| | CLEVELAND--As a fulltime college student, Michelle Kwan makes for a pretty good figure skater, too.
The problem is her studies at UCLA might just keep Kwan from being the world's best skater.
She should have no problem winning her fourth U.S. Figure Skating Championships title in five years. Her competition next week is too young and inexperienced to present a major challenge.
But Kwan was beaten in the Grand Prix finals last month by Irina Slutskaya, and she also lost her world title a year ago to Maria Butyrskaya.
| |  | | | Michelle Kwan is learning to focus on both college and skating. |
With the exception of 1996, when she swept everything, and the '98 world championships, she has not won the biggest internationals. That includes, of course, the 1998 Olympics, where she was second to Tara Lipinski.
If Kwan skates her best, she's better than the top-level competitors. But reaching her best is very difficult with a full course load and the distractions of college life.
"If anyone can handle this kind of scenario, it's Michelle," coach Frank Carroll says. "She's very intelligent and she wants a lot more out of life than skating."
And there's the rub. Without spending nearly 100 percent of her time on skating, as so many of her rivals are doing, she endangers her hold on the top spot - if not in the United States, certainly on the world stage.
Still, it has not been a difficult decision for Kwan, a freshman at UCLA who lives in a dorm and isn't particularly a celebrity among her schoolmates.
"There are a lot of Kwans running around at UCLA," she says with a chuckle. "When my roommate found out she was rooming with Michelle Kwan, she said, `Oh, right, whatever.' Then we met and she said, `Hi, nice to meet you. This is cool.' She wasn't shocked."
It would be shocking for Kwan to lose in Friday's short program or Saturday's free skate. With the enigmatic Nicole Bobek sidelined, the main challengers are Naomi Nari Nam and Sarah Hughes, both 14.
They are rising stars who could be championship quality by the 2002 Olympics. But now? Kwan will have to fall all over the ice to lose.
Is there a chance of that, considering the distractions? Not likely. Even in her losses in the past three seasons, she generally has skated well.
Kwan certainly has no regrets about attempting the balancing act.
"I wanted the whole experience, the whole nine yards," she says. "I realize this is only a sport and there are greater things in life than doing a triple lutz. I appreciate that every day."
Which is the whole idea of being a student-skater.
"I think this is a pivotal year for Michelle and to see how much she can handle," Carroll says. "She is doing the right thing, challenging her mind as well as her body and it's this discipline of mind that determines the winners in this sport."
The men's winner would appear to be much more uncertain. Defending champion Michael Weiss has been plagued by ankle problems and is in the middle of a mediocre year. He's going to need a clean quadruple jump or two to hold off record-setter Tim Goebel.
Goebel, who still doesn't match Weiss in artistry - he's closing in - was the first American to hit a quad in competition. He also is the only man to nail three quads in a program, at Skate America.
Goebel was third behind Weiss and Trifun Zivanovic at the '99 nationals, but he's made huge strides in the past year.
Like Kwan, Goebel is a college student, at Case Western. Unlike Kwan, his skating appears totally unaffected by the combination.
Defending pairs champions Danielle and Steve Hartsell are sidelined by her broken kneecap. That puts Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman in the favorite's role. Ina already has won two national titles with a different partner.
The top ice dancers feature American women and Russian men. Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev won last year, just their third season together. They'll be pushed by Debbie Koegel and Oleg Fediukov, who also are in their fourth year as partners.
Competition begins Tuesday night with compulsory ice dances. | |
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