More golden figures

Jamie Sale and David Pelletier's story is the stuff of movies. They have loved, lost and triumphed. And that was just a little more than a year ago. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Russian pairs figure skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were awarded the gold medal over Canada's Sale and Pelletier -- even though Sikharulidze stumbled on a landing and the Canadians skated their "Love Story" program flawlessly.

As they were awarded the silver medal, Sale and Pelletier were disappointed --and so was the world. In the following days, the pair was everywhere; first on television as the victims of vote-swapping among figure-skating judges, then on the Olympic concert stage with the music group Barenaked Ladies as the Canadians-next-door, and finally in a special awards ceremony as vindicated gold medalists.

Now Sale and Pelletier are on the Smucker's Stars on Ice tour with their co-gold medalists Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze.

In a telephone interview, the two reflect on life after the Olympics.

Q - What goes through your heads when you hear "Love Story?"

A - Pelletier: I get nervous. Sale: We heard it the other day. You get nervous, it brings the butterflies out again. We've done it before, but doing it for the Olympics is a different thing, it definitely makes us nervous. But it also puts a smile on our faces.

Q - What goes through your heads when you hear a Barenaked Ladies song?

A - Pelletier: Everybody says they remember us onstage with the band. It's great to be associated with a band like that.

Q - I read that both of you like hockey. What aspects of hockey would you like to see in figure skating?

A - Sale: We like hockey for how fast it is ...

Pelletier (interrupting): The salary.

Sale: Yeah, the salary.

Pelletier: But the speed in hockey. The players are so fast.

Q - Where are your medals now?

A - Sale: They are in the safety deposit box in our bank back in Edmonton. They were hard to get, so we don't want to lose them.

Q - What adjustments have you made in your skating since turning pro?

A - Pelletier: We didn't adjust much. There is a lot more traveling as a professional obviously, which is not as easy as we thought it would be.

Q - A movie is in the works about your lives. What category would you place it in at the video store?

A - Sale: Drama. (laughs) Pelletier: Comedy (laughs)

Sale: Horror, maybe.

Pelletier: Adult entertainment, but that's off the record (both laughing).