FIGURE SKATING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Soviet Pairs Dominate Entering Final Round; Americans Fifth

From the look of the original program Tuesday night in the pairs competition at figure skating’s world championships, there should be one division for the Soviets and another for the rest of the world.

Soviet pairs traditionally dominate, but at least one team from another country, such as the United States’ Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard at the 1988 Winter Olympics, occasionally finishes among the medalists.

But it appears as if there will be no room on the podium this year for anyone but Soviets. Going into tonight’s freestyle program, the final phase of the competition, Olympic champions Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov are first, Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev are second, and Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov are third.

Besides Canadians, the only pairs to receive standing ovations at the Halifax Metro Centre were Soviets. The last Soviet pair to skate, Selezneva and Makarov, skated to a Michael Jackson medley, ending it with a cartwheel and splits.

U.S. champions Kristi Yamaguchi of Fremont, Calif., and Rudi Galindo of San Jose are fifth. Canoga Park’s Natasha Kuchiki, 13, who received an exemption to skate here even though she is under-age by a year, and her partner, Todd Sand of Thousand Oaks, are 11th. Sharon Carz of Playa del Rey and Doug Williams of Los Angeles are 12th.

The Soviets also were strong in Tuesday’s dance compulsories. Defending champions Marina Klimova and Serge Ponomarenko are first, and last year’s runners-up, Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin, are second.

But the Soviets probably won’t sweep, because last year’s third-place team, Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay, again is third. The brother and sister skate for France, but they were raised in Quebec and are crowd favorites here.