Issue Date: February 3, 2001

In this article: Scott Hamilton on Michelle Kwan Mike Eruzione on Cammi Granato Eric Heiden on Apolo Anton Ohno Onward to Athens Winter Olympic Guide, day-by-day Also this week: Olympic-themed Frame Games

Passing the Torch!
We asked a trio of former Olympians to pick the most promising American athletes from a field of hundreds hoping to bring home a gold medal. Figure skater Scott Hamilton, hockey player Mike Eruzione and speed skater Eric Heiden looked closely at the sports they understand better than most, having reached the highest spot on the podium themselves in past Olympics. Our experts analyzed the points and pressures, talent and drive of Olympic hopefuls, all of whom have seen their share of ups and downs on the road to Salt Lake City.

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Scott Hamilton on Michelle Kwan

THE DEMANDS on figure skaters have intensified dramatically over the past two decades, acknowledges Olympic veteran Scott Hamilton, who won fans and a gold medal in 1984 for his puckish athleticism and joyful leaps (both forward and head-over-heels).

Today, perhaps no one knows that better than Olympic hopeful Michelle Kwan. At 21, the four-time world champion and 1998 Olympic silver medalist lives in the center of today's figure skating maelstrom. "It's a tough, tough place to be right now," Hamilton says.

The single most dominant American figure skater in world competition, and a six-time national champion, Kwan had to settle for second best in the last Olympic Games when she was beaten by younger teammate Tara Lipinski. Kwan is favored to capture the gold at Salt Lake but has struggled in competitions since abruptly firing longtime coach Frank Carroll in October, just a few months before the biggest competition of the year, the Olympics. "He's taught me a lot. But at some point, you kind of hope you can stand on your own," she says.

Hamilton, who will provide Olympic commentary for NBC in Salt Lake, believes Kwan has all the right stuff to win gold Feb. 21, when she will skate her long program. It's new this season; she also recently parted with long-time choreographer Lori Nichol. Kwan's program will be set to the story of Scheherazade, a tale about a young woman whose storytelling abilities (a metaphor, perhaps, for her own skating abilities?) stave off her execution. Accompanying all the changes, Kwan is being pushed by a highly publicized rivalry with 22-year-old Russian contender Irina Slutskaya, who has beaten Kwan at competitions several times in the past year, as well as with teammates Sarah Hughes, 16, and Sasha Cohen, 17.

With all the scrutiny and accompanying pressures, Hamilton is not envious of the challenges facing Kwan. It's a reminder to him that he has no desire to return to his glory days on Olympic ice. (And he confesses with a laugh that, at 43, he could not perform the quadruple jumps that have become standard among male competitors.)

"I'm so happy I competed when I did, because I just sort of fit in that time. And I don't know if I'd fit in this time," he says. "I have nothing but respect for the skaters competing now, both athletically and how they handle the pressures they have to withstand to compete at that level."

Skating may be the least of those very modern pressures. More immediate are media-driven expectations placed on Olympic athletes, as well as the dollar-driven opportunities tied to Olympic success. Those are probably the most drastic changes in figure skating since Hamilton's era, he says: "In my time, we were strictly amateur. We weren't allowed to make any money doing anything."

Kwan admits that off-season tours, far-flung competitions and big-money endorsements make endless demands on an athlete's time. Since the fall, she had won only one pre-Olympic event before capturing first place last month at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. "It used to be the nationals, worlds and Olympics were the only televised competitions. Now, we have the grand prix, the internationals, the pro-ams. There's a lot more going on, which means a lot more to focus on, a lot more on your plate," she says. "That can be stressful, because you don't only prepare for January, February and March. You're preparing from September on. That's the big difference. In a way, you always have to be up."

Up for fans, for judges, for the media. And up for sponsors, who expect results for their investment. Kwan endorses products for Yoplait, Chevrolet and Disney, among other companies, and has been a spokeswoman for causes such as encouraging children to read more. She says she'll advertise something only if she believes in it. "You can't take everything you're offered, because you can't sell yourself short," she says.

"Skaters today do really well financially," Hamilton says, but he also feels so much available cash for Olympic competitors is a troubling change in his sport. "I worry that with all the drastic amounts of money, people could lose the reason they're doing this," he says.

Even if she wins a gold medal, Kwan's days as a fierce competitor may not end in Salt Lake. The California resident told USA WEEKEND last October that her deep passion for skating may keep her in world-class competition through the 2006 Winter Olympics. "There are so many things I love about skating. If I can forget about what people say about me, forget about everything and just focus on skating, that would be great," she says. "Twenty-five isn't that old to compete in another Olympics. People thought after the '98 Olympics I would turn professional, but look at what I would be missing if I'd turned pro."

Kwan's decision may turn on how well she performs in the next two weeks. "I have so much to my life that I have to live," she told USA WEEKEND. "I have more things after skating that I have yet to see. And when you look at it that way, it's like this is all a joy ride."

