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Hughes has chance to beat rival Kwan
By Jenifer K. Nii
Deseret News staff writer
Skate Canada, the second major competition of the figure skating season, will pit the world's top-ranked ladies skaters against one another in what may be a preview of the medals race at the Salt Lake City Games.
After a controversial win last week at Skate America in Colorado Springs, five-time national champion Michelle Kwan again will face U.S. silver medalist Sarah Hughes this week in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Kwan won the votes of Skate America judges, but Hughes came away with the audience's nod. A strong performance at Skate Canada could give Hughes the win she has been waiting for and momentum going into the Olympic Games.
"It's very nice to have a strong start to the season," Hughes said in Colorado. "It will help me be more confident going into Skate Canada and the rest of the season."
However, Kwan and Hughes will have to fend off three-time world silver medalist Irina Slutskaya of Russia. Slutskaya, a legitimate Olympic gold-medal contender, has beaten Kwan twice already this season, at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Australia in August and the Masters pro-am competition earlier this month in California.
In the men's competition, five-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge will make his Grand Prix series debut, along with three-time world champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia. Yagudin reportedly shed 18 pounds over the summer but had a disappointing third-place performance at the Goodwill Games. He won the Skate Canada event last year.
Canadian Elvis Stojko is also expected to be in the mix. Stojko, the 1998 Olympic silver medalist, was plagued by injuries last season. He finished 10th at the 2001 World Championships in Vancouver.
Skate Canada was supposed to have been the first meeting between the top pairs teams from Canada and China, ranked first and third in the world, respectively. But with the withdrawal of the Chinese team of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao, world champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier likely will again square off against Russians Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia. Sale and Pelletier scored a convincing win at Skate America last week. The Russian team finished third, behind Americans Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman.
Fresh off a win in Colorado, Canadian ice dancers Shae Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz will look to solidify their position among the Olympic medal contenders with a win in Saskatoon. Chief competition will come from Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovsky, representing Israel, who finished second last week at Skate America.
"This is all in preparation for the Olympics, which is the big event," Bourne said last week. "We learned a lot here and hope to improve next week at Skate Canada. But this is just the start, and the Olympics will be the peak."
Skate Canada will be held Nov. 1-4 at Saskatchewan Place in Saskatoon.
E-MAIL: jnii@desnews.com
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October 30, 2001
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