Goebel Doesn’t Fall Short Now

Two years ago or even last year, had Tim Goebel fallen and skidded in his short program as he did Tuesday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, he might have let his temper boil ever and ruined the remainder of his routine.

That he was able to laugh after stumbling to his knees on the ice at Staples Center reflected how much he has grown--and, perhaps, that he’s prepared to defend his title and win a berth on the U.S. team for the Salt Lake City Winter Games.

Goebel, who trains in El Segundo, shared first place with Todd Eldredge after the short program, the first phase of the men’s event. Matt Savoie, last year’s U.S. bronze medalist, was third, ahead of 2001 world junior champion Johnny Weir.

Michael Weiss was fifth after a nightmarish program, virtually killing his chances of winning one of three spots on the Olympic team. The men’s event will end Thursday with the long program, worth two-thirds of the final score.

Ties are rare in figure skating, but it was an equitable result for Goebel and Eldredge. Although Goebel fell, he performed a more difficult combination jump than Eldredge did, pulling off a quadruple salchow-triple toe loop combination. Eldredge, trying for his third Olympic team and first Olympic medal at 30, did a nice but relatively easier triple axel-triple toe loop.

“I never made that mistake in practice,” Goebel said of his fall, which he attributed to having more speed than he anticipated. “Other than that little disaster, I think it was a good program. The jumps felt even more comfortable than the Grand Prix Final.

“On the whole, it probably was my best short program of the year. I’m pleased to be feeling more comfortable at each competition.”

Eldredge, a five-time U.S. champion, said he couldn’t help thinking as he took his final bow Tuesday that it was the last short program he would ever perform at the U.S. championships. His mind flashed back to the first time he had competed at the national championships, so many years and so many memories ago.

“This is my last shot,” said Eldredge, who made his debut on the national scene as a novice-level competitor in 1983. “They’ve all been different and they’ve all been great.”

His short program to “Carmina Burana” Tuesday was everything the nerve-wracking, 2-minute, 40-second routine should be: well-paced, energetic and free of flaws. It lacked only a quad, which he has landed only twice in competition.

He opted to do a triple axel-triple toe loop, and pulled it off with good height and good form. “I told him I didn’t want it done in the short program,” said his coach, Richard Callaghan. “As he said, you can lose in the short program, and I wanted him to do whatever he needed to do to get into contention for the long.”

Weiss, however, went for a quadruple toe loop on the first part of his combination, and it ended in a shambles.

Weiss fell badly, and when he scrambled up, tacked on a double toe loop instead of the planned triple. He followed with a triple axel that tilted so badly sideways, he had to land it on two feet to avoid falling again.

His marks for the required elements ranged from 4.8 (out of 6.0) to 5.1. Even though his presentation scores were seven 5.7s and two 5.8s, his Olympic hopes are in dire danger. Weiss, who lost about 13 pounds to get into shape for this competition, can’t be any lower than third in the long program and must rank ahead of Matt Savoie and Johnny Weir on the judges’ scorecards for that program.

“I can’t make any sense of it,” Weiss said of the botched combination. “It’s the first one I missed all week. ... I hit five of five I tried. That’s not a bad average. The only one I miss is in the short program. There’s no reason to take it out. I land them all the time and miss it in the program.

“I’ve got to come back strong in the long program. I could easily win the long program. I’ve got to hit the quad-triple and skate the way I’ve been skating all week. I wanted to come in and win the short program and I could have easily done that, and I let it get away.”

Eldredge shifted around the ice a bit before settling on a place to start, but later said he was merely looking for a place in the patched-up surface that didn’t have chips or snow on it.

“I remember back four years ago, at Skate America, I fell on an ice chip and dislocated my shoulder, so I didn’t want to have that happen again,” he said.

His only wobble came on the landing of a triple lutz, one of the required moves. However, he held onto the landing and emerged unscathed.

“You don’t win a competition in the short program, but you could lose it,” the 30-year-old Massachusetts native said. “I wanted to skate a clean program and put myself in good position for Thursday.”

Savoie, who was third at last year’s national competition, didn’t try a quad. However, his program to music from Cirque du Soleil was sharp and lively. His marks for the required elements ranged from 5.5 to 5.8 and for presentation, from 5.6 to 5.8.

Goebel’s coach, Frank Carroll, was probably less amused than his student about the unexpected stumble, but he too took it in stride.

“It was a dumb mistake to happen,” Carroll said, “and let’s hope it doesn’t happen again Thursday. ... I thought he skated very well. He did the technical part very well, did a nice [triple] axel and a nice combination. I’ll take it. I thought it was damned good.”