| | NICE, France -- A flawless short program by Shen Xue and
Zhao Hongbo at the World Figure Skating Championships very nearly
filled the awkward absence left by the defending pairs champions,
who were forced to withdraw after testing positive for a banned
substance.
In a distinctive move evoking their music, Stravinsky's
"Firebird," Shen remained suspended briefly before completing a
double twist - extending her arms to emphasize the delay. The
Chinese pair skated the required side-by-side triple jump, throws
and spins quickly and cleanly, scoring mostly 5.8s and 5.9s Monday.
By comparison, Russians Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov were
considerably slower with a much more standard routine and just a
little less attention to detail. They finished second ahead of
Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada, who made the rare mistake
of spinning in opposite directions.
The sudden withdrawal Sunday of two-time world champions Elena
Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze gave newer couples a clear shot
at the title and made doping a central topic in a sport where it
never has been considered much of an issue.
Though doping suspicions regularly sideline athletes in track
and field, swimming and other sports that rely heavily on endurance
and strength, the positive tests for banned substances remain a
rarity in figure skating. Still, other skaters emphasized that they
check regularly with team physicians before so much as applying an
ointment.
Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze took no such precautions, and the
mistake may cost them their European gold. The International
Skating Union council will decide sanctions April 3-4.
Berezhnaya's positive test was caused by a medication she took
for a cough from a doctor in New Jersey, where the pair trains,
without any thought to banned substances, said coach Tamara
Moskvina. "This is my ignorance," she admitted.
A veteran coach and former pairs skater with 30 years'
experience, Moskvina said she never considered that cold
medications contained banned stimulants and had never paid much
attention when athletes in other sports lost medals for taking
over-the-counter drugs containing stimulants.
"We never thought this medicine would increase their artistry,
the skill of jump their height of the throws their choreography or
their results," she said. "In all my years in the sport, we have
always considered ... doping a great disgrace. We considered we
were well-prepared and well-trained enough to win. The only pill I
gave them was artistry and clever preparation."
The disruption had little impact on the Russians' American
training partners, Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, who skated cleanly
and finished sixth in only their second year together.
In the men's qualifying round, everyone held a little back for
the bigger events to follow. Of the top contenders, only Alexei
Yagudin of Russia and American Michael Weiss, finishing 1-2 in the
second group, skated at a level suggesting their ability.
Unable to hide his displeasure at drawing first to skate,
European champion and favorite Evgeny Plushchenko of Russia skated
petulantly to traditional Russian folk music, falling to a complete
sit on his opening quad and then basically just giving up. He hit
just four triple jumps and doubled on a salchow and loop, finishing
second in the first qualifying group to Canada's Elvis Stojko,
Stojko's routine was vintage Elvis. He allowed a long pause
before beginning to skate - whether for dramatic effect or for the
audience to absorb the music was unclear. The music, as usual, was
from a movie soundtrack, this time "The Mummy." He hit six triple
jumps, and stepped out of three.
Completely recovered from a groin injury that hampered him last
season, Stojko said he felt a little anxious early in the program,
and held back on an intended quad. "I didn't want to skate perfect
now, but wanted to be in the top two."
Yagudin doubled on an initial quad attempt, then followed
immediately with a solid quad toe loop at the other end of the
rink. The defending world champion changed his music to Puccini's
"Tosca" - and he changed his attitude, too, after finishing
second to Plushchenko at the Europeans.
"I understand a lot of things better after Europeans," Yagudin
said. "I understand the rules of this life. If I want to be an
adult in the figure skating world, I have to spend all my energy on
this sport."
In his first major international competition this season, Weiss,
of Fairfax, Va., appeared rested and refreshed - hitting nine
triples, one more than allowed because he pulled back on an
intended quad, and winning strong marks in artistry.
Timothy Goebel, of Rolling Meadows, Ill., was one of only five
skaters to hit quads, his being a quad salchow, triple toe loop
combination. But he popped an axel, fell on a quad toe-loop and
turned in a generally lackluster performance, finishing eighth in
the first group.
"It stunk. It was not a world level program," said the
19-year-old, who has hit three quads in his last two major
competitions.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo replay
RealVideo: 56.6
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