The U.S. Goes for a Sweep

Nicole Bobek has the grace and elegance. Tara Lipinski has the jumps. Michelle Kwan, well, she’s just about perfect.

Sorry, Maria Butyrskaya, Tanja Szewczenko and all you others hoping for a medal. The United States is sending its strongest women’s team ever to the Winter Olympics, and it just might make everyone else put their dreams of gold, silver and bronze on hold for another four years.

With the way Kwan, Lipinski and Bobek skated at nationals, a U.S. sweep isn’t just talk.

“We can do 1-2-3, no problem,” Bobek said.

What’s so great about these three? After all, the United States has had strong teams before. Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding finished 1-3-4 in 1992. And Tenley Albright and Carol Heiss were 1-2 in 1956.

But the United States has never had three national champs on the same Olympic team. Kwan, Lipinski and Bobek have had the U.S. title locked up since 1995, and the world crown the past two seasons.

“We definitely have the Dream Team,” said Christa Fassi, Bobek’s coach.

A month ago, Bobek wasn’t even in the picture. All you heard about was Lipinski and Kwan, Kwan and Lipinski. It just wouldn’t be the Winter Olympics without a hot rivalry on ice--remember the Battle of the Brians, dueling Carmens and, of course, Tonya and Nancy?

There are no bumbling, club-wielding bodyguards this time, but still plenty of drama.

Kwan was anointed the gold-medal favorite way back in 1994, after the shy, sweet-faced 14-year-old went to Lillehammer as an alternate, a supporting role in the Tonya-Nancy soap opera. Two years later, she won the world and U.S. titles as the sultry Salome, and an Olympic gold medal seemed sure to follow.

There was just one slight problem: Lipinski. As Kwan faltered last season, struggling to deal with her success and changing body, Lipinski jumped right past her--literally. The whirling, twirling dervish jumps better than anyone and makes it look easy.

She became the youngest world and U.S. champion ever, and the gold medal was suddenly up for grabs heading into the Olympic year.

Now, Kwan has rediscovered her joy for skating, floating over the ice with the magic she displayed in 1996. Lipinski? Well, it was her turn to struggle with the role of champion.

The showdown between the two was set for nationals. It never happened.

Kwan held up her end, winning the title with 15 perfect scores for artistry, including eight of nine in the free skate, the most for any U.S. skater at nationals. She showed no signs of the stress fracture in her left foot that kept her out of competition for two months.

As for Lipinski, she botched her triple flip in the short program, sending her sprawling across the ice, but came back Just don’t expect the Americans to lead the cheers for their teammates. Despite looking chummy in their new Campbell’s Soup commercial, figure skating is an individual sport.

“There’s only one gold medal and everyone wants that desperately,” said Frank Carroll, Kwan’s coach. “This is not like a bobsled, where they’re all pushing the same sled. You’re out there by yourself. If you fall on your butt, you do it alone.”

The rest of the U.S. team is pretty good, too. There’s no chance of a sweep anywhere else--the United States can only send two men, as well as two pairs and two dance teams--but the Americans have a realistic shot at medaling in two events, an outside possibility in a third.

Todd Eldredge, the five-time national champion, has the best shot at gold, but he’ll probably need either a quadruple jump or a slip-up by the other top contenders to get it. Though no one can beat him for artistry and he’s the world’s most consistent--some say boring--skater, he lacks the fire and explosiveness of defending world champion Elvis Stojko, or Russians Ilia Kulik and rising star Alexei Yagudin.

Stojko, a Canadian, not only does a quad, he has a quad-triple jump combination. Kulik, a Russian who upset Stojko at the Champions Series final, routinely lands the quad, and he’s more artistic than Stojko.

Eldredge practices the quad but has yet to land it in competition. He came close at nationals, landing on one foot before falling.

The other American, Michael Weiss, isn’t medal material yet, but he’s fun to watch. He’s the only one to attempt the quadruple lutz, and he came close to landing it at nationals, barely two-footing.

In U.S. pairs, Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen’s athleticism and newfound unity gives them a good chance to crack the European medal bloc. They’ve always had technically difficult programs with huge twists and complex lifts but have also at times looked more like two people thrown together than a pair.

Not anymore. They have a new fluidness that, coupled with their eye-catching programs, makes them a real threat.

“I don’t think there’s any true favorite right now,” Dungjen said. “There’s so much technical difficulty being done that a little mind slip, one mistake, two mistakes and instead of standing on the podium, you’re in fifth or sixth place.”

The other Americans in pairs, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, were world bronze medalists in 1995 and 1996, but faltered last year and withdrew before the free skate at nationals after Meno sprained her ankle.

Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikhardulidze lead the usually strong Russian contingent, and Germans Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steurer are world champions.

In the staid world of ice dancing, where couples traditionally only move up when someone retires, five-time U.S. champs Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow wouldn’t seem to have a shot at a medal after finishing sixth at worlds last year.

And with stiff competition from Russians Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov--seeking their 22nd straight major victory, including the 1994 Olympics--the odds seem even slimmer.

But strange things are happening in ice dancing these days.

Just look at the No. 2 U.S. couple, Jessica Joseph and Charles Butler, the world JUNIOR champions. So with a more passionate and romantic free dance that they hope will be more pleasing to judges, Punsalan and Swallow just might sneak in for a medal.