Slutskaya Might Change Program

Russia’s Irina Slutskaya, who became the first woman to land a triple-triple-double combination jump at last year’s world figure skating championships and barely missed pulling that feat off twice, might try something even tougher this week in the women’s competition.

Practicing at the Salt Lake Ice Center Sunday for the first time, Slutskaya toyed with a triple salchow-triple loop-half loop-triple salchow combination. If she lands the unprecedented move, it could boost her technical scores in a competition that promises to be close.

Slutskaya demurred when asked if she will incorporate the move into Thursday’s long program, saying, “I practice lots of things.”

But she is known for her willingness to push the sport’s technical limits. Slutskaya, considered the top rival to Michelle Kwan for the women’s gold medal, became the first woman to land a triple lutz-triple loop in competition at the 2000 Grand Prix Final.

And her triple salchow-triple loop-double toe loop at the world competition last March was remarkable.

“I really want to try something interesting,” Slutskaya said Sunday.

Slutskaya and several other Russian skaters arrived in North America about a week ago but went to Logan, Utah, to train before going to Salt Lake City.

She said the practice sessions in Logan, where the altitude is similar to Salt Lake City’s, has helped her fitness.

“I practiced good [Sunday],” she said. “I am all ready for competition.... Everyone say, ‘Irina, you want to beat this one and this one,’ but it’s sport. I can win. I can lose. Life is always changing.

“I can stand here and say, ‘I will win,’ but this is not true. This is not right. It’s sport. It’s ice. It’s not floor.”

She watched the pairs competition and said of fellow Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze: “They are Olympic champions.” But she refused to be drawn into the judging controversy.

“I am not a judge. I like how the other pair [Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier] skated,” she said. “One pair was good on one side, one pair was good on the other side. I will just worry about myself.”

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In the blind draw held for the starting order of Tuesday’s short program, Kwan came out with the best position among the three U.S. competitors and Sarah Hughes with potentially the worst.

Hughes drew the fifth starting position in the field of 27, just before Sasha Cohen of Laguna Niguel. Kwan will skate 15th, in the same warmup group as Slutskaya (13th) and Maria Butyrskaya of Russia (12th).

Most skaters dislike skating early, because judges tend to be more conservative and save their higher marks for any dazzling performances that might come later.

A perfect example of a skater hurt by drawing an early start was Michael Weiss of the U.S., who drew first and skated well but got lower scores than he might have if he had been among the final skaters.

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Slutskaya has spent the last few days at the athletes’ village, popping tapes into a VCR to help her improve her already good English, and generally enjoying the atmosphere. She was assigned a roommate, Russian pair skater Maria Petrova, but isn’t thrilled with the arrangement because Petrova’s competition is over and Slutskaya wants to concentrate on her upcoming event.

“I hope she will leave today, and I will stay alone,” Slutskaya said.

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Kwan said Sunday she’s enjoying the Salt Lake City Games more than she enjoyed Nagano, partly because she marched in the opening ceremony and has spent some time in the Olympic Village. She skipped the ceremony four years ago to get treatment on an injured foot, and while in Japan stayed in a hotel with her parents.

“The whole experience, just being a little wiser, a little calmer, and also not taking anything for granted,” she said of what’s better this time around. “This is a great moment in my life.

“Even the opening ceremony. That’s something I did miss out on, and I didn’t realize how much I missed. I see Apolo [Anton Ohno], Daron Rahlves, Picabo Street now, and I’m cheering for them. At Nagano, I didn’t know who a lot of the U.S. athletes were. Now, it’s so personal.”

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Robin Wagner, who coaches Hughes, said their decision to reconfigure the last 90 seconds of Hughes’ long program has paid off in several ways. Hughes will still perform to Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloe,” but a section of music by Rachmaninov has been removed.

“It adds a little more variety and shows off a little more of her line, graceful qualities and quickness,” Wagner said. “She loves it. It gave her something new to work on, something fresh.”

Wagner also said she’s not concerned the judging controversy from the pairs event will carry over to the women’s competition.

“I’m not quite sure what we can do to change things, but hopefully we can,” she said. “It [questionable judging] has been in figure skating for years and years.”