Kwan to Begin Her Title Defense

By HELENE ELLIOTT

Jan. 16, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The U.S. figure skating championships, which begin today in Boston, may be a battle of the ages--if not for the ages.

While defending women’s champion Michelle Kwan tries to fend off another wave of teenage sensations, defending men’s champion Michael Weiss must fend off Todd Eldredge, who preceded him as the titleholder, and 20-year-old Timothy Goebel, whose spectacular quadruple jumps and improved artistry make him a formidable foe.

Weiss, 24, has won the last two men’s championships. But on both occasions, Eldredge--a five-time winner--didn’t compete. Eldredge, 29, has returned to Olympic-eligible competition this season and was third in the Japan Open and Skate America, and second at Skate Canada. Weiss, hampered by a cracked foot bone and sore lower back, competed in only one Grand Prix event, finishing sixth at the Cup of Russia.

“Before Todd retired I hadn’t beaten him,” Weiss said. “But I was a very different skater three or four years ago than I am now.”

Because the U.S. can send only two men to the World Championships in Vancouver, Canada, in March--allotments are based on the placement of each country’s skaters in the previous World Championships--the men’s competition will be especially fierce.

“Nationals are always fun. The pressure is on us,” Weiss said. “Skaters expect this kind of drama and pressure at the national championships. When you have a lot on the line, a lot of times it brings the best out of skaters. I’m expecting all of us to skate very solidly.”

The U.S. can send three women, two pairs and two dance teams to Vancouver.

Kwan, who remained in the Olympic-eligible ranks after winning a silver medal at Nagano in 1998, has won the women’s title four of the last five years, yielding in 1997 to Tara Lipinski. The last two second-place finishers, 15-year-old Naomi Nari Nam of Irvine (1999) and 16-year-old Sasha Cohen of Laguna Niguel (2000) have missed most of this season because of injuries.

Cohen, who finished fourth at the Cup of Russia and fifth at the Nations Cup, is expected to wait until shortly before Friday’s short program to decide whether a cracked bone in her back will prevent her from competing.

Among Kwan’s most serious challengers is 15-year-old Sarah Hughes, who was second at Skate America and the Nations Cup, and third at the Cup of Russia.

Championship-level competition begins tonight with the compulsory dances. Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev are the two-time defending champions.

Wednesday’s opening ceremony will pay tribute to those killed when the U.S. figure skating team’s plane crashed near Brussels en route to the 1961 World Championships in Prague. The tragedy on Feb. 15, 1961, took the lives of 72 passengers and crew members, among them 18 U.S. skaters and 16 friends, relatives and coaches.

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Schedule

Events of the U.S. figure skating championships. Times PST:

TODAY

10 a.m.--Junior compulsory dance

1 p.m.--Junior pairs short program

4:15 p.m.--Compulsory dance

WEDNESDAY

8:30 a.m.--Junior original dance

11 a.m.--Junior men’s short program

2 p.m.--Opening ceremony

3 p.m.--Championship pairs short