Kwan Rallies to Win Third World Figure Skating Title

After two years away from the winner’s podium in a major international competition, Michelle Kwan returned there Saturday, winning the world figure skating championship at Nice, France.

Kwan, the 19-year-old who has split her time this season between UCLA studies and competition, had not won a major title since her second world championship victory in 1998.

But the Olympic silver medalist stunned the top two Russians when she came from third place to steal the crown from Irina Slutskaya and Maria Butyrskaya.

Slutskaya, who did not even make the Russian team for last year’s world championships in Helsinki, celebrated her comeback with the silver medal ahead of Butyrskaya, the dejected defending champion who had to settle for bronze after having led following the short program.

“I think this is the most satisfying of all the titles,” said Kwan, who lost the title to Butyrskaya last year and again to the Russian in the Grand Prix final in January. “There was a lot of pressure.

“Everyone kept saying, she has to do the triple-triple, she has to up the ante.

“This is the first competition where I went out on the ice and pushed and pushed and pushed through the entire four minutes.”

Once again facing the disadvantage of having to skate first in the final group, Kwan immediately applied the pressure with a passionate, error-free routine.

But with the two women ahead of her after Friday’s short program still to come, Kwan had no idea if her good, but not outstanding, marks of 5.6 to 5.9 for technical merit and marks of 5.8 and 5.9 for presentation, would be enough to earn her a third world title, or even a place on the podium.

“I just felt really, really strong out there,” said Kwan, who cleanly landed seven triples, including the only triple-triple combination of the final. “I felt really confident and ready to do it.

“But after I skated I knew I had a possibility of losing because my marks were fairly low,” she said.

But Butyrskaya and Slutskaya cracked, producing flawed performances.

Butyrskaya stepped out of her triple-triple combination and singled a triple-Salchow, then Slutskaya was no less shaky, failing on two triple-triple combinations.

Auto Racing

In similar fashion to his victory three weeks ago in Atlanta, Mark Martin waited out a long rain delay and finished four car lengths ahead of Roush racing teammate Matt Kenseth to win the Albertson’s 300 Busch Grand National race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

It was Martin’s fourth victory in five Busch starts this season and his 44th overall. Jack Roush’s team has won six of seven Busch races.

Coming out of a caution on lap 160 of the 200-lap event, Kenseth had the lead on Martin. But he held it less than five more times around the track. On lap 165, Kenseth drifted high on the track going into the backstretch, and Martin went underneath and took the lead for good.

Martin averaged 108.130 mph, leading twice for 38 laps.

Olympics

China defeated the United States in women’s field hockey, 2-0, at Milon Keyes, England, securing the fifth and final Olympic berth and eliminating the Americans from qualifying.

Aboriginal leaders are threatening to disrupt the Olympic Games after a revelation that an Australian government document denied there ever was a “stolen generation” of Aboriginal children.

New South Wales’ 118 Aboriginal land councils already have voted to march in protest on Sept. 15, the first day of Olympic competition, the Sun-Herald reported in today’s editions.

A heavyweight who took up boxing while serving time for armed robbery and a super-heavyweight who is a banker won finals at Tampa, Fla., and became the eighth and ninth U.S. boxers to qualify for the Olympics. Michael Bennett of Chicago won the 201-pound final by stopping Richard Nazario of Puerto Rico in the second round. Super heavyweight Calvin Brock of Charlotte, N.C., earned a trip to Sydney in September by stopping Artur Binkowski of Canada in the fourth round.

Entering today, the final day of sailing at Santa Cruz, the team of Lars Guck and P.J. Schaffer is one point behind John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree in qualifying for the Olympics in the tornado class, the fastest class of sailing.

Miscellany

The Washington Redskins are prepared to offer free-agent quarterback Jeff George a multiyear contract to be their backup, the Washington Post reported. . . . The Oakland Raiders released defensive tackle Russell Maryland, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1991 draft, in a move to create salary cap room, the Contra Costa Times reported.

Single-game tickets to eight Avenger home games will go on sale Monday. The L.A. Arena Football League team opens home play against Oklahoma on April 9. Prices range from $8 to $30.

American Chris Byrd won the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title at Berlin when Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko stopped fighting in the 10th round because of a shoulder injury.

Gene Elstun, a teammate of Wilt Chamberlain on the Kansas basketball team that lost in triple overtime to North Carolina in the 1957 NCAA championship, has died. Elstun, 64, died Thursday in Overland Park, Kan., of pancreatic cancer.

Defending champions California and Washington recorded the fastest men’s and women’s times in qualifying for the 27th San Diego Crew Classic, an event that features more than 3,000 rowers from more than 100 colleges and clubs and is regarded as the first major regatta of the collegiate season.

UCLA pole vaulter Tracy O’Hara and the HSI 400-meter relay team set Drake Stadium records as the Bruin women’s and men’s track and field teams defeated Iowa, Wyoming and Cal State Northridge.

O’Hara cleared 14-1 1/4 and the HSI team of Jon Drummond, Ato Boldon, Bryan Howard and Maurice Greene ran a 38.17-second relay, breaking the 1988 mark of 38.59 by a UCLA team.

USC won the Centennial Invitational track meet at Cromwell Field, as pole vaulter Dennis Kholev set a school record of 18-2 3/4. Russ Buller of Louisiana State won the event in 18-4 3/4, a Cromwell record.