SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Skating
SLAM! Stojko
COLUMNS
REVIEW
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
No reigning Olympic or world champs competing
Dmitriev was unable to skate Tuesday night because of food poisoning from a restaurant meal of raw fish Monday, and he and Russian partner Oksana Kazakova withdrew from the pairs event.
The 1998 worlds were left without a reigning Olympic or world champion before the opening ceremonies.
Dmitriev and Kazakova won pairs gold at the Olympics in Nagano, Japan, in February.
Compatriots Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov, the reigning world champions in ice dance, won gold in Nagano, too. The withdrew from this meet after Grishuk discovered that a bothersome hand injury was a broken bone.
Elvis Stojko of Richmond Hill, Ont., who suffered a groin injury in winning Olympic silver, couldn't recover in time to defend his world men's singles title.
Olympic champion Ilia Kulik of Russia backed out, citing a back injury.
The 1997 world pairs champions, Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Stueur of Germany, withdrew. Stueur claimed a nagging shoulder injury was too much.
Olympic and defending world champion Tara Lipinski of the United States pulled out, blaming an infected gum and fatigue.
The list goes on and on.
Olympic bronze medallists Philippe Candeloro of France and Lu Chen of China kissed off these worlds by turning pro. Surya Bonaly of France took a pass, too, when she turned pro.
If that wasn't enough, Americans Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen dropped out of the pairs event after Ina accidently bashed Dungjen in the head with her elbow during practice Monday. A hospital X-ray revealed a damaged facial bone.