Boitano

LANDOVER -- Brian Boitano strung together a batch of his trademark triples and made it a quadruple -- a fourth straight men's title at the NutraSweet World Professional Figure Skating Championships.And it was his hardest-fought title, as Scott Hamilton and Robin Cousins -- gold medalists who had been eclipsed by Boitano -- cut him no quarter."It really means a lot to me," said Boitano, who edged Hamilton by seven-tenths and Cousins by eight-tenths of a point out of a possible 100 points.And it did it with the quick-footed fun-packed style that they have made their own."

LANDOVER -- In February, at Albertville, France, they will crown the best figure skater in the world.Trouble is, he won't be there.Even as the Olympics opens its arms to professionals in nearly every sport, those arms are crossed obstinately across the chest in figure skating.And so Brian Boitano will not be at the Winter Olympics in Albertville."I think I would shine there," said Boitano, who won the gold medal at the 1988 Games in Calgary, Alberta."In my Olympic performance I did more than anyone had done in the past, and I've improved since then."

LANDOVER -- In February, at Albertville, France, they will crown the best figure skater in the world.Trouble is, he won't be there.Even as the Olympics opens its arms to professionals in nearly every sport, those arms are crossed obstinately across the chest in figure skating.And so Brian Boitano will not be at the Winter Olympics in Albertville."I think I would shine there," said Boitano, who won the gold medal at the 1988 Games in Calgary, Alberta."In my Olympic performance I did more than anyone had done in the past, and I've improved since then."

LANDOVER -- In February, at Albertville, France, they will crown the best figure skater in the world.Trouble is, he won't be there.Even as the Olympics opens its arms to professionals in nearly every sport, those arms are crossed obstinately across the chest in figure skating.And so Brian Boitano will not compete in the Winter Olympics in Albertville."I think I would shine there," said Boitano, who won the gold medal at the 1988 Games in Calgary, Alberta."In my Olympic performance I did more than anyone had done in the past, and I've improved since then."

LANDOVER -- It hurt like the blazes, but there was nothing like a bunch of perfect scores to ease the pain.Brian Boitano, skating on an injured hip he reinjured in his first number of the night, scored six perfect 10s and a 9.9 to win his third straight NutraSweet World Professional Figure Skating title at the Capital Centre."

What: NutraSweet World Professional Figure Skating ChampionshipsSite: Capital Centre, Landover, tomorrow, 7 p.m.dTC Tickets: About 2,000 of 18,000 tickets are left. $35 and $22.50.Available by calling TicketCenter at 481-6000.TV: A tape of the 11th annual championships will be televised by NBC on "SportsWorld" Jan. 26-27.Women: Two-time defending champion Debi Thomas; Denise Biellmann, who defeated Thomas in the Challenge of Champions, the Moscow stop in this event; Elizabeth Manley of Canada, in her first pro competition since upsetting Thomas for the Olympic silver medal in Calgary in 1988; Rosalynn Sumners, the 1984 silver medalist and third-place finisher last year.

What is Brian Boitano up to these days?Funny you should ask.Make that, funny you should see.The young man whose charisma and athleticism won him a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics is changing. He still cuts that Errol Flynn figure on the ice.But he's also getting funnier.Not guffaw funny. You won't be slapping your knee at baggy clown pants or pratfalls on the ice.Boitano's humor is in character: elusive, sophisticated, slightly self-deprecating. It is just the kind of humor you would expect from Boitano.

Courtney Winer, an 8-year-old student at Pot Spring Elementary School in Timonium, cut right to the chase.She used The Evening Sun's call-in line to ask a simple question of celebrity ice-skaters Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt: "Has skating been worth the things you gave up in your childhood and teen-age years?"Boitano and Witt, who brought their show, "Skating II," to the Baltimore Arena last night, more than agreed that their sacrifices have been well-rewarded. Boitano is even reluctant to admit that he made sacrifices.

Two years after his Olympic gold-medal triumph, Brian Boitano is still training two hours a day, executing the most difficult triple jumps and generally acting as if he could take on the best skaters in the world -- not the usual behavior of a champion in post-competition "retirement."Unlike many former Olympians whose skating slides into disrepair once they turn pro, Boitano hasn't taken the easy road."He's the best male skater in the world -- ever," says Billy Schneider, a top national coach who knew Boitano when the two came up through the amateur ranks as youngsters.

"I'll be dying 27 times," Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt says wryly, as she thinks about performing the role of "Carmen" on ice in a new show that's just begun a five-month tour."Skating II" -- which will be performed at 7:30 tonight at the Baltimore Arena -- features Ms. Witt together with fellow Olympian Brian Boitano and an international cast of 12 world-class skaters.The East German skating star will be in the spotlight five times during the evening. As a finale, she and Mr. Boitano will perform the death scene from the HBO movie, "Carmen on Ice," which won the pairEmmy Awards.