Word: ito
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...last month's U.S. national championships in Orlando, Fla., Harding was several pounds overweight, and she sustained an ankle injury in practice. But with typical grit she stuck to her program, which includes a triple Axel, a 3 1/2-revolution trap of a jump that only Ito and she have landed in competition. In the short program she fell. In the long program, she tumbled again and lost any chance of catching Kerrigan. Was she foolhardy to try? Maybe, but she gave notice that, win or lose, she means business...
...Ito lives in Nagoya, Japan's fourth largest city, working with just one coach, Machiko Yamada, and even living with her since Ito's parents separated 11 years ago. Albertville will be the culmination of 17 years' work for both women, and they are planning a program with somewhat more focus on artistry. It is unlikely, though, that they will try to imitate the lithe and pretty Yamaguchi. Says Yamada: "I always stress with Midori that this is a sport...
Experts agree that Ito has set new jumping standards in the sport. Dick Button, a TV commentator and former Olympic winner, marvels at an Ito special: a triple Axel followed directly by a camel spin. Says he: "What's amazing is that she lands the jump at tremendous speed, arrests the forward motion and creates a rotation." Inevitably, others are catching up. Says Ito wistfully: "I cannot make a mistake because people not quite so good as I am can win since they have some higher artistry." It may not say so in the rule book, but smiles do have...
Tonya Harding has not been as consistent a performer as Ito, but they have a lot in common: ice is native ground to both, and they take to it without fear. Harding's story is a rare one: she is a scrappy kid from the wrong side of the tracks who has had to battle herself, her family and the high price of skating < mastery to become an international performer...
...open, not the whipped-up whir that a triple must be. Yamaguchi and Harding may land perfect leaps in tandem, a few feet apart on the ice. All the women are intently absorbed, and their jumps look less like stunts than whitecaps bubbling out of waves. To a purist, Ito and Harding may lack finesse, Yamaguchi passion, Kerrigan the competitive killer instinct. But one of them will harness her painfully acquired skills to her natural effervescence and skate away with the gold medal. It could be one of the Olympics' great performances...