Canadian Pair Is Romancing the Gold

She was a hostess at a restaurant called Joey Tomato. He was a former hockey player whose father financed his figure skating lessons only to enhance his NHL prospects.

World pair champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada weren’t a match made in heaven, and they didn’t click at their first meeting. But since rejoining forces in 1998, they’ve scripted a remarkable success story that could have a golden ending after tonight’s short program and Monday’s free skate at the Salt Lake Ice Center.

Sale, 24, and Pelletier, 27, have a strong chance to end Russia’s 38-year Olympic stranglehold on the pairs gold medal. Athletic and emotive, they have an undeniable chemistry that reflects their romantic relationship. It’s appropriate, then, that they will perform their long program to “Love Story,” the routine that launched their international career.

“We had the elements right away, but as far as training, knowing each other, that developed over time,” said Sale (pronounced Sal-LAY). “It comes with any relationship. It’s like a couple, when they first meet. You’re two different people and then you get to know each other and become kind of like one.”

They were never more in unison than at last year’s world competition, where they won before an adoring crowd. However, they made the potentially disruptive decision last summer to switch coaches and training bases, from Richard Gauthier in Montreal--near Pelletier’s hometown of Sayabec--to Jan Ullmark in Edmonton, Sale’s hometown.

The prime benefit was psychological rather than strategic.

“He’s my old singles coach, and working with him has been really good for me,” Sale said. “And he knows David well now too. He’s very calm and so experienced. He’s been in this business for so long he knows exactly how to handle everything.”

Sale and Pelletier were first matched in 1996 but didn’t find any magic. The second meeting was different.

“I look back and I think we were both ready. We’re both happy we waited those extra two years,” Sale said. “We’re both more mature. I was ready to leave home and he was ready for a change. Timing is everything in life.”

Their partnership has a depth that transforms even large arenas into intimate settings. Their natural affinity has been enhanced by the choreography of Lori Nichol, who formerly designed programs for U.S. and world champion Michelle Kwan and 2001 U.S. men’s champion Tim Goebel.

“She doesn’t teach us how to skate. We know how to skate,” Pelletier said. “She just makes it look amazing. She’s a genius.”

Sale praised Nichol’s ability to tailor routines to each skater’s strengths.

“She finds a way to bring out the best quality in all of us,” Sale said. “I think she sees me in her a lot. She told me that’s another reason she really bonded with us. She’s real. That’s not to say other choreographers aren’t. She’s very real, and we appreciate her. We really trust her.”

Sale and Pelletier’s main competition will come from Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia, the 1998 and 1999 world champions and 1998 Olympic silver medalists. The Chinese duo of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao, whose intricate lifts and daring throws have helped them finish second at the world meet twice and third last year, also are contenders. Possibles are Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia, who train in Chicago, and Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia.

But there’s no prohibitive favorite.

“After watching the past World Series and Super Bowl, you can never predict anything,” said John Zimmerman, who shares the U.S. pairs title with Kyoko Ina. “Especially with the Canadians, Russians, Chinese and us. I know Jamie and David continuously had a strong year, but I think a couple of us in the top four or five had strong years.”

Pelletier enjoys the unpredictability.

“I think it’s fun to be part of pair skating right now,” he said. “If you look at the ladies you say, ‘It’s either going to be this one or this one. The men, this one or this one.’ The pairs, it’s this one or this one or this one or this one.”

Zimmerman, hampered at last month’s U.S. championships by a broken finger he suffered while playing football, said the finger has healed and won’t impede his ability to lift his partner.

Ina, who competed in two previous Olympics with Jason Dungjen, said Friday she feels like an Olympic rookie because the Games are in the U.S. “I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “I’m so honored. I can’t wait until it starts.”

Ina and Zimmerman are longshot medal contenders, but the second-ranked U.S. pair of Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn has a more modest goal. “Our hopes this Olympics are to move up from our finish at worlds, which was 11th,” Scott said. “We’re hoping for a top-seven finish.”