Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 25, 1994 TAG: 9401250054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There may not be anything in the future between these two women other than icy glares. No matter how each skates in the Lillehammer Games - or whether either or both get there - their story already has taken their sport to Olympian heights. Kerrigan's right knee has done more for figure skating than Dorothy Hamill's hairdo once did.
The misplaced attack on Kerrigan's Olympic hopes at the U.S. championships has taken figure skating into new venues for all the wrong reasons. Until the stick-swinging incident allegedly masterminded by Harding's ex-husband and three stooges - the first triple klutz in the sport's history - the major indictment in figure skating was that school figures were boring.
"It's certainly made more people aware of our sport," said Caryn Kadavy, who elegantly and balletically has risen from melted Olympic hopes in 1988 to pro skating success. "It's always been a popular sport, particularly during the Olympics. Maybe this will attract more attention to figure skating.
"I don't think what's happened with Nancy and Tonya will hurt the sport. At least, I hope it doesn't. I just hope most people don't think this kind of thing happens all of the time, that we all need bodyguards, that it's a dog-eat-dog sport."
Kadavy is one of the stars of the World Cup Figure Skating Champions, which tonight is the first of two professional shows with Olympic talent that will grace the Roanoke Civic Center ice over the next six weeks. Kadavy and her peers are as intrigued as anyone by what has become a very different ice duel than what was expected from the top U.S. amateur skaters.
"It's been a shock to all of us on the tour," Kadavy said. "That that could happen, and everything that's happened since, is kind of unbelieveable. We're to the point now where we want to hear Tonya's story. That's what's missing. I feel sorry for Nancy. Skating in the nationals before the Olympics is so important. It gets you ready. She's missed that.
"I know them both, and they're both wonderful people and excellent skaters. The things that have been said about Tonya, you hear that, and I can't believe she'd do something like that. Whether she's guilty or not, it's been tough for her."
Kadavy said her missed opportunity for Olympic gold has hardly diminished her chance at silver from a pro career. At the 1988 Calgary Games, Kadavy was one of the favorites for the gold. She skated two of her programs with the flu before the illness kept her from competing in the long program.
"I just wanted to do my best in the Olympics," the Erie, Pa., native said. "If I had gone into it thinking this was on the line, in terms of dollars in the future, it would have put so much more pressure on me I probably couldn't have competed. The one skater at the time who probably realized what was at stake for her was Debi Thomas.
"When I couldn't compete, that was the only devastation. I had worked so long for that moment and then to have that happen. I didn't really feel that until later, I was so sick. I was in bed. I had a temperature of 103.5. I had to stay in Calgary longer because I was so sick. I got a shot and had a bad reaction to it.
"I was 20 then. It wasn't a money thing to me, and it took me a while to get back to where I wanted to compete again. I've done well in professional skating. I won three championships last year. I tour five months out of the year. I enjoy what I do and I think I'm successful.
"I reached the Olympics, and that was great. I'm thankful I got there. My family supported me. I trained and trained. It was like I put all my heart and all my soul into that one moment, and then it all ended. It was like burnout. It's hard to explain. But my career wasn't over. Things happen for a reason."
Kadavy can only guess what might happen to Kerrigan and Harding in the next few weeks.
"I do know," she said, "that more people will pay attention to figure skating."
A beautiful sport prospers from an ugly incident. On the ice or not, it can be a cold world.
by CNB