Men’s figure skating decided tonight

By Tim Korte

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY – Alexei Yagudin was so nervous before his short program, he could barely feel his legs. After tonight’s free skate, he could feel a gold medal hanging from his neck.

The three-time figure skating world champion from Russia is in first place heading into the long program, worth two-thirds of the overall score. And he’s got a big comfort zone.

Reigning world champion Evgeny Plushenko is fourth after missing his opening quadruple toe loop, giving Yagudin reason to consider trying a rare quad-triple-triple combination in the free skate.

Nobody has ever landed the jump in the Olympics.

“Maybe, why not?” Yagudin said when asked about trying the combination. “I have a comfortable lead after the short, but I still want to be proud of myself and skate good. It’s just a question of the landing.”

Yeah, that’s important.

Plushenko missed his landing on the quad, and his medal prospects have dimmed as a result. Takeshi Honda of Japan is in second place while American Tim Goebel nailed his quad and sits third.

Goebel is trying not to think about a medal, other than the one he expects Yagudin to get.

“He’s in a great position to win,” Goebel said. “Coming in, he was one of the gold medal favorites. Unless he has a rough go at the long, he’s going to be the champion.”

For his shot at gold, Plushenko needs to win the free skate and have someone other than Yagudin finish second. Plushenko skates third in the final warm-up, while Yagudin goes last.

“A lot of guys up there look good, and Plushenko’s right behind them,” said American Todd Eldredge, in ninth after the short program. “It’s definitely going to be an interesting competition for those guys.”

Michael Weiss was saddled by the first starting position in the short program and sits eighth. He and Eldredge, who two-footed his quad and crashed on his triple axel in the short, are too far behind to contend.

There’s also qualifying rounds for men and women in the snowboard parallel giant slalom, setting up Friday’s finals. The Americans will try to maintain the smashing success of U.S. dudes in the halfpipe.

That’s where Ross Powers, Danny Kass and J.J. Thomas swept the medals earlier this week and Kelly Clark won gold in the women’s event.

“They’ve got some good momentum going,” said PGS snowboarder Chris Klug. “We’ve got a pretty incredible crew of riders right up here, too. I have a lot of confidence in us to get the job done as well.”

Unlike the halfpipe, with its big air and gravity-defying flips, the PGS resembles a ski race. Competitors go head-to-head while navigating a slalom course in an exciting single-elimination format.

The Americans aren’t expected to contend in the men’s 10-kilometer pursuit cross-country race. And despite Todd Lodwick’s seventh-place finish in the individual event, they’re long shots in Nordic combined team jumping.

At the Utah Olympic Oval, speedskater Chris Witty races in the 500. Although she won two medals at the 1998 Nagano Games, Witty has struggled this season while battling mononucleosis.

The U.S. women’s hockey team, fresh off a 10-0 tournament-opening victory against Germany, continues its run as heavy favorites for the gold medal with a game against China.