U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : ROUNDUP : Judo Champion Is Now 10 for 10 in Medal Chase

A U.S. Olympic Festival that organizers promise will be a record-breaker began in earnest Saturday with everything from archery to wrestling at venues around the Twin Cities.

Action in 20 of the Festival’s 37 events included a step into the history books by a judo competitor, a no-hitter in women’s fast-pitch softball and a dominant performance in the basketball tournament.

Gold medals were awarded in several low-profile events, including synchronized swimming, shooting, canoe-kayak, cycling and roller skating.

The most notable medal went to Eddie Liddie of Colorado Springs, Colo., who competes in judo at 132 pounds. By beating John Matsuoka of Daly City, Calif., Saturday night for the gold medal, Liddie became the only person to win at least one medal in each of the 10 Olympic Festivals.

He has won six gold medals in the festivals, along with three silvers and one bronze.

“I feel relieved,” said Liddie, who won four bouts on his way to the championship. “It felt good to get it out of the way.”

Louisiana State center Shaquille O’Neal made his presence felt in the first men’s basketball game of the competition. O’Neal had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks to lead the South over the West, 112-110.

“He’s such a force,” West Coach Don Monson said. “Not so much offensively as he is defensively. He makes you play a perimeter game.”

In the second game, Ohio State’s Jimmy Jackson scored 16 points to lead a balanced attack that carried the North to a 106-93 victory over the East.

In women’s basketball, Tammi Reiss of the University of Virginia made two free throws to send the game into overtime, then scored five of the East’s 10 overtime points in an 81-80 victory over the North.

The 5-foot-6 guard made 12 of 14 free throws and finished with 20 points to lead all scorers.

Also Saturday, Val Whiting of NCAA champion Stanford scored her team’s first 10 points and finished with 22 to lead the West past the South, 87-76.

In figure skating pairs, the No. 1 team of Natasha Kuchiki of Canoga Park and Todd Sand of Thousand Oaks withdrew before the start of competition because of a lower back injury to Sand.

“I thought that taking Friday off would give the back more time to relax the muscles and maybe we could go today,” said Sand, who hurt his back while training three weeks ago.

“We took the ice today for about eight minutes and decided I couldn’t go.”

Kuchiki and Sand had finished second at the 1990 U.S. Championships.

Nancy Kerrigan, who narrowly missed a trip to the 1990 World Championships by finishing fourth in the U.S. Championships, led the ladies’ singles after Saturday’s short program in figure skating.

The 20-year-old from Stoneham, Mass., led Tonya Harding of Portland, Ore., and Jeri Campbell of Garden City, Mich.

Harding said that during today’s long program, she still plans to try to become the first U.S. woman to complete a triple Axel during competition. Only Japan’s Midori Ito has done it.

Erik Larson of San Diego, who also finished fourth in the 1990 national championships, led the men’s competition heading into today’s long program.

Boxing began in St. Paul with semifinal matches in six weight classes. Six more matches will be held Sunday night, including a bout involving 139-pounder Skipper Kelp of Las Vegas.

Kelp, who won the festival title a year ago and has been the top 139-pound amateur in the country for the past year, is competing here because he lost in the title match of the Goodwill Games Boxing Challenge.

Michelle Smith of Plainfield, N.J., got the softball competition started in style by throwing a no-hitter in the North’s 2-0 victory over the West.