Look Who's Standing
Stamina-and grace-leads rosy-cheeked Ilia Kulik of Russia
to a gold medal
By GINIA BELLAFANTE
magine for a moment last week's men's figure-skating
competition as a feature film in preproduction, with the team of
Olympic judges as the venture's casting directors. For the role
of leading man, the producers have asked for someone the world
can call a champion. But whom to choose? Do they opt for a
sinewy 20-year-old talent, all Baryshnikov grace and DiCaprio
innocence? Or do they go with a stockily built he-man, a
comparative veteran of 25, whose brash moves and manner suggest
a cross between Michael Flatley and Steven Seagal?
With the world's current crop of elite male skaters all master
technicians and wizardly athletes, the competition at the Nagano
Olympics first appeared as though it would amount to a contest
of aesthetics: the classical artistry of Russia's ballet-trained
Ilia Kulik, a first-time Olympian, pitted against the
don't-fence-me-in aggressiveness of Canadian Elvis Stojko, a
black belt in karate and three-time world champion. Both men
performed well and cleanly during Thursday's short program (the
2-min. 40-sec. execution of eight required elements), but Kulik
led the event, suggesting a judicial preference for his
traditional brand of physical elegance.
But style mattered little in the end as the contest came down to
a rather old-fashioned battle of stamina. Although the world
didn't know it, Stojko--as his coach revealed after the
competition was over--had been suffering from a groin injury for
the past month. The strain on his body became all too evident
during the crucial 4.5-min. free skate on Saturday. (The free
skate counts for two-thirds of a competitor's final score.)
Kulik won the gold with an effortless show, and Stojko was
forced to settle for silver, as he did in Lillehammer. Except
this time the Canadian hobbled to the medals podium in pain,
hugged his rival and went straight to the hospital for treatment.
