U.S. Weightlifter Goes Solo Because of Terrorist Crisis

USA Weightlifting President Dennis Snethen wishes Jackie Berube well at the world weightlifting championships, which begin Saturday at Antalya, Turkey.

But he really wishes Berube had followed her teammates’ lead and stayed home.

“I’m going to pray for her, and I’m not going to sleep much while she’s there,” Snethen said. “But she’s a grown woman, and she made her choice.”

Concerned about traveling overseas after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the U.S. military response in Afghanistan, Snethen asked U.S. Olympic Committee security chief Larry Buendorf to analyze the risks of competing in Turkey. Buendorf, a former Secret Service agent who wrestled a gun from the hand of Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme in 1975 and saved the life of President Ford, examined a list of security measures planned for the venue and was uneasy, Snethen said.

“We had some doubts, and the idea of sending people to the Middle East was not great,” Snethen said. “Also, we had some legal issues if we fund any kids to go. Our insurance doesn’t cover terrorism. The most we could muster in insurance was $2 million, and that’s not enough for seven women, four men, four coaches, a trainer and a doctor. Not that it’s enough for one person.

“And it would basically have bankrupted our sport and taken away from programs for other athletes. It’s not fair to risk their futures and programs. We’re not a wealthy sport to begin with.”

Athletes and officials discussed the trip at a lengthy meeting. Some said they’d go if the team went, but Snethen said only Berube, of Evanston, Ill., declared she would go no matter what. After the USOC offered stipends to athletes who would skip the trip but compete at the American Open in December, the USA Weightlifting board voted against going, 8-3. The dissenters were athletes.

USA Weightlifting also voted not to fund the trip, but it could not stop Berube from going on her own to Turkey, a mainly Muslim country that has supported U.S. anti-terrorist policies.

Berube, who competes in the 58-kilogram weight class, could not be reached for comment. Kenan Nuhut, president of the Turkish Weightlifting Federation, praised her courage and said her teammates also should have come because organizers had special protection planned for them.

But that wasn’t good enough for Snethen.

“Next year’s world championships are in Poland, and if they’d have been in Poland this year, we would have gone,” he said. “Two years from now they’re in Canada, and if they’d been in Canada this year, we would have gone.

“We don’t want to go where there’s no regulation of the border with Iraq. This is going to be televised in countries like Iraq and Iran, whose athletes are good in this sport, and the idea of having this on TV and letting people know where Americans are bothered me. The [competition site] is 130 miles from the Iraq border and there’s no U.S. embassy in that city. I just have a problem with the whole thing.”

Putting Things in Perspective

Figure skater Angela Nikodinov of Harbor City knows there are worse things than missing a triple-triple jump combination.

Her coach, Elena Tcherkasskaia, is home in Moscow recovering from surgery for a problem she’s keeping secret because she doesn’t want Nikodinov to worry. Tcherkasskaia, a former Bolshoi ballerina, helped Nikodinov develop a lyrical, balletic quality that lifted her to third place in this year’s U.S. championships and fifth at the world competition.

Nikodinov, who trains at El Segundo and Lake Arrowhead, said Tcherkasskaia felt ill when they returned from the Goodwill Games in Australia in September. After undergoing tests in Southern California, Tcherkasskaia went to Russia to consult her doctors.

“She says she’s being strong and fighting through everything, but it’s painful,” Nikodinov said. “She said if she had continued to ignore [the condition] things could have been a lot worse. She didn’t want to have it checked because she loves me so much and didn’t want to leave me.

“I talk with her almost every day and I feel like she’s still there.”

Tcherkasskaia choreographed Nikodinov’s competition programs last summer, so she thought she could train by herself. Realizing she needed support and feedback, she asked legendary pairs skater Irina Rodnina to help with her day-to-day training. Rodnina, who won 10 consecutive world titles and three Olympic gold medals with Alexander Zaitsev and Alexei Ulanov, also works occasionally with U.S. men’s champion Tim Goebel. She will accompany Nikodinov to the Nations Cup next week in Germany and the Cup of Russia Nov. 21 at St. Petersburg. Nikodinov hopes to visit Tcherkasskaia between the events.

“I’ve known Irina for years and already I’m starting to feel comfortable. But with Elena, it was more like a mother-daughter relationship,” Nikodinov said. “We’d go shopping together and spend time together off the ice and that’s why we connect so well.... I know she’s getting the best doctors and they’re doing everything they can.”

Keep Those Salchows Coming

Sasha Cohen has missed three attempts at landing a quadruple jump in competition, but the Laguna Niguel teenager isn’t giving up. And her coach, John Nicks, rejected suggestions she could hurt herself or her skating by focusing on making history.

“She’s either going to land the quad in Paris [at the Trophee Lalique competition later this month] or at nationals or at the Olympics,” Nicks said. “Sooner or later, she’s going to land it, and it’s going to be exciting to see.”

Nicks also said he and Cohen are not afraid to travel overseas, even though safety concerns are keeping other competitors home. Told that USA Hockey had withdrawn the women’s national team from a tournament in Finland, Nicks laughed.

“Figure skaters are tough people,” he said. “There are no fancy-pants.”

Here and There

Mikulas Dzurinda, the prime minister of Slovakia, is scheduled to run in Sunday’s New York City Marathon. According to the Slovak Embassy in Washington, he ran 13 consecutive editions of the International Peace Marathon in Kosice, Eastern Slovakia and has a personal-best time of 2 hours 32 minutes. Dzurinda, who visited the World Trade Center earlier this year to open a festival of Slovak art, will visit the site of the destroyed towers. “I want to go to New York City in order to demonstrate my solidarity with the inhabitants of this wounded city,” he said.

Deena Drossin of Agoura Hills and the Team USA California training program will make her marathon debut Sunday. Drossin, a two-time U.S. 10,000 meter champion, was 11th in the 10,000 at the world championships in August. She set a women’s-only record of 1 hour 10 minutes 8 seconds at the Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon Sept. 2.... The marathon will take place under tight security. Entrants will be asked for photo identification at check-in, water stations will be guarded to ensure drinks aren’t doctored, and New York harbor will be closed to marine traffic.

The president of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations expressed concern during a meeting last week in Singapore over the proliferation of international sports events. “The increase in events such as World Cups and world championships has led to an overloaded calendar,” Kim Un Yong said. No kidding.... Greek Premier Costas Simitis appointed six new deputy ministers to ministries involved with preparations for the 2004 Athens Games.... Long Beach lost its bid to host the 2003 World Taekwando championships. The winner was Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Mediation failed to resolve a feud between USA Equestrian and United States Equestrian Team over which should be the national governing body of equestrian sports. USET voted to pull out of settlement talks unless USA Equestrian President Alan Balch withdrew a motion in New Jersey Superior Court declaring USET’s corporate actions for the year null and void. Balch refused. A USOC panel conducted a hearing last month and will rule on the issue soon.

Only 99 days until the Salt Lake City Winter Games.