SPORTSLINE (04/16/00)

SPORTSLINE

Ukraine's figure skaters place no higher than seventh at worlds

At the 2000 World Figure Skating Championships held in late March/early April in Nice, France, Ukraine's athletes did not fare very well.

Closest to the top in final standings among the championship's four groups - women, men, pairs and ice dancers - were Ukraine's ice dancers Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov, who came in seventh. [NB: spellings are given as listed in official releases.]

The home favorites, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France, captured the ice dancing title. Their success ended a Russian streak of victories in the competition. Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio of Italy came in second, and Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania were third. It was the first time a non-Russian couple has won an ice dance title since 1991 when Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay won the ice dance title for France. The only consolation for Russia was that Ms. Anissina was born and raised in Moscow.

In the men's group, the best Ukraine could do was 13th place, earned by Vitali Danilchenko. Dmitri Dmitrenko came in 15th.

The winner of the event was Alexei Yagudin of Russia. Canadian Elvis Stojko earned silver, while American Michael Weiss took home the bronze.

Among women, Elena Liashenko of Ukraine finished 10th and teammate Galina Maniachenko was 21st.

Michelle Kwan of the United States won her third world title (previously winning in 1996 and 1998), while Russians Irina Slutskaya and Maria Butyrskaya (the defending champion) took second and third, respectively.

There was some drama for Ukraine in the pairs competition as Julia Obertas and Dmitri Palamarchuk were 10th after the short program. In the free skate, however, the competition took a turn for the worse when the Ukrainian champions suffered a fall on an overhead lift that resulted in Mr. Palamarchuk hitting his head on the ice. Although he never lost consciousness, Mr. Palamarchuk was slow to get up and was helped off the ice after several minutes. He again collapsed in the skater's entrance immediately after stepping off the ice. An official communiqué from the organizing committee, reported that Mr. Palamarchuk received immediate treatment at Hospital St. Roch. Although results of X-rays and scan were negative, he but was kept in the hospital overnight for observation.

The pairs champions were Maria Petrova and Aleksei Tikhonov of Russia. They were followed by Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China in second, and Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis of France.

Baiul working toward comeback

"Baiul skating on the comeback trail" was the headline on a recent story about Ukrainian figure skater Oksana Baiul that appeared on the CNN/Sports Illustrated website.

Sonja Steptoe of CNN/SI wrote: "... the saga of Oksana Baiul seems almost too dizzying and melodramatic to be real. Her adult life has only just begun, yet Baiul has already experienced more happiness and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy than most mortals get in a lifetime. And so at the age of 22, Baiul is staging a comeback."

After striking gold at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, Ms. Baiul turned professional, trading in hard times and painful memories in the Ukraine for fame and fortune in the United States. "I didn't know what I was doing," Ms. Baiul now admits. "I was doing it because people told me I had to do it. I had to do it. I wasn't developing as a person and I think people responded to me as a money-making machine."

Then came her bout with alcohol and a car accident that changed her life - but not before she went further downhill. She finally entered a rehab program last year in May and emerged two and a half months later as a recovering alcoholic. She's now given up alcohol, as well as the flashy lifestyle. "I tried it and it wasn't working, so I threw it away," Ms. Baiul told CNN/SI.

She's now back with her former coach from Odesa, Valentyn Nikolayev, who commented to CNN/SI: "She trusts herself now. She knows it's really behind her now. She's not afraid of this problem now."

The International Skating Union will decide whether Ms. Baiul can compete at the 2002 Olympics. If the answer is yes, she will have to perform at least seven triple jumps during the four-minute-long program to be competitive.

CNN/SI reported that, according to Mr. Nikolayev, her competitive fires seem to be burning for the challenge. "I saw her face five days ago before a competition and she was like, 'Yes! I have to do that. I will!' And I said, 'Oksana you are ready.'"

Ms. Baiul agrees. "I feel very solid and comfortable with myself. That's all I want. You know what I'm saying? That's all I want," she said.

Ms. Baiul is currently on tour with the Champions on Ice show.

Former Dynamo Kyiv captain dies

KYIV - Former USSR and Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Viktor Kolotov died early this year after a heart attack at age 50. The Russian-born Mr. Kolotov, who died January 3 at his Kyiv home, defied Soviet soccer chiefs in 1969 when he joined the Ukrainian team.

That decision cost him, as he was banned from the sport for one season ban. Mr. Kolotov returned the following year and was voted the country's top player in 1971 after leading Dynamo to the Soviet championship. In 1975 as captain he led Kyiv to the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Mr. Kolotov made 53 appearances for the Soviet Union and scored 22 goals. He was a member of the team that reached the 1972 European championship final.

He turned to coaching in 1981. He was fired from his last job as head coach of Ukraine's under-21 team in September 1999 following a 4-1 defeat by Iceland.

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