Slutskaya could lead Russian gold medal sweep

TORINO -- Russia's Irina Slutskaya, the favorite for Olympic gold in women's figure skating, was elated this fall to get a new ice-resurfacing machine at her Moscow rink. Well, not exactly a new one, but a better one.

"It's from another rink because my ice was so bad," she said. "It was impossible to skate, and all summer I skated not in my rink."

Whatever the quality of their home ice, the quality of Russian figure skaters here is not in question. The nation that has produced assorted hockey stars and ballet greats such as Mikhail Baryshnikov is positioned for its first-ever sweep of the four Olympic medals in a sport blending athletics and artistry.

Slutskaya, a two-time world champ and the 2002 Games silver medalist, can become the first Russian woman to win Olympic gold. Evgeni Plushenko, another 2002 Olympic silver medalist and a three-time world titlist, will try for Russia's fourth consecutive Olympic men's gold. Russian pairs and ice dancing teams are atop the world rankings.

Four golds for Russia?

"I don't know if it's probable, but it's possible," says Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic champion and NBC analyst. "When you look back since the breakup of the Soviet Union, how many Olympic gold medals haven't they won?"

In the last three Olympics, Russia has won eight of the 12 figure skating golds. It won three in 1994 and 1998 and two in 2002.

Why so much Russian success?

"Because it's Russia," says Slutskaya, who had tears streaming down her cheeks in the final moments of her world championship performance last year in Moscow. "Russia is a really strong country and a big country."

And it loves skating.

"So many Russians go to Italy to watch," Slutskaya says. "Our sports uniform, you can buy it like in a shopping center, but now everything is sold. ... People are getting crazy about Olympic Games."

Hamilton says Russian coaches have been quick to "embrace" the new scoring system, which replaces the 6.0 standard with a system that piles up points.

"It seems like they get it," Hamilton says.

With the breakup of the Soviet Union, some predicted Russia's decline as a skating power. That may yet be around the corner.

"Not that they don't have wonderful skaters, but when I look at the results from some of the junior competitions, I'm not seeing the depth now that I used to see," says John Nicks, who coaches the USA's Sasha Cohen. "Originally, the (Soviet) system was to assign a wonderful coach to perhaps one or two wonderful competitors and government would reimburse the coaches. ... Once that was removed, there was anticipation that this method wouldn't continue to produce any good skaters. So far it's been wrong. ... We'll see in the future."

Dick Button, a two-time Olympic champion and an NBC commentator, says, "I think that there will after this year be far less of that Russian impact than there is today."

Slutskaya recently turned 27. Behind her, Russia has Elena Sokolova, 25, and Viktoria Volchkova, 23. "I don't think Sokolova is of the same character as Irina Slutskaya. Volchkova certainly is not," Button says.

Strangely enough, the USA's top men's threat thinks he's Russian -- kind of. He also likes one Russian's chances.

"Plushenko is first, and then everyone else is fighting for second," Johnny Weir said Thursday. Weir was wearing a red warm-up jacket with the letters "CCCP" across the chest, the Russian acronym for Soviet Union.

The jacket was a gift from a Russian skater. Weir also had "Johnny" written in Russian letters across the sleeve of his practice jersey.

"It's not that I'm anti-American," he said. "I just admire Russian culture and Russian skaters for their strength and their perseverance through everything they go through."

To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com

© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.