Word: zayak
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Dates: during 1981-1981
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...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...
...have long to wait. At eleven, she performed two triples in a novice competition and was on her way. At 14, Zayak finished fourth in the National Championships, and though she did not make the Olympic team, she was selected to compete in the World Championships a few weeks later. Last month the jumping jack vaulted past more seasoned U.S. skaters and took the National Senior Women's Championship...
...next night in the free-skating program, Zayak decided that having got mad, she would now get even. From her first dazzling triple-loop, double-loop combination, she was a spinning dervish. She threw one near-perfect triple after another until she had reached her goal of seven and won her silver medal -and every heart in the house. Just wait...