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| | Friday, October 27 Eldredge begins run for Olympic redemption | |||||
| Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - - When Todd Eldredge came crashing to the ice in Nagano, Japan, his dream of winning an Olympic medal seemed to shatter simultaneously. The five-time U.S. champion and 1996 world champion appeared to be lagging in the evolution of men's skating as quadruple jumps became the norm, rather than the exception, and young talent appeared poised to take center ice. Nearly three years after his disappointing fourth-place finish in the 1998 Winter Games, Eldredge has resumed his Olympic push with renewed confidence and a quad to call his own. His bid to represent the United States in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City begins in earnest Thursday at Skate America 2000, the first of six international events in the Grand Prix series. "I don't feel like I have accomplished what I would like to accomplish at the Olympics yet," Eldredge said during a teleconference from his home in Detroit last week. "I have accomplished pretty much everything else along the way, but as far as the Olympics, I haven't had the great performance or the good performance that I'd like to have." At 29, Eldredge is among the older skaters eyeing Salt Lake City, but he has proved willing to learn new tricks after falling while attempting a standard triple jump in Nagano. Long known for his artistry, Eldredge added a quadruple axel that gives him an element of athleticism absent from previous years. He landed the quad for the first time in competition at the Masters of Figure Skating in Boise, Idaho, two weeks ago. "It's always been in the plan to do it. It just hadn't happened yet," he said. "When it happened in Boise, that was great." The quad, which will be part of Eldredge's long and short programs at Skate America, has become a necessity in the men's competition, but Eldredge said it should not be the determining factor of a skater's success. "If they are doing two quads, do they have the rest of the package they need?" he said. "They need the good spins, the good footwork, the great artistry. That's what goes into a program. It's not how many quads you can do." Joining the Quad Squad helped Eldredge win the long program in Boise, and he was invited to participate in Skate America after reigning U.S. champion Michael Weiss withdrew because of an ankle injury. With five titles in Colorado Springs, Eldredge has made Skate America one of his favorite events. It will also serve as a barometer as he returns to a full schedule necessary for Olympic eligibility. "It's always great when you can skate internationally in your home country," Eldredge said. "It's kind of a good test of where you stand and what you need to work on by the time our national championships or the world championships roll around." Among the featured men's skaters are current and three-time world champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia and Timothy Goebel of the United States. Eldredge defeated Yagudin in Boise and figures to battle Goebel and Weiss for a spot on the U.S. roster at Salt Lake. "From watching the world championships and knowing what they guys have been doing the last couple years, I know what training I need to do and what my programs need to be to be competitive with those guys," Eldredge said. | ALSO SEE Gannon: Youth are on the rise Gannon: A great start | |||||
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