Cautious Eldredge Pulls Out Before Four Continents Final

Fearful an injured left ankle might ruin his chances of returning here next year for the Winter Olympics, Todd Eldredge withdrew from the Four Continents figure skating championships Friday before his long program.

Eldredge, who returned to Olympic-eligible skating this season after a two-year absence, also won’t compete in the Grand Prix Final next week in Tokyo so he can be fit for next month’s World Championships in Vancouver, Canada.

Skaters’ placements at the world competition will determine how many Olympic berths each country will get. To get three Olympic entries, the two U.S. men’s placements at Vancouver can’t exceed 13; if those placements exceed 13, the U.S. will get two entrants.

“Right now, the most important thing is worlds and getting healthy for that and getting three spots for the Olympics,” said Eldredge, who was leading the competition, a test event for the 2002 Games. “I’m earning a spot for myself. That’s very important. My whole idea coming back was to be here next year and to get that spot at the world championships with Tim [Goebel]. . . .

“It’s very disappointing. Before this, things were going well.”

Eldredge, who was second in last month’s U.S. championships, hurt the ankle--his landing foot--while completing a jump in practice Wednesday. He iced the ankle and had it drained of fluid Friday afternoon. Eager to skate, he had a doctor freeze it; he tried several jumps in the warmups but decided not to risk additional damage.

“He did it a little too good, and I had very little sensation,” Eldredge said. “It’s not very good to go out there and do quads and triples when you have no sensation in your foot.”

Chengjiang Li of China won the title with a strong program that included two quadruple jumps, one in combination. Takeshi Honda of Japan was second and Michael Weiss of the U.S. was third, ending an injury-marred season with a gutsy performance that gave him optimism about his future.

“It was a fight. I survived everything,” said Weiss, who was hampered by an injured ankle most of the season and lost his U.S. title to Gobel. His fourth-place finish at the U.S. competition kept him out of the world championships.

“The last two months, I was able to train quads and train well, but that wasn’t enough time,” added Weiss, a world bronze medalist the last two years. “This is going to turn out to be one of those blessings in disguise. I’ll have my programs for next year done early and I’ll have that much more time to prepare.”

Matt Savoie, who was third at the U.S. nationals, finished fourth after the altitude and dryness sapped his energy.

“I wasn’t pleased with it. I’m pretty sure I was kind of slow and messy on the jumps,” Savoie said. “I know I can skate better. It just didn’t happen tonight.”

The women’s final is today. Tatiana Malinina of Uzbekistan, who sat out most of the 1999-2000 season because of injuries, leads after the short program. Fumie Suguri of Japan is second, ahead of compatriot Shizuka Arakawa. Jennifer Kirk of the U.S. is within medal range, at fourth, but Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro (seventh) and Amber Corwin of Hermosa Beach (ninth) are longshots.

In ice dancing, Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz of Canada won the free dance to sweep all three phases and win the event for the second time in three years. Their performance to “March with Me” by Vangelis was ranked first by eight of nine judges; only Eleanor Curtis of the U.S. put U.S. champion Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev first.

Lang and Tchernyshev were second, earning their first 5.8s (out of 6.0) in an international competition for their interpretation of “Air on a G String,” by Bach and “Storm,” by violinist Vanessa Mae. Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon of Canada, who devised some innovative lifts, were third.

Jessica Joseph and Brandon Forsyth of the U.S., who were fourth before the free dance, dropped to fifth behind Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe of Canada. The other U.S. duo, Beata Handra and Charles Sinek, finished sixth.

Bourne and Kraatz, four-time world bronze medalists, changed coaches to work with legendary Russian instructor Tatiana Tarasova in Newington, Conn. Tarasova picked their music.

“We love the program. It’s so much fun to do,” Bourne said. “It’s so nice to have a chance to do it in this particular event, in this arena, a year before the Olympics. . . . The ice quality is super, the people are great and the place is great. I can’t wait to get back here.”