Young Kwan Learns Older Is Better in World Championships

The only thing separating the U.S. women’s figure skating team from two medals at the World Championships Saturday was some candles on Michelle Kwan’s birthday cake.

Nicole Bobek got her medal, a bronze, despite falling twice during her long program. But then Bobek is 17 and exudes an air of being seasoned beyond her years. She also happens to be U.S. champion.

From the seat of an Austrian or Italian skating judge, this adds up to a bronze medal at the World Championships.

Kwan is 14, which is about the only thing she did wrong. Saturday, Kwan landed all seven triple jumps cleanly, skated a precise program that built to such an emotional crescendo that she was in tears by its conclusion and drew the only standing ovation among the final group of six skaters.

She finished third in the long program, fourth overall.

The gold medal went to China’s Chen Lu, 18, a bronze medalist at the 1994 Olympics and in the 1992 and 1993 World Championships.

The silver went to France’s Surya Bonaly, 21, for the third World Championships in a row.

Did they outskate Kwan?

Not necessarily. Two judges, from Great Britain and the Czech Republic, graded Kwan’s long program the best of the day. But after that, the consensus fell apart, eventually swinging over to side with the grizzled veterans, as it usually does at these functions.

Bonaly and Chen had three first-place votes each. Bobek had one.

“If she skated like that and was 16 years old and had been to three Worlds or four Worlds, maybe the results would have been different,” said Frank Carroll, Kwan’s coach.

“(The judges) are looking at her and they’re saying, ‘She’s 14. Now wait a minute. Is she ready to be the best free skater in the world?’ I think that had a lot to do with it--her age.”

Carroll couldn’t decide if the two first-place votes lessened the disappointment.

“I think she’s certainly being recognized, because two of those judges are going to go into the judges meeting and defend themselves--why they had her first,” Carroll said. “And I’m sure they’ll have very good reasons to back it up.

“So I don’t think there will be any controversy about them having her first. I think they certainly have adequate reasons why.”

Kwan was also burdened by a fifth-place score in Friday’s short program, a mark that also raised eyebrows in the Kwan entourage.

“She was third, she was third,” U.S. team official James Disbrow told Dan Kwan, Michelle’s father, as he offered condolence and a handshake after the long program.

Dan Kwan shrugged.

“I’m happy,” he said. “This is not about winning and losing. This is a 10-, 12-year time frame for Michelle, and today, she skated better than she ever has before. . . .

“(The scoring) depends a lot on artistry, and Michelle doesn’t have the body of a grown woman yet. She’s still a young girl.

“But she’s fourth in the world, and she’s 14 years old. I’m satisfied. There’s still a long time to come.”

Bobek, first after the short program, slipped two notches during Saturday’s free skate--one per fall. She tumbled on a triple loop during the middle of her routine and landed hard on her left thigh a minute later when she miscalculated a triple salchow.

“I was a little tired,” Bobek admitted. “I was so nervous (Friday), I guess it took something out of me.

“I was thinking so much about ‘I got to do this, I got to do this,’ that I didn’t relax out there. I was kind of surprised I fell. I didn’t expect it. I just got up and said, ‘Oh well.’ ”

Richard Callaghan, Bobek’s coach, took the silver-lining approach to the afternoon’s results.

“I think third in the world is excellent,” Callaghan said, “and third in the world with two mistakes shows that her future as an ice skater is outstanding.”

For Chen, this was the long-awaited breakthrough after third-place finishes in international competition in each of the last three years.

Finally, she said, “I’m lucky. . . . This is the first gold medal, not only for me but for all Chinese skaters. It has great significance.”

Bonaly’s silver medal would have been bronze had Kwan, the last skater of the day, been graded fourth in her long program, rather than third.

“I say, ‘Thanks to her,’ ” Bonaly said with smile. “Because she helped.”

Now all Kwan has to learn is how to help herself.

“I have to work on my triple-triple,” Kwan said, going down the list of needed improvements.

“My performance has to flow more. And, my spins have to be faster.”

And, one other thing.

She has to live a little.

*

More skaters, older skaters and richer skaters will be permitted to enter the 1996 World Figure Skating Championships, as a result of action taken by the International Skating Union on Saturday.

The ISU announced that it is expanding the number of open international competitions from two to eight for the 1995-96 season and supporting “the concept” of a Grand Prix skating tour with a $2.5-million prize pool for men and women solo skaters.

The 1995 World Championships were a closed event, meaning that professional--or “Olympic-ineligible”--skaters, such as Oksana Baiul, Nancy Kerrigan and Kurt Browning, were not allowed to compete in Birmingham. Next season that will change, with the World Championships and five other events being granted all-comers status.

The ISU also announced it will also award prize money in its international speedskating and short-track competitions, beginning with the 1995-96 season.