THE OLYMPICS: WINTER GAMES AT ALBERTVILLE : NOTES : Eldredge Says He Is Fit and Ready to Compete

Declaring that he is 99% fit, two-time U.S. figure skating champion Todd Eldredge will compete in the men’s individual competition, which begins Wednesday at Albertville, France.

The U.S. Olympic Committee had until Friday to decide whether to enter Eldredge, who is from South Chatham, Mass., but trains at San Diego, or to send a plane ticket to alternate Mark Mitchell of Hamden, Conn.

“I wasn’t able to train as much as I usually do for a competition,” said Eldredge, who withdrew from the national championships last month because of a back injury but joined the three-man U.S. team as a result of his third-place finish in last year’s World Championships.

“But any sport at this level is 75% to 80% mental, and I’m mentally ready.”

The favorite, three-time world champion Kurt Browning of Canada, also has been suffering from a back injury that has forced him to drop the quadruple toe-loop jump from his freestyle program. Eldredge said he will use the same freestyle program that he had planned for the national championships, one that includes eight triple jumps.

During the 1988 Winter Games at Calgary, U.S. speedskater Bonnie Blair won a gold medal in the 500 meters, a bronze in the 1,000 and was fourth in the 1,500.

Four years later, as the favorite in the 500 and the 1,000, she has been reluctant to take time away from those events to train for the 1,500.

Asked Friday whether she would even enter the third event, she said, hesitantly, “I’m planning on it.”

Almost before she got the sentence out of her mouth, her coach, Peter Mueller, interrupted: “I have a little bit to say about it, and Bonnie will be skating the 1,500.”

Said Blair: “I guess that’s your answer.”

Speedskaters have complained this week about the condition of the track, saying that it turns to slush in the afternoon. As a result, Mueller, along with other coaches, is campaigning to have the starting times changed from midafternoon to either late afternoon or early morning.

“If they want what’s best for the people who have been working hard for four years for a chance to compete under the best circumstances, they’ll do it,” he said.