Rink Is Filled With Intrigue

Mystery. Intrigue. Spills and thrills.

The Olympics? Still two months away. These were merely the final practices before figure skating’s Grand Prix Final, which will be held today and Saturday at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

The mystery surrounded men’s world champion Evgeni Plushenko, who skipped his second practice. He had to ice his right ankle after suffering an apparent injury in his morning session, but rumor had it he had also aggravated a recent groin injury.

World silver medalist Irina Slutskaya also skipped her second session, but only because of fatigue. Maria Butyrskaya of Russia, who recently underwent a minor surgical procedure, practiced Thursday and is expected to compete.

The intrigue swirled, as it has for two months, around U.S. and world champion Michelle Kwan, who continues to compete without a coach and will give her first performance this season of the short program she skated to a silver medal at the 1998 Olympics.

Several of the spills involved U.S. men’s champion Tim Goebel, who felt “squooshed in” by the small rink, according to his coach, Frank Carroll. And the thrills were everywhere, as the world’s best skaters performed the jumps, spirals and spins that propelled them to the top six in their respective disciplines.

“I think it’s important to be here and it’s important to be considered one of the top six guys in the world,” said five-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge, who will perform his new “Lord of the Rings” long program for the first time in a major competition. “It’s good, especially in an Olympic year, to be in this group and be in front of the [International Skating Union] panel.”

The men, women and pairs will perform short programs this afternoon and long programs tonight. They will perform long programs again Saturday, in most cases, the ones they plan to perform at the Salt Lake City Games. The ice dancers will perform their original dances this afternoon and their first free dances tonight, finishing Saturday with their second free dances.

This will be the seventh edition of the event. In 1998, the only other year it was the final major competition before the Olympics, three Grand Prix winners also won Olympic gold at Nagano: Ilia Kulik, Tara Lipinski and ice dancers Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov. The top three pairs were the same at each event, although in different sequences.