Mite Makes Right

Ito's victory is a breakthrough in skating not only because of her amazing ability but also because she lacks the glamour of a Witt or a Trenary. As small as Ito is, she looks chunky. Now that she rules the sport, her appearance in itself may help turn figure skating away from its preoccupation with looks, clothes, music and sequins, and toward more athleticism. Still, Ito can't help remarking, "I envy American and European girls because they are so tall."

Worse news for Trenary and for Ito's other challengers is the move away from compulsory figures. At Paris, they counted for only 20% of a skater's overall score; in previous years they were worth 30%. The compulsories were the only weak part of Ito's performance, and she finished sixth in them on Thursday. For Trenary, the compulsories have often been a strength; she was second behind Leistner.

Ito's brilliant week coupled with Trenary's own lackluster showing could push the American out of figure skating long before the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. Trenary said she now will have to decide "what will make Jill happy."

Before the worlds, Trenary's father, Bob, said either a winning performance (which presumably would attract big money from the ice shows) or a poor showing might prompt his daughter's retirement from amateur competition. "One's role as a parent," he said, "is to be able to tell your child that they don't have it anymore, that it's time to cut and run. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't allow Jill to follow this course in her life. She has missed growing up."

The world championships weren't much more encouraging for the U.S. men's champion, Chris Bowman of Los Angeles, who came to town expecting to win and ended up finishing second to Canada's Kurt Browning. Bowman, 21, has a reputation for not practicing enough; afterward, he reluctantly admitted that he will have to work much more diligently.

Like Trenary, Bowman had to follow the eventual winner in the final free skate. And. like Ito, the 22-year-old Browning slammed the door shut by successfully completing a monster jump, in this case a quad (four revolutions). If Bowman can focus his huge talent, he and Browning could have several interesting confrontations in the future.

Four years ago Ito broke her leg attempting a quad, which most observers have considered impossible for a woman to complete. But this is a skater who does the impossible. Seeing her up on the victory stand, bowing, shedding a tear, reinforced the notion that nobody will be confronting Midori Ito for a while.