NBA M Col. US Open W Col. More Sports Baseball-min. Last month women's champion, American Michelle Kwan, was defeated by Russian Irina Slutskaya at the Grand Prix Final. At the European championships in January, French ice dancers Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat lost their title to Italy's Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, while Russian world champion pair Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov could only manage fourth in their event.
Nothing is in stone.
Other years, it has been predictable. Despite Yagudin's recent poor run, his coach, Tatiana Tarasova, said he was physically and mentally back in form. He's working very hard and very well. As an added incentive, the championship results will determine how many entries each country is awarded for the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Likely The pairs event also begins on Monday with 24 couples skating their short programmes, worth 30 per cent.