Word: zayak
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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That photo finish was not the only dramatic moment in a competition of many twists and triumphs. Handicappers looking to the 1984 Olympic Games could find much to ponder in the World Championships. Elaine Zayak, the 15-year-old American buzz saw who hurtles into triple jumps with wild abandon, served notice that she will soon be a major force in figure skating (see box), finishing second in the women's competition. A stylish Swiss, Denise Biellmann, 18, showed a few complicated moves of her own and took the gold. And once more, the Soviets proved that at least...
...both hands and stretched it high overhead, while spinning at dazzling speed on her right leg. The Biellmann spin is breathtaking, but she lacks the athletic triple jumps that have become the sport's new measuring stick. With the new emphasis on athleticism, led by young crickets like Zayak, Biellmann may be the last women's champion in the grand style. Those elegantly expressive skaters, best personified by Peggy Fleming and Sandy Lenz, made figure skating a romantic art form, Giselle on a vast frozen stage. Biellmann is capable of sculpting her movements on the ice in that...
...Zayak has more than her share of triple tricks but needs to learn how to cope with world-class pressure and to master the school figures, those slowly executed moves that are judged partly by examining the skate marks left after a competitor has finished. Zayak came in only seventh in that category, and was unable to make up enough ground in the four-minute free-skating event, which is her forte, to overtake her rivals...
That chirpy little voice can be misleading. When Elaine Zayak, all of 15 and the most explosive talent to hit women's figure skating in a generation, says something, she means it. Of her quest for recognition as the world's finest in her sport, she says quite bluntly: "I don't have time to wait...
Chances are the 5-ft. 2-in., 103-lb. teen-ager will not have to. She is already the most recognizable figure in skating. The reason is simple: Zayak can do triple jumps. Until a few years ago, when Olympic Silver Medalist Linda Fratianne first began to perform those furious leaps in competition, triples were attempted by only the strongest of male skaters. Fratianne did two triple jumps in her free-skating program. Elaine Zayak does seven-and does not consider that the limit. "You have to do doubles, too, not just a triple here and there. Of course...