Goebel Feeling Fine in Third Place

Tim Goebel’s pursuit of an Olympic figure skating gold medal began in earnest Tuesday with a splendid performance that left him in third place after the first phase of the men’s competition.

But for world champion Evgeny Plushenko of Russia, the pursuit of gold ended when he fell in a heap of silver spandex at the Salt Lake Ice Center.

Goebel, who trains in El Segundo, performed an animated and forceful short program Tuesday to put himself in medal contention behind Alexei Yagudin of Russia and Takeshi Honda of Japan. But Plushenko took a shocking tumble on the first element of his routine--a planned quadruple-triple jump combination--leaving him fourth and all but ending his much-anticipated battle with Yagudin.

“The Olympic Games is over,” said Alexei Mishin, Plushenko’s coach. “Why? Probably pressure.”

Goebel thrived under pressure, becoming the first skater to land a quadruple salchow in the Olympics with a quad salchow-triple toe loop combination near the start of his “Danse Macabre” routine. The 21-year-old native of Rolling Meadows, Ill., can fulfill his Olympic dream Thursday, when the men perform their long programs.

“I was absolutely thrilled,” said Goebel, who opened his arms to embrace the crowd of 16,234. “I’ve never gotten a crowd response like that. It was amazing to skate the way I did and have all my family and my teammates here.”

Michael Weiss of the U.S. acquitted himself well but was unlucky enough to draw the first skating position, when judges are conservative and leave room to reward subsequent performances. But six-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge, back for a third Olympic appearance in search of the great performance that has eluded him, is still seeking that great moment.

Eldredge gambled by attempting a quadruple toe loop-double toe loop combination, which he has only recently landed with regularity. He two-footed the landing of the first part but stayed upright--only to fall on his next jump, a triple axel. When the ice chips settled, Eldredge was ninth, one spot behind Weiss.

“Yeah, I went for it,” said Eldredge, who was 10th at the 1992 Albertville Games and fourth at the 1998 Nagano Games. “Quite honestly, the quad wasn’t the problem. The triple axel was. I felt great. Practice had been going great.... I thought I would be more upset, quite honestly. Coming back [after a two-year sabbatical], and all the success I’ve had, six titles, that’s pretty darn good.”

Alexander Abt of Russia, who trains at Lake Arrowhead, is fifth. Two-time Olympic silver medalist Elvis Stojko, continuing Canada’s bad luck on the ice, was hammered on his technical marks after he stepped out of the first part of his quad toe-triple toe combination and was seventh.

Yagudin was a dynamo as he skated to “Winter.” His footwork was nimble, his spins fast and his jumping strong. He opened with a quad toe-triple toe combination and earned a standing ovation for his 2-minute, 40-second routine.

“I was a little bit nervous,” said Yagudin, who was ranked first by all nine judges. His technical marks included one 5.7 and one 5.9; his presentation marks were all 5.8s and 5.9s. “It was really hard to even start the program because I couldn’t feel my legs.”

Honda, who trains in Toronto under Stojko’s former coach, Doug Leigh, was ranked second by five judges. He also opened with a quad toe-triple toe combination.

Although Goebel can earn a medal in Thursday’s long program, which is worth two-thirds of the final score, he’s almost afraid to tempt fate and believe it’s possible.

“I haven’t been thinking about a medal since I got here,” he said. “I’ve had some great run-throughs of my long program in training, and if I skate 90% as well as I skated [Tuesday] I’ll be happy.”