FIGURE SKATING

Barring the untoward, the Olympic gold medal in the women’s figure skating competition is likely to be won by an American too young to vote.

Men’s singles, meanwhile, is a more open competition with a Canadian the favorite. Europeans are likely to dominate the pairs, and in ice dancing, the Russians should successfully defend their 1994 gold.

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People to Watch

Tara Lipinski, 15, and Michelle Kwan, a seasoned veteran of 17, have cornered the international gold-medal market the last two years. Kwan won the world championship and Champion Series Final in 1996, then Lipinski did the same in 1997. They have also batted the U.S. title back and forth, Kwan winning in ‘96, Lipinski dethroning Kwan in ‘97, Kwan regaining the championship in January with one of figure skating’s greatest performances--15 perfect scores of 6.0 of a possible 18.

In men’s singles, three-time world champion and 1994 Olympic silver medalist Elvis Stojko of Canada is the favorite, but American Todd Eldredge was world champion in 1996 and Russian Ilia Kulik out-skated Stojko to win the 1997 Champions Series Final in December. Another Russian, Alexei Yagudin, placed third at the 1997 World Championships and has the technical skills to challenge for the gold.

Placement on the pairs podium should be all-European--led by 1997 world champions Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer of Germany and two outstanding Russian pairs, Marina Eltsova-Andrey Bushkov (the 1996 world titlists) and Oksana Kazakova-Artur Dmitriev. The two U.S. pairs, Kyoko Ina-Jason Dungjen and Jenni Meno-Todd Sand, were fourth and fifth at the 1997 World Championships, respectively.

In ice dancing, the Russian team of Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov should successfully defend its 1994 Olympic gold medal. Other contenders are Anjelika Krylova-Oleg Ovsiannikov of Russia, Shae-Lynn Bourne-Victor Kraatz of Canada and Elizabeth Punsalan-Jerod Swallow of the United States.

If Kwan and Lipinski finish 1-2 in Nagano, it will be the second time American women have won the top two Olympic medals. In 1956 at Cortina, Italy, Tenley Albright won the gold medal and Carol Heiss the silver.

In fact, the Americans are brashly talking about a sweep of the 1998 women’s medals, with 1995 U.S. champion Nicole Bobek joining Kwan and Lipinski on the Nagano podium, but Germany’s Tanja Szewczenko could break up the Yankees.

Szewczenko missed all of 1996 and half of 1997 with an illness she initially feared was cancer. Doctors eventually discovered a viral infection and successfully treated it. Szewczenko returned to ice last summer and her comeback has been remarkably swift.

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Inside Info

Will it take a quadruple jump to win the men’s competition--and if so, who will land it?

Stojko leads the sport in above-the-ice hang time. His unequaled quadruple jump-triple jump combination in Lausanne, Switzerland, last March won him the 1997 world championship. Kulik and Yagudin have both landed quads in international events and American Michael Weiss is the first man to attempt a quadruple lutz in competition, two-footing his landing at the U.S. championships in January.

Five-time U.S. titlist Eldredge had long been resistant to the quad, believing first place should be determined on the strength of a skater’s overall program--not one eye-popping jump of four revolutions. But Eldredge broke down at the U.S. nationals--he tried a quad during the long program and fell--and may need to break it out again, if Stojko and Russians are landing them.

SINGLES

Rules are similar for men’s and ladies’ divisions --each must perform a short program that includes eight prescribed moves, including jumps, spins and fast footwork, followed by a free skate. Singles skating must have a different nature. One must be a spin combination and one a flying spin.

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ICE DANCING

Made up of three parts: compulsory dance, original dance and free dance. The emphasis in this graceful event is on rhythm, interpretation of music and precise steps.

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PAIRS

Exact timing and working as one unit are the keys to pair skating. There is a free skate program in which partners perform overhead lifts, side-by-side solo jumps and spins and death spirals.

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Figure Skating

In every Olympics, athletes become aware of local culture. In figure skating, according to one analyst, Japanese spectators are generally not as boisterous as other audiences, so skaters must adjust to that. Otherwise they may think they’re not skating well, and might overdo their performances, which can lead to mistakes or falls. Men’s and ladies’ singles, pair skating and ice dancing are the four Olympic figure skating events.

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Marks

Scores for the various phases of the competition will be judged on a scale of 0- 6, defined as:

0 -- not skated

1 -- bad, very poor

2 -- poor

3 -- average

4 -- good

5 -- excellent

6 -- perfect

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Scoring

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Men Length Percentage of final score Short program 2:40 (max.) 33.3 Free program 4:30 (+:10) 66.7

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Ladies Length Percentage of final score Short program 2:40 (max.) 33.3 Free program 4:00 (+:10) 66.7

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Pairs Length Percentage of final score Short program 2:40 (max.) 33.3 Free program 4:00 (+:10) 66.7

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Percentage Ice Dancing Length of final score Compulsory dictated by dances (2) prescribed dances 20 Original dance 2:00 (max.) 30 Free dance 4:00 (+:10) 50

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Note: Competitors are allowed to finish their programs within 10 seconds of the required time, except for the men’s, ladies’ and pairs short programs, which have a maximum time limit of 2:40

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Jumps

The axel, named after Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen, is the most difficult jump. Skater begins on the outside edge of one skate, picks up speed, and jumps forward and up, spinning two to three times in the air, landing on the outside edge of the other skate.

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Triple axel

Out: Taking off from the leg skating forward

Out: Leading backward on the right leg

Flip / Lutz

Skating backward on the left leg, the right toe pick is used to assist the takeoff. Coming into the jump skating on the inside edge is known as a flip.

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In: Taking off from the left leg skating backward.

Out: Landing backward on right leg.

Sources: “The Olympic Factbook / A Spectator’s Guide to the Winter Olympics” by George Canton and Anne Janette Johnson, “Winter Olympics Made Simple” by Dan Bartges, USA Hockey, Inc., NAOC, Associated Press

Researched by ROB HERNANDEZ and MIKE PENNER / Los Angeles Times