Her Breakfast of Champions Is Nothing to Chirp About

She is Surya Bonaly, an 18-year-old figure skater from France and, according to Bill Glauber of the Baltimore Sun, a walking tabloid story. She eats birdseed for breakfast. She received her first haircut last year. She wears silver, space-age costumes. And her mother is called “the Dragon Lady” in French newspapers.

“People think we are extreme,” Surya’s mother, Suzanne, said. “So we cut her hair. Just a bit.”

And the birdseed?

“We are ecologists,” Suzanne Bonaly said. “It is the respect of the earth.”

Surya Bonaly maintains she can eat anything she wants, but prefers “to see the animals live in the field.”

“Sometimes,” she said, “I’ll eat M&Ms.; For the sponsors.”

Supercomic: Dallas Cowboy quarterback Steve Beuerlein recently participated in ABC’s “Superstars” competition in Cancun, Mexico, and described his effort as “the most comic performance in ‘Superstars’ history.” Beuerlein came away from the competition with a gash on the bridge of his nose (a result of smacking into the high-jump bar) and also, by his account, nearly drowned when his kayak overturned. Said Beuerlein: “I’m lucky to be alive.”

The show will be broadcast in April. Beuerlein says he was told a segment of the broadcast would be devoted to his mishaps.

Trivia time: Name the two sets of brothers who played on the gold medal 1960 U.S. ice hockey team.

He’s a star: As if Canadian hockey star Eric Lindros needed any more publicity, the Canadian Olympic Assn. is handing out copies of Lindros’ autobiography, “Fire on Ice.”

An autobiography for an 18-year old? Don’t laugh. The book has sold 45,000 copies in Canada and is entering its 13th week on the best-seller list. Lindros is believed to be the youngest author to write a No. 1 bestseller.

Now it can be told: In his book, Lindros reveals that he wrapped the neighbors’ house in toilet paper on “Devil’s Night” in 1989, that “The Price Is Right” is his favorite TV show and that he and his teammates often throw barbecue sauce and jujubes at each other on the bus. Lindros also lists his traditional pregame meal: lasagna, two buns and orange juice, followed by coffee--two creams, two sugars.

Hit series: Fox television will air a program Saturday night that features a home run championship between Cecil Fielder and Jose Canseco filmed Feb. 9 at Dodger Stadium. The winner received $100,000, the loser $20,000 and a trip to Hawaii.

Says show host Jim Palmer: “Some of my fondest television memories were from watching ‘Home Run Derby’ along with watching ’77 Sunset Strip.’ But on Home Run Derby, they didn’t hand out $100,000 to the winner.”

Food fest: The Frankfurt Galaxy is one of the four World League of American Football teams that will hold training camp in South Texas this year. And the Galaxy players should feel right at home. The team’s training camp will be located in New Braunfels, Tex., a small town with German roots that is also the host to an annual “Wurst Fest.”

Said Frankfurt General Manager Oliver Luck of his players: “I’m sure some of them know what Wienerschnitzel is because we served it to them about 40 times last year.”

Trivia answer: Bob and Bill Cleary; Roger and Billy Christian.

Quotebook: Carole Merle, France’s top female skier and leading gold-medal hope: “I can ski all right--if I don’t have to carry France on my back.”