged like a lightning bolt last season and will be in front of a home audience that adores them. Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China may be the most talented pair in the world and have been bridesmaids the past two years as the World silver medalists. Their throws and jumps are Jordanesque in terms of height. Meanwhile, the reigning World champs from Russia, Petrova and Tikhonov, have not won all season but are always in the hunt. The ultimate winners? Don't take it to Vegas, but if anyone can hold up in a hostile environment it's Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze. They impress the judges before the music even starts.
So there it is. Grace, elegance, beauty combined with sweat, grit and sheer guts. The 2001 World Championships from Canada. Enjoy, eh!
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