Boitano Gets Deep Sixth; Russian Urmanov Takes Gold

Copyright 1994 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.

At the end he had lost his hunger, which came before he lost his balance on his first triple Axel. All that was left for Brian Boitano, an Olympic figure skating champion six long years ago, was his pride.

The long road back from the soft life of professional ice shows ended in a sixth-place finish for Boitano, 30, in the men's Olympic figure skating last night. Even at that, he beat young Scott Davis, who upset him in the U.S. nationals. Davis fell squarely on the seat of his pants on his first triple Axel, then wandered through a dispirited long program in the freestyle portion and finished eighth.

Russia's Alexsei Urmanov - who broke his leg on a jump two years ago, whose mother once worked as an engineer in a missile factory, but who now serves food in a cafeteria - won the gold medal.

"It (the problem with the jumps) was something in my head until just recently," Urmanov said. "I did not think I could win the gold medal before the Olympics began. But who knew Boitano and (Ukraine's Viktor) Petrenko would fall in the technical program?" Petrenko, the 1992 Olympic champion, another reinstated pro, finished fourth.

The silver medal went to Canada's Elvis Stojko, despite his omission of his planned quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, a dizzying sequence that would have demanded seven mid-air revolutions in less than two seconds.

Urmanov, 20, had also been expected to try a quadruple jump, but didn't. Like Stojko, he hit seven triple jumps, and he won first-place marks from six of the nine judges despite a late stumble on a triple flip.

"My first jump was shaky," said Stojko, 21. "The triple-triple is the most difficult combination in skating, anyway. I thought I skated cleanly, and that I had a chance for the gold medal.

"I'm happy to win the silver for Canada, though."

France's Philippe Candeloro, 22, with a program consisting of Cossack ice dances and prayerful posings to the music of "Godfather II," won the bronze with an eccentric performance that seemed to leave judges baffled.

Canada's Kurt Browning, 12th after the short program, finished fifth overall, skating as Humphrey Bogart's character in "Casablanca." He dressed for and acted to the part, down to the white dinner jacket and imaginary cigarette clenched between his teeth. Fittingly, Browning's best moments with the crowd at the Olympic Amphitheater came to the strains of "As Time Goes By" from the Bogart movie.

"I look at it like I've improved every Olympics," said Browning, a four-time World champion, who was ending his Olympic career last night. "From eighth to sixth to fifth. By the year 2008, I should win this thing."

Time goes by for all of them, but most of all for the reinstated pros.

The International Skating Union passed the reinstatement rule only under pressure from the International Olympic Committee and CBS. The one-time pros had to skate flawlessly to deny the new guard, and none of them did. Even veterans such as Browning who never turned pro were under the judges' microscope.

Judges preferred the classicism of Urmanov, rather than the flashier new style of Stojko and Candeloro. Only old names are in disfavor.

The oddest sensation for Boitano, whose willingness to submit to the intense pressure of the Olympics attracted support throughout America, was his own lack of passion. It translated into a shortage of energy on the ice.

"There were a lot of rough edges out there in my performance," he said. "I had to suck it up after the bad start. It was something I was fighting the whole program. The second triple (Axel) meant a great deal to me. I have been having trouble with it all year.

"I honestly did not care how I scored. In fact, I don't even know my scores. I just wanted to nail that last jump, since this was the end. I guess you could say I appreciate simple gifts."

Boitano gets points for frankness, but it should be obvious now that figure skating is the province of younger men.

"It was different throughout the week for me than it was for the young guys," he said. "You could just look at some of them and see how crushed they were if you beat them. It's not that way with me anymore. I lost that hunger. In a competition like the Olympics, you need that edge.

"I knew I could medal if I really skated great. But in the middle of the program, I didn't even care if I medaled. I just wanted to skate well. The younger kids don't have a medal yet. I already have everything I ever needed."

He ended his program, to the sweeling strains of Aaron Copland, by nailing the second triple Axel, the jump that cost him the U.S. nationals. It was a good way to go out.