U.S. Women Do Well in Draw

All three U.S. women fared well in Monday’s draw for the short program, while three other medals contenders wound up with early spots.

Nicole Bobek probably had the best draw, getting the 27th spot in the field of 28. Bobek goes between Russia’s Irina Slutskaya and France’s Vanessa Gusmeroli in what should be an entertaining conclusion to Wednesday’s program, worth one-third of the total score.

World champion Tara Lipinski will skate 11th, while U.S. champion Michelle Kwan drew the 17th spot. Both will be first in their warm-up groups.

Maria Butyrskaya of Russia, the European champion, was very unlucky, getting the first spot. Judges are forced to save some higher marks for later skaters who might perform well, so Butyrskaya could suffer on the scoreboard.

France’s Surya Bonaly goes third and China’s Lu Chen skates seventh.

Lipinski, the 15-year-old Champions Series winner and considered Kwan’s main rival for the gold here, is in a weak group. The only likely medals contender in Kwan’s group is France’s Laetitia Hubert.