Figure Skating

TOKYO -- When the Albertville Olympics opened, Japan was putting a formidable burden onto Midori Ito's 4-foot-9 frame.Sportswriters said over and over that the 97-pound, 22-year-old figure skating sensation was this country's best hope to break two embarrassing barriers -- its first Winter Olympics gold medal in 20 years and its first Winter Olympics medal for a woman."

On Friday night, when some of the world's top figure skaters take the ice for the Stars on Ice exhibition at the Baltimore Arena, the lineup will be familiar: Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, Katarina Witt. Even Tara Lipinski, at the comparatively young age of 19, has been in the show for four years now. These veterans are still throwing triple jumps, still skating with the beauty and talent that made them champions. But even the most ardent fans are saying something they never thought they would: It's getting a little old. After years of overexposure, of several televised skating events a weekend, the high-flying world of professional figure skating is hitting a rough patch.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- For Kimmie Meissner, the question isn't, will she or won't she? Rather it's, why should she? The reigning world champion is in first place at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, with the free skate - "my area," she calls it - today. Her four-minute performance has seven triple jumps, four of them in combination, and ends with a double-double-double combination jump. U.S. Figure Skating Championships Women's final, today, 4 p.m., Ch. 2

At 17, Katie Hoff and Kimmie Meissner are already Olympic veterans, each making her mark by bending water to her will. Hoff, of Towson, cuts an imposing figure as the fastest swimmer in the world in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. Meissner, of Bel Air, glides on the surface as the reigning world and national figure skating champion. This week the teens are half a world away from home, trying to burnish their international credentials with an eye toward the next Olympics.

Forget the triple axel, the layback spiral or any fancy footwork. From now on, it's the "Galloping Peacock" for Kimmie Meissner. "I'm incorporating it into my program next season, definitely," said the U.S. women's figure skating champion, her slender arms gracefully undulating in a dead-on impression of actor Jon Heder's signature move in Blades of Glory. "The audience will go crazy when they see it." It obviously impressed Meissner, who also thought the movie was pretty good, too, giving it four skates out of a possible five.

A year ago and a month removed from the Winter Olympics, Kimmie Meissner was just one of the young women using the World Figure Skating Championships to gain international experience. Then, "she skated her brains out," says coach Pam Gregory, in a flawless seven triple-jump performance that brought the audience to its feet and Meissner to near tears. It's hard to say who was more surprised, citizens of the figure skating world or the athlete herself. But this year, the shock factor is gone.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Todd Eldredge leaves for professional skating without an Olympic medal or a second world title, but with the enormous satisfaction of having brought a Target Center crowd of 10,027 to its feet by battling his way to a silver medal at the figure skating world championships last night.As the five-time U.S. champion became a five-time world medalist, Russia's Alexei Yagudin, 18, was becoming the second-youngest world champion, despite losing the long program to Eldredge."This was not my best skating," Yagudin said.

PHILADELPHIA -- Seventeen-year-old Michelle Kwan flirted with perfection last night at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, her remarkable long program highlighting a string of strong performances that could portend an unprecedented medal sweep at the upcoming Winter Olympics.Kwan swept to victory and defending U.S. and world champion Tara Lipinski bounced back from a disappointing performance in the short program to finish second before an animated sellout crowd of 19,082 at the CoreStates Center.

NAGANO, Japan -- "Ticket-o! Ticket-o!"Ah, the wonderful singsong of international commerce."Ticket-o! Ticket-o!"The shouts pierce the Nagano air, in American, Canadian, British and French accents.Language differences are overcome. International partnerships are formed. And most important, money is exchanged.Welcome to the ticket-scalping venue.Welcome to the most competitive event of the Olympics."Speed skating! Figure skating! U.S.-Sweden!" cries one scalper."Finland-Czech! Forty-five minutes!

PHILADELPHIA -- You've got a subjectively judged sport. You've got a controversial selection process. And now you've got a major sponsor announcing its own "Dream Team" two days before the start of the pseudo-Olympic qualifier.A Don King production?Nope, the 1998 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.It's dangerous enough that Olympic berths are decided on the whims of judges. And now Campbell's Soup is weighing in with its opinion -- 140 million times over.That's right, no matter what happens in the long program tomorrow night, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski and Nicole Bobek are coming soon to a supermarket near you.Tonia Kwiatkowski?

Just a week ago, Kimmie Meissner was talking about a comeback - from bad performances in recent years and from injuries that continued to nag her as she readied for a new season of figure skating. Now her dreams of a second trip to the Olympics in February are over. The former world and national figure skating champion from Bel Air has not recovered quickly enough from a dislocated right knee cap and tendinitis, which forced her to withdraw Thursday from both of her Grand Prix assignments.

