FIGURE SKATING : Rodnina Not Surprised at Soviet Drug Report

When a figure skater recently tested positive for a banned substance, the Soviet Union’s Irina Rodnina, one of the most accomplished performers in the sport’s history, said she was surprised that it was a woman and an ice dancer who provided the tainted sample. But, she said, she was not surprised that it was a Soviet.

“I was with the national team for many years,” she said Wednesday night after watching the pairs competition at the U.S. championships in the Target Center. “I know what goes on.”

Rodnina, who won 10 world championships and three Olympic gold medals in pairs between 1969 and 1980, said she was aware that Soviet skaters used anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs as far back as 1972.

She said it was well known among athletes that the drug use was sanctioned by the Soviet sports committee, Goskomsport, and administered by doctors employed by the committee.

Rodnina said skaters usually took the drugs during training in August and September, several months before the winter season, and were tested before competitions to make sure their systems were clean.

But she said she had believed the drug use in Soviet figure skating was confined to men in singles and pairs, the disciplines in which strength is most essential.

“I don’t understand a dancer using these drugs,” Rodnina said.

The International Skating Union said this week that the Soviet Union’s Marina Klimova, who has won two consecutive dance world championships with husband Sergei Ponomarenko, tested positive for an excess ratio of the male hormone testosterone to epitestosterone after a first-place finish in the recent European Championships at Sofia, Bulgaria.

If a retest is positive, Klimova could be suspended for two years.

“That will be a present for the Duchesnays,” Rodnina said of the French dance team that finished second in the European Championships and will be favored to win in next month’s World Championships at Munich if Klimova and Ponomarenko are disqualified.

Goskomsport officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday night, but they acknowledged earlier this week that their skaters, including Klimova, were tested in Moscow before traveling to the European Championships. They said none tested positive.

Rodnina said she was impressed with several teams she watched Wednesday night.

“I think there are four or five not-bad teams,” she said. “We have the same in the Soviet Union: four or five good pairs.”

Natasha Kuchiki of Canoga Park and Todd Sand of Thousand Oaks are leading after the two-minute, 40-second original program. Karen Courtland of Whippany, N.J., and Jason Dungjen of Troy, Mich., are second. Jenni Meno of Westlake, Ohio, and Scott Wendland of Costa Mesa are third.

The champions will be determined after Friday night’s free skating.