U.S. Pairs Won’t Be Panning for the Gold

It has been 10 years since the United States won an Olympic medal in pairs figure skating, 14 since it placed as high as silver.

Gold?

Don’t even think about it. Since 1964, the Olympic pairs championship has been the exclusive domain of the Russians, formerly known as the Unified Team, formerly known as the Soviets.

They probably will triumph again in Nagano, with a sweep of the pairs medals a possibility. Consider:

* Marina Eltsova and Andrey Bushkov won the world title in 1996.

* Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev took the bronze medal at the 1997 world championships.

* Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, skating together for only 18 months, won the 1998 European championship in Milan, Italy, last month.

Throw the defending German world champions Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer into the mix, and American medal hopes probably can be summed up in short order:

Wait till 2002.

However, if playing to the crowd has any impact on the judging in this competition--this being figure skating, it probably will--Americans Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen could sneak in for the bronze if a couple of Europeans leave skid marks on the White Ring arena ice.

Ina was born in Tokyo 25 years ago, into a family of accomplished Japanese athletes. Ina’s mother was an Asian Games swimming champion, her grandfather ran track in the 1924 Olympics, her grandmother played tennis at Wimbledon.

Ina’s family moved to New York during her infancy, but Ina competed for Japan as a junior, winning the Japanese national juniors singles title in 1986 and 1987 before joining the U.S. national ranks in the late 1980s and teaming with Dungjen in 1991.

“I’ve always considered myself an American,” Ina says. “I was just born in Tokyo--I’ve lived in New York for 25 years. But coming here to compete in my birth country is great. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Ina and Dungjen also have a short program tailored for maximum audience appeal in Nagano. They perform their required elements to the accompaniment of traditional Japanese drum music by Kodo--a haunting, hypnotic form of minimalist heavy percussion.

The duo won the 1997 U.S. championship with it, attempted a switch to “Zorba the Greek” last fall, but switched back to Kodo in December after a so-so performance at the Trophee Lalique competition in Paris.

“After Lalique, a judge came up to us and said, ‘You might want to go back to Kodo,’ ” Ina said. “She said it wasn’t highlighting what we are.”

So it was back to Kodo for the 1998 U.S championships in Philadelphia, just in time for Ina and Dungjen to repeat as champions.

“We felt it would be a better vehicle for us,” Ina said. “And it was.”

Joining Ina and Dungjen on the U.S. pairs squad are Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, the injury-plagued world bronze medalists of 1995 and 1996. Meno strained ankle ligaments during practice the day of the long program at the U.S. championships, forcing her to withdraw. The pair from Costa Mesa qualified for Nagano on an injury waiver thanks to the strength of their international record.

A month’s worth of therapy has paid dividends for Meno, who said here Friday the ankle feels fine.

“We feel like it’s been getting better every day since Philadelphia,” Meno said. “I was in therapy twice a day at home, and we feel right now like we’re skating really well.

“I’m not really thinking about [the injury]. I mean, we’re at the Olympics and I’m so excited to be here. I’m sure most people that are out there competing at the Olympics have something that hurts on their body. When you’re out there, you really don’t think about it too much.”