Word: kulik
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With the world's current crop of elite male skaters all master technicians and wizardly athletes, the competition at the Nagano Olympics first appeared as though it would amount to a contest of aesthetics: the classical artistry of Russia's ballet-trained Ilia Kulik, a first-time Olympian, pitted against the don't-fence-me-in aggressiveness of Canadian Elvis Stojko, a black belt in karate and three-time world champion. Both men performed well and cleanly during Thursday's short program (the 2-min. 40-sec. execution of eight required elements), but Kulik led the event, suggesting a judicial...
...coach revealed after the competition was over--had been suffering from a groin injury for the past month. The strain on his body became all too evident during the crucial 4.5-min. free skate on Saturday. (The free skate counts for two-thirds of a competitor's final score.) Kulik won the gold with an effortless show, and Stojko was forced to settle for silver, as he did in Lillehammer. Except this time the Canadian hobbled to the medals podium in pain, hugged his rival and went straight to the hospital for treatment...
With its ever increasing penchant for mawkish soap opera and garish costuming (and no one is a bigger culprit here than Kulik), figure skating has become camp spectacle. Perhaps as a corrective, the judges of the men's competition sent the message that skating is indeed still an earnest sport where fierce athleticism matters. In other words, yes, the much discussed quadruple jump counts. Of the top medal contenders, only two skaters, Kulik and Alexei Yagudin, also a Russian, attempted one, and only Kulik landed his: a perfectly executed quadruple toe loop...
...that move alone, however, that secured Kulik highest honors. His entire routine, skated to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, was playful and precise. He landed every one of his eight triple jumps flawlessly. And when the competition was finished, the generally impassive skater even managed to show a trace of humor. "The shirt won," he joked to reporters, referring to his less-than-becoming giraffe-print top. "It's lucky. I don't think I'll be getting any more questions about the shirt...
...With styles for every judge's taste, the program will include Todd Eldredge, 26, the five-time American champ from Chatham, Mass., who is back on form after suffering shoulder and rib injuries but has yet to land a quad in competition; a pair of elegant young Russians, Ilia Kulik and Alexei Yagudin, exemplars of old-school, glamour-puss skating; and a sleeper. American Michael Weiss, 21, from Fairfax, Va., will hope that the big names crash and burn, and that he lands the viciously tough quad Lutz he two-footed while finishing second at the nationals last month...