U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : SPORT OF KINGS : Studio City Brothers Go Elbow-to-Elbow Jockeying for Position Among Nation’s Speed-Skating Elite

Long before Bruce McNall whipped out his checkbook, picked a number and started etching zeroes next to it, the Kings already were among the nation’s best on ice.

No, no, no, not those Kings; certainly not.

Why, the ones in Inglewood are merely Gretzky-come-latelies compared to brothers Keith and Charles of the Studio City Kings.

Keith, 23, and Charles, 19, both ranked among the nation’s top 10 speed skaters, are a success story for the ages. Or, at least for the age groups.

And theirs is a tale with an unusual twist.

They are captivated by the same sport, live in the same house and attend the same university. Were speed skating a team sport like ice hockey, they might be brothers in arms.

Instead, they are brothers in elbows. The Kings compete against each other.

It wasn’t always that way. For a while, the brothers were separated in competition by age.

They have advanced well beyond that stage, however, and they now go head-to-head. Only on an occasional relay do the brothers get a chance to team up.

And even on relays they are sometimes a family divided.

In competition at the U.S. Olympic Festival, which is held at the State Fairgrounds Arena, the Kings will represent different regions--neither of which is the West.

This is not cruel or illogical, event coordinators insist. It is simply the USOC’s selection process--unofficially known as the eenie-meenie-minie-mo method--dividing the entrants into four equal teams.

All of which means that for the next two days, Keith of the South and Charles of the East are going to have a rather difficult time avoiding each other here in the Midwest.

The Kings are short-track racers, competing at distances of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters over a 111-meter oval that is set up on an ice hockey surface.

Frequently there are more than six participants on the ice at once, jockeying for position like siblings at snack time.

Keith and Charles claim success in evading a confrontation, but allowances are made for what they refer to as “normal brother bickering.”

“We do that,” Keith says, “just to make sure people know we’re normal.”

Keith, who is scheduled to graduate from Northern Michigan University in December, was introduced to speed skating by his grandfather, George Willson.

Willson was in his 50s when he first tried the sport, but soon found that speed skating transcended even a somewhat spacious generation gap.

Keith, who had tried the more-typical California sport of baseball as a youngster, took to the ice immediately at the age of 8. Charles, who preferred to do his racing around a dirt track, took a bit longer to convert.

Success came almost immediately.

At 9, Keith was already sending opponents into retirement. In his first year of competition he defeated an age-group flash named Charlie Finney each time they raced. Finally, Choo-Choo Charlie, as he was known to race fans, decided he’d had enough. His was a career derailed.

By the time they reached their teens, the Kings were well on their way to combining for more state age-group championships than they could apparently keep track of.

Resting in the lobby of their dorm Saturday at the Festival Village at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, the brothers estimated their title total at somewhere between eight and 10.

“California state champion wasn’t that big of a deal to me,” Charles said. “I still didn’t feel like I was very good because whenever I’d go back to national meets I’d get killed.”

That, however, is no longer a problem.

Charles, a sophomore pre-med student, is ranked third in the nation. Keith, whose training time in the past year has been taxed as he prepares for law school, is ranked ninth.

The Kings, who say they don’t keep track of their record against each other, have attained their national standing using strikingly contrasting styles.

Keith prefers to charge from the back of the pack when possible, while Charles would rather control the pace from the lead.

Of course, the possibility exists that someday in the heat of an important race Keith might take a run at his front-running younger brother, forcing a confrontation.

Would Charles cut his brother off?

There was silence for a moment in the lobby.

Charles: “I’d be more inclined to stop someone else.”

Keith: “He couldn’t stop me no matter what.”

Charles: “Well, really, when it comes right down to a sprint at the end you don’t know who’s who, anyway.”

Keith: “That’s because you’re delirious.”

Ah, brotherly love.

But, despite the possibilities, if a King has to lose, he would rather it be to another King. It’s an attitude that the Kings of Studio City share.

“We figure that if you’re going to lose, you might as well lose to your brother,” Keith said. “It’s the other guys that you don’t want to lose to.”