-- Bob Knotts

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Mike Eruzione on Cammi Granato

It's difficult to believe more than 20 years have passed since the U.S. men's hockey team -- a young, scrappy bunch playing an unheralded sport -- took on and beat the best in the world, the Soviet Union, and then went on to capture its first gold medal in a match with Finland at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y. Among the millions celebrating at home was 8-year-old Cammi Granato. In the basement of their home in suburban Chicago, she and her four brothers, all rabid hockey fans, took turns re-enacting the "Miracle on Ice," when captain Mike Eruzione scored the U.S. team's winning goal.

Love of hockey took on greater meaning for two of the Granatos. Brother Tony went on to play in the National Hockey League. And Cammi Granato's life-long rehearsal became a reality at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, when she captured her own Olympic gold as the captain of the winning U.S. women's hockey team.

This month, Granato, 30, right, already considered America's greatest female hockey player, hopes to capture her second gold medal, this time on American soil. Her Olympic dream started "with that game on TV and all those imaginary games in the basement."

Eruzione and Granato are intertwined influences, whose gold medal wins have deeply affected the sport of hockey in this country. Today, it's as popular as baseball and football.

"Hockey was on the verge of being discovered then," says 47-year-old Eruzione, director of development for athletics at his alma mater, Boston University. "We may have accelerated it, but what we really did was create an awareness of the sport in America and awareness worldwide that Americans could play." Players who were growing up in that era -- Philadelphia Flyer John LeClair, New York Ranger Brian Leetch, the Detroit Red Wings' Chris Chelios -- were inspired by the 1980 team, Eruzione says. "We opened the door in '80, but these guys? They knocked it down."

The other major change is the growth in women's hockey. "Women's programs are jumping up all over," Eruzione says. One major reason: the gold medal Granato and her teammates brought home in 1998. In preparation for the Nagano Games, Eruzione practiced with the women's national team before they headed to Japan. He was most impressed with their attention to detail. "Men think they know everything," he says. "Women really want to listen and learn."

"It's an exciting time to be a female athlete," says Granato, who wears No. 21, the same number Eruzione wore. "There are just so many things going on," like the WNBA and the recognition female athletes now receive.

Growing up, Granato had to constantly prove herself. "Now girls don't have to 'try' to be athletes. Girls just are athletes," she says. "I feel so fortunate because we get an opportunity that wasn't there when I was growing up."

On the road to Salt Lake, her team overcame a big obstacle by beating their archrival, the Canadian team, in pre-Olympic competition last month. The U.S. and Canadian teams are both favored to be top contenders. On Feb. 12, when the U.S. women's team begins its gold medal defense vs. Germany, Eruzione will be watching from home, like Granato 22 years ago. "I'll be rooting for them," he says. "The big difference, of course, is that I won't be surprised if they actually win it all."

-- Mark Miller

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Eric Heiden on Apolo Anton Ohno

Apolo anton ohno (ah-PAHL-lo ANT-on OH-no) was not yet born when another American boy wonder, Eric Heiden, skated to Olympic glory at Lake Placid in 1980, winning an unprecedented (and unmatched) five gold medals. In fact, it would be more than a decade before short-track speed skating, in which Ohno is now ranked No. 1 in the world, would even become an Olympic event.

A generation later, Heiden, now 43 and an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist based at the University of California-Davis, is serving as the Olympic speed skating team's doctor. As Ohno prepares for Wednesday, the first of four races, Heiden's return to the Olympic rink will be in a new role, on the sidelines.

And he predicts Ohno will win gold in Salt Lake.

The question is, how many?

At 19, Ohno is the reigning World Cup champion. During December's Olympic trials, he crushed several American records and set a new world record in the 1,500 meters at 2:13.728. He won all but one race. This week, he'll be one of the favorites in four Salt Lake events: the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters, and the 5,000m relay. (Even at his best, he can garner four gold medals at most.)

The former world-class in-line skater's rapid success has been buoyed by his Gen-X appeal. He's not just a top athlete in an extreme sport (its fast speed and competitors' dangerously close blades draw comparisons to roller derby); his recent ads for Nike reveal he's also a first-class hottie.

He has a compelling personal story, too: Raised solely by his Japanese-born father, Yuki, Ohno clearly is an adoring son who makes no secret of his appreciation for his dad. "He supports me so much -- 100%," Ohno says. "I'm pretty lucky to have somebody like that who will support me all the way, no matter what."

Short-track speed skating differs sharply from the more elegant long-track speed skating. Short-track skaters race in tight packs, so there is a greater risk of injury due to crashes with one another.

Heiden will be there providing support. "I'm there not only as a physician but to help skaters. I've been there. I know what it takes, and I know what they're going through," he says.

For Ohno, speed skating may be just the start of a bigger career. Already a sex symbol, he's eager for the opportunities that come with Olympic success: "I'm pretty much open to [anything]."

But first, he has a job to do: win. "If I start getting distracted by other things, it's definitely not going to help," he says. "The No. 1 priority comes first -- going there 'cause I'm hungry and I want to win. I want to do well at the Olympics more than anything."

-- Bob Knotts

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Medal photo by H. Darr Beiser/USA TODAY