Kimmie Meissner prepared for the worst and got the best. The former world and national champion from Bel Air suffered through a disastrous season last year that ended with a painful hip injury, and she figured the best she could hope for was a single Grand Prix competition this fall leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Instead, the International Skating Union gave her two: the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow on Oct. 15-18 and the NHK Trophy in Nagano, Japan, on Nov. 5-8. "I wasn't really paying attention.

Top seed Jankovic loses in Australian Open tennis Jelena Jankovic went out in the fourth round of the Australian Open today, and No. 3 Dinara Safina was twice a point away from following the top-ranked player to the exit. In consecutive matches at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Frenchwomen took it to the top seeds. Jankovic was ousted by No. 16 Marion Bartoli. Safina survived, fending off double-match point against No. 15 Alize Cornet. "I am so lucky that I'm in the quarterfinals. She was one point away," said Safina, who made eight double faults and 52 unforced errors to 29 by Cornet.

A hip injury has forced 2006 world and 2007 national champion Kimmie Meissner to withdraw from this week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Cleveland. Meissner, who grew up in Bel Air but trains in Florida, said she hurt her right hip while running on a treadmill a week ago and reinjured it Friday while landing a jump. "It was starting to feel better, but then I had a weird landing on a lutz. Then it felt worse, way worse," she said. "Even walking was bad." She flew home to Maryland to work with physical therapists and sports trainers in an attempt to be ready for the women's short program Thursday evening, but it became clear the injury needed a week or two of rest.

Kimmie Meissner has taken a shine to a rock climbing wall near her training home in South Florida. She loves to push herself higher as she runs the high school stadium steps after a day on the ice. She finds peace in hoisting herself into the saddle for horseback rides in a neighborhood park. In each case, she's making it a point to step up - the same direction she hopes to take today at Skate America in Everett, Wash., the first stop on this season's international Grand Prix circuit and what she sees as the beginning of her climb back to the top of figure skating.

EVERETT, Wash. - In recent years, Skate America, one of six stops on the annual Grand Prix figure skating circuit, has been held in third-tier cities barely able to attract a respectable-sized crowd. This year, it's in a community of 102,000, a half-hour north of Seattle. But, funny thing, there's hardly a ticket left at the 8,300-seat Comcast Arena. NBC and Universal Sports will be airing 16 hours, up from two hours last year. There's definitely a sense of anticipation. The difference?

FIGURE SKATING Ice Princess 7 P.M. [DISNEY]: A smart high school student tries to become a champion figure skater. Think Winter Olympics lite. Michelle Trachtenberg, formerly Buffy the Vampire Slayer's younger sister, takes on the lead role. Not sure if she did her own figure skating. GOOD VS. EVIL Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 9 P.M. [SPIKE]: If you need a break from the Olympics, try this out. Director George Lucas follows Anakin Skywalker as a youth before he becomes Darth Vader.

Svetlana Kuznetsova ended Maria Sharapova's winning streak at 18 matches last night with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victory in the Pacific Life Open semifinals in Indian Wells, Calif. Kuznetsova will face Ana Ivanovic, who beat Jelena Jankovic, 7-6 (3), 6-3. On the men's side, Mardy Fish advanced to meet No. 1 Roger Federer in the semifinals by beating David Nalbandian, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4). Federer advanced because Tommy Haas had to forfeit because of a sinus infection. Defending champion and No. 2 Rafael Nadal will play No. 3 Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, in the other semifinal.

The beginning of Kimmie Meissner's spiral from the pinnacle of figure skating began, cruelly enough, two years ago after she was crowned world champion. As everyone from network producers to White House handlers lined up to get a bit of her time, the fear of giving an imperfect performance began gnawing at her confidence. Despite brave talk about her skating progress, Meissner was just whistling past a graveyard of self doubt that grew with each missed jump, stumble and fall. She lost her world title a year ago in Tokyo, finished last in the Grand Prix Final in December and then lost her national title in January during a disastrous performance that included three falls.

First of all, if you're reading the sports section but aren't planning on watching the Super Bowl, something's a little odd. But, hey, we've seen Supes go bust before, and it could be halftime and you're going to have all that dip and all those wings left, so you've got to watch something, right? Or maybe you've just had it with that cutesy Tom Brady and that dour Bill Belichick. Well, if for some reason you decide to opt out of the big game, we've done a little advance scouting to see what else is on the tube during the Super Bowl, subtitled "Pursuit of Perfection."