Ice Skating

When Peggy Fleming left competitive skating after she won a gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, her options seemed to be limited to teaching or performing in the Ice Follies. Sonja Henie made the transition to movies in the 1940s, but Fleming didn't see a "Sun Valley Serenade" (which starred Henie) in her future. Fleming figured her career on ice would last until another champion was crowned at the next Olympics.

Insulated from the cold by thick-soled boots and a parkathat swallows him in its folds, John Nicks is a still and stolid figure in a tableau of bright and darting colors at the Ice Capades Chalet skating rink. As Nicks watches from a corner, U.S. men's figure skating champion Christopher Bowman flashes across the ice and soars toward the ceiling in an explosion of power. A few feet away, Jenni Meno and Scott Wendland, who were second in the pairs event at last month's U.S.

In the year since the 1992 U.S. figure skating championships, here are some of the questions with which followers of the pairs competition have been titillated: Will Calla dump Rocky the trucker? Are Jenni and Todd skating cheek to cheek on and off the ice? If so, can Natasha find happiness with Rocky? And what will become of Scott? Soap opera fans, do we have a sport for you.

By the time they get on the ice during the Olympics, they usually look like a match made in heaven. They glide and flow. They toe loop and double axel as one. It's a union of majesty and magic. Even a casual observer, who has never even strapped on a skate, figures it must take a lot of hard work to make anything look that easy. But success in pairs figure skating requires a good bit of luck, too. With desire, discipline and direction, a talented solo skater can push the edge of potential.

Sitting in a circle with her University of Denver classmates before her final exam in international studies, immersed in analyzing turmoil in Iraq and North Korea, Michelle Kwan discovered something about herself that a lifetime of figure skating hadn't taught her. "We were talking about a certain issue and somebody would jump in and then somebody else would jump in, and it was very interesting, very stimulating," she said.

It was nearly midnight Thursday, the day of triumph running into the day after, and both Kim Yuna and Brian Orser already were looking at the days ahead. The skater and her coach were in a car going from post-competition doping control to a news conference that would be aired live in South Korea, where half the country's 48 million people already had watched TV broadcasts of their national hero becoming their first Olympic figure skating champion. During the 20-minute ride, Kim and Orser could have sat back and looked at the gold medal she won three hours earlier with a performance of record-breaking, mind-boggling quality.

Shortly after the figure skating team of Irina Korina and Viktor Yelchin finished their first rehearsal for this holiday's edition of Knott's Berry Farm's "Festival on Ice," Korina had a question about a routine set to "Silent Night." "We have heard this music before," she said. "What is it?" Their ignorance of what is perhaps the world's best-known Christmas carol may be partly due to the fact that the couple is Jewish.

American television viewers saw their 1991 national women's figure skating champion Tonya Harding fall at least five times during her performance Wednesday at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

This year, a number of skating shows are coming to the Southland, including: * Fifth annual "Star Spangled Ice" show, July 6 at 8 p.m. Starring and choreographed by 1980 Olympic champ Robin Cousins, with national amateur competitors and guest stars. At the Blue Jay Ice Castle rink near Lake Arrowhead. Benefits the Foundation for International Ice Skating Advancement. Tickets: $175 for rink-side seating, cocktail reception and gala dinner; $30 for reserved seating; $25 general admission.