U.S. Pair Could Be Ruled Out of World Skating

Franklin Nelson, president of the U.S. Figure Skating Assn., said Thursday he is not optimistic that Natasha Kuchiki of Canoga Park and Todd Sand of Thousand Oaks will be allowed to compete even if they qualify as a pair for the World Championships next month in Halifax, Canada.

According to an International Skating Union rule, skaters have to be 14 by the July 1 before the World Championships in order to enter senior-level competitions. That rule also would prevent Kuchiki from competing in the 1991 World Championships next winter because she turned 13 in October. Sand is 26.

Nelson said the USFSA might be able to have the rule changed before next year, but he said it could not be done in time for this year’s World Championships. He also expressed doubt that the ISU would make an exception to the rule for Kuchiki.

“It’s not inconceivable that we will petition for that,” he said. “But the likelihood of the ISU doing it would be less than 50-50.”

Kuchiki and Sand will qualify for the U.S. team at the World Championships if they finish among the top three after tonight’s final phase of the pairs competition. They were second after Wednesday night’s original program, behind defending champions Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudi Galindo.

The United States was one of the leading advocates of the rule when it was passed in 1980 because of the trend among Soviet and East German skaters pairing mature men with young girls to facilitate higher lifts and throws.

John Nicks, who coaches the pair in Costa Mesa, said the rule should not apply to Kuchiki because, at 5-feet-1 and 107 pounds, she is not particularly small. Sand is 5-11, 165 pounds.