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WORLD SPORTS SCENE / RANDY HARVEY : U.S. Women Skaters Make Mark

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There is little question that a U.S. woman will be favored to win the gold medal in figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. The question: Which one?

The United States left Jill Trenary and Holly Cook, the gold and bronze medalists in the 1990 World Championships, at home and still finished 1-2-3 in the 1991 World Championships last week at Munich, Germany, with Kristi Yamaguchi, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

All five are expected to enter next year’s National Championships at Orlando, Fla., along with Tonia Kwiatkowski and Kyoko Ina, who finished 1-2 in the World University Games at Sapporo, Japan. Then there is the promising Tisha Walker of Thousand Oaks, who was fifth in this year’s National Championships at 16.

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Only three U.S. women will be chosen for the ’92 Games.

“I wouldn’t want to trade places with any of those women,” said Robin Cousins, the 1980 Olympic champion from Great Britain, during a phone interview from Munich, where he worked as an analyst for NBC. “The competition is going to be so intense.”

But it is because of the pressure they face at home that U.S. women compete so well internationally, said Cousins, who coaches at the International Ice Castles at Lake Arrowhead.

“It was mind-boggling to me when I came from Europe to see how many good skaters were here,” he said. “From the time they’re 10 years old and competing as novices, they have to fight for everything they get. Some burn out young. But those who survive are competitors.”

Other observations by Cousins:

On Trenary, who was unable to defend her world title because of an injury but plans to return later this year: “Jill has a femininity and a command that the other women don’t have. I call it the ‘it’ factor. You can’t teach ‘it.’ ” But he said she will have to add at least two more triple jumps to her program to compete against Japan’s Midori Ito and Harding, both of whom have done triple axels, and Yamaguchi, who plans to have a triple axel soon.

On Christopher Bowman, who dropped to fifth in the world after winning bronze medals the two previous years and hinted he might retire: “Who ever knows what Christopher will do? Frankly, people are tired of talking about him. At this competition, he was just another skater. That’s sad.”

On Surya Bonaly, the 17-year-old French skater who was credited, particularly by the French, with becoming the first woman to complete a quadruple jump, although it was unclear whether she completed four revolutions: “There’s a lot of brawn there, but no quality. I’d rather see a double jump done well than a quad like that.”

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Shirley Babashoff was so adamant in her allegations about drug use among East German women during the 1976 Olympic Games at Montreal that the media gave her the nickname, “Surly Shirley.”

Actually, Babashoff is no more surly than Shirley Temple, and in retrospect her charges against the East Germans should have been taken more seriously. Since the Berlin Wall came down, systematic drug use among East German athletes has been well documented.

Asked if she feels vindicated, she said, “Yes, yes, a big yes.”

Swimming in the Olympics in 1972 and ‘76, Babashoff won eight medals. But of the five in 1976, four were silvers. East Germans beat her each time.

Babashoff retired from competition in 1976 and works as a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in Huntington Beach. As a sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Festival, scheduled July 12-21 in Los Angeles, the Post Office asked her to attend a news conference last week at the Coliseum.

“I’m sure my life would be different if I had won five gold medals in Montreal,” she said. “Americans don’t look at you the same if you finish second. But I’m not sure my life would have been better. I’ve seen a lot of athletes destroyed by success. At least, I’m happy.”

Notes

If all goes well on the International Olympic Committee’s mission to Johannesburg, South Africa could have a team in the 1992 Winter Olympics. The IOC probably will make a decision at its executive board meeting in April at Barcelona, Spain. The first major international competition for the South Africans might be this summer’s track and field World Championships in Tokyo. Getting in shape for her return to international competition is Zola Budd.

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According to track and field’s metric conversion books, Sergei Bubka’s historic pole vault of 6.10 meters last Friday at San Sebastian, Spain, translated to 20 feet 1/4 inch. But one of the sport’s premier statisticians, Scott Davis of Cerritos, said the bar was precisely measured at 20 feet when Bubka cleared it. It’s a moot point except to statisticians because Bubka has since broken the record again, going 20- 1/2. . . . Bubka earned $200,000 in San Sebastian, $40,000 for appearing, $60,000 for setting a world record and $100,000 from apparel and equipment manufacturers for becoming the first person to clear 20 feet.

Total attendance for three games of soccer’s North American Nations Cup at the Coliseum and El Camino College was an unimpressive 12,532. But the Los Angeles area will get another chance later this year when the Soviet Union plays the United States at the Rose Bowl. There also might be a tournament this summer in Los Angeles involving teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

The NHL contributed $1 million to each Olympic hockey federation from the United States and Canada. Also, the annual tour of Soviet club teams in the United States has been canceled so that NHL teams can play exhibitions against the U.S. and Canadian Olympians as they prepare for the Winter Games. . . . Although the IOC has talked about cutting sports in the Olympics, the U.S. Olympic Committee has recommended the addition of bowling, racquetball, softball, taekwondo and triathlon for the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

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