Hartsells Try Again in Pairs

In 2000 Danielle Hartsell shattered her kneecap. It took surgery and lots of hardware to put the knee back together. In 2001 Steve Hartsell cracked open his head. It took 12 stitches to put the head back together.

Now it’s 2002 and the Hartsells, sister and brother, are together at Staples Center, crossing their fingers, making sure the bad-luck clothes are in another closet and aiming for an Olympic spot as one of two figure skating pairs the U.S. will send to Salt Lake City.

Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, two-time defending U.S. champions, are the heavy favorites to win one of the U.S. spots as the competition begins at 8:30 tonight with the short program.

In 1999 the Hartsells seemed well on their way to becoming the top American pair. In the first post-Olympic nationals, the young duo from the Detroit Skating Club was the surprise winner. “We were like little computers,” said Steve Hartsell. “Whatever data was put in, we spit it out on the ice. I don’t think we really understood what was going on.”

A year later, they began to understand. In December 2000, in a routine practice, on a routine throw, Danielle landed on the ice, right knee first. The kneecap was fractured, almost in half. The rehabilitation took the better part of a year. They did not defend their 1999 title.

Last year in their last practice before the short program at the nationals, the two tripped. Steve, trying to cushion Danielle’s fall, landed headfirst. After Steve got his stitches, the two skated in the competition, but a poor long program doomed them to third place, one spot too low to qualify for the World Championships.

The Hartsells expect that Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, last year’s runners-up; Laura Handy and Jonathon Hunt, a relatively new and rapidly improving pair; and Stephanie Kalesavich and Aaron Parchem, junior champions in 2000 and fourth-place finishers at the senior level last year, will be their toughest competition for the second Olympic spot.

The ice dancing competition begins the first of three rounds today at 5:10 p.m. with the compulsory dance.