Pair Add to Degree of Difficulty

If Rena Inoue is ever forced to choose between figure skating and ice cream, she won’t hesitate.

“If I have to lose weight for skating, I’ll stop,” the petite pair skater said during last week’s Olympic media summit in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Turning to her partner, John Baldwin Jr., she said, “If I’m too heavy for you, go to the gym and work out.”

Her metabolism helps keep her weight at 95 pounds so Baldwin can launch her through the air with ease. And the Santa Monica duo, also a couple off the ice, plan to try a difficult new throw in their long program at Skate America, which begins today in Atlantic City, N.J.

Inoue and Baldwin, who train in Artesia with coach Peter Oppegard, won the 2004 U.S. title but finished second this year to Katie Orscher and Garrett Lucash. The two couples who beat them at last year’s Skate America, Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang of China and Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov of Russia, are also set to return. But Baldwin said he’s confident he and Inoue have enough challenging moves in their Shostakovich program to thrive under the new cumulative scoring system, especially if the throw triple axel goes well.

“She does it very consistently in practice, so we’re not really taking a chance,” he said. “And we’re doing it at the three-minute mark, so we get extra credit. It’s possible we’ll get an 8.25 base mark.

“We’re very optimistic. We definitely know where we stand. We’re in real good shape, and these couple of extra elements could push you over the top.”

Inoue, who turned 29 on Monday, and Baldwin, who turned 32 on Tuesday, teamed up in 2000. She had competed for her native Japan in pairs at the 1992 Olympics and singles in 1994. He had competed at the U.S. championships as a singles skater 14 times, winning the novice title in 1987, and moved to pairs when he couldn’t master quadruple jumps.

They clicked during a tryout at Paramount Iceland, and neither has looked back. Inoue last month took the momentous step of becoming a U.S. citizen, which makes her eligible to represent the U.S. at Turin, Italy. She had to relinquish her Japanese citizenship, which left her maternal grandparents “a little sad. But if I make the Olympic team they’ll be proud of me.”

That pride will be shared with Baldwin’s parents, who coach skating. “For my family to see us on the world team and eligible for the Olympics, it would be very emotional,” he said.

The Skate America women’s field was weakened by injury-related withdrawals by Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen. Bebe Liang of Granada Hills and Emily Hughes, sister of 2002 Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes, are the top U.S. contenders.

World bronze medalist Evan Lysacek, who trains in El Segundo, and Salt Lake City Olympic bronze medalist Timothy Goebel lead the men’s field, and world silver medalist ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are favored in their discipline. Belbin, a native of Canada, has applied for U.S. citizenship but isn’t expected to get it in time to compete for the U.S. at Turin.

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Going to Great Lengths

Salt Lake City freestyle aerials gold medalist Alisa Camplin of Australia has taken drastic steps to defend her title after she tore a knee ligament for the second time.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Camplin underwent surgery last week to get a cadaver’s tendon and knee bone grafted onto her leg. She was walking without crutches within days and is hoping to be back on skis by Christmas.

Camplin qualified for Australia’s team for the Turin Games but must rebuild her strength and range of motion. “I had always planned on going to the Games to defend my gold medal, but I never realized how important that was to me until the opportunity to compete looked like it could be taken away,” she told the Morning Herald.

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Here and There

Vonetta Flowers, 2002 Olympic gold medalist, and Olympian Jean Prahm were named to the women’s World Cup bobsled team for this season’s races. Also named were Olympic gold medalist Jill Bakken, Erin Pac, Amanda Moreley, Bethany Hart and Ingrid Marcum.

The Speedo Top 40 women’s water polo tournament will take place Nov. 4-6 at the National Training Center in Los Alamitos. It brings together the top female players in the U.S. for a four-team competition. A 12-team open tournament will also be held, as will carnival activities, a raffle, and a silent auction that will feature Olympic memorabilia.

Athens marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi of Mammoth Lakes has recovered from the quadriceps injury that led him to withdraw from the 10,000-meter final at the World Championships and plans to run the New York City Marathon on Nov. 6. Keflezighi was second to Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa in last year’s race in a personal-best, 2 hours 9 minutes 53 seconds, the best finish by a U.S. man since 1993.

Marathon world-record holder Paul Tergat of Kenya also plans to compete after missing two races in England because of an injured hamstring.

The L.A. Marathon, to be held March 19, will offer a race-record $417,600 in prize money, including a guaranteed first-place payout of $135,000. Bonuses also will be paid to runners who run faster than the Olympic trials “A” time of 2 hours 20 minutes for men and 2:39 for women. More information is available at www.lamarathon.com.