world figure skating championship 98

�Kelly W

I was fortunate enough to attend all the competition events, as well as most practice sessions, when the 1998 Worlds were held in my hometown of Minneapolis. Here I will summarize some of Steven's highlights as I saw them.

Men's Free Skate Practice - Saturday, March 28

Jenny and I made our way down to some front row seats after meeting up with my friend Jamie at 10:00. The men were about to start at 10:30 a.m. with the same groups we saw at yesterday's practice session. 

Group 3 was up. I was sad that Steven was not to be found, even though his name was on the practice roster. The announcer said there was one minute left in the group warm up. Just then, Steven took off his skate guards and stepped on to the ice. Hail Mary, I said. My prayers had been answered! Jen thought, �Do I dare stay here and ruin my reputation, or do I stay here and put up with Kelly�s craziness?!� I grabbed the camera out of the bag so darn fast and proceeded to zoom in on Steven.

As he stepped on the ice and warmed up, the crowd cheered and applauded. I tell ya, we Minnesotans are NO dummies! The first few times Steven skated by us, Jen and I caught his attention. Jen yelled, �Yo Steven!� and he grinned. We clapped for him after a clean triple and again he smiled big. 

I must admit that I didn�t pay much attention to the other skaters in the first group. (sigh) Jen and I were too busy having fun with Steven � as Jamie just laughed at us and giggled. Before we knew it, it was his turn to skate his GWTW program to an appreciative audience. Let me tell ya, he was RIGHT ON with his jumps! He nailed every triple but one. He doubled the last triple axel but the rest of his jumps were clean and well executed. (wooh wooh wooh!) The crowd was really into it and by the end of the program we were all clapping along to the music and Steven was enjoying that, smiling big and having fun out there! He skated by us and Jen and I yelled, �They like you, they really like you!� He had the biggest grin on his face � gosh, is he adorable!! He is definitely one of the crowd favorites. (Gee, I wonder why.)

After this practice group, we decided to go outside and catch some fresh air and explore some of the booths around the arena before coming back to watch Todd Eldredge's group skate. We went outside to enjoy the sunshine and extremely mild spring weather. We stood on the corner out in front of Target Center and talked amongst ourselves. Minutes later, I saw Doug Leigh (Stojko�s coach and also Steven�s) standing right behind me. I turned around further and saw Steven standing there, digging through his bag to get something. (Jen later told me he took out pictures of himself and gave them to the two young kids who had approached him.) He stopped at the corner and I grabbed for him and said, in the most giddy voice ever (just ask Jen!), �Steeeeeeven!!� I did some funky thing with my hand and he smiled big and grabbed my hand to shake it. He also shook Jen�s hand and she told him what a great practice that was. Here�s me, �oh yeah, great practice!� <g> La La La La�La La Land, here comes Kelly. Some lady ran across the road ignoring the red light and Steven yelled out in his cute Brit accent, �Jaywalker!!�

Qualifying Rounds - Sunday, March 27

Qualifying rounds were new this year. It was like a special bonus for us, getting to see the long program twice. Before it was Steven's turn to skate, I had gone to buy a rose for him to give to him when he finished skating. The crowd really liked Steven. He's definitely a favorite here. (It's not difficult to figure out why!) When Steven finished his GWTW skate, he took his bows and then made his way down near the kiss and cry area. I stood up, front row, and held the rose out for him. Steven skated right over to me, took the rose, thanked me and planted a kiss on my cheek as the girls around me went crazy with yells and applause. It was then that I caught a wiff of that cologne. That did me in. Jen had to listen to me for the rest of the day. Jen, I love ya and I miss you.

Men�s Free Skate Practice

Group 2 consisted of Michael Shmerkin and Steven Cousins, among others. At the end of Shmerkin�s run-through, Steven wiped out and went sliding in a split position, laughing. When he stopped, he did two push-ups. I laughed so hard I thought I�d bust a gut once again. (Later, as we were leaving the practice session later, there were women commenting on how fun Steven is.)

When Michael finished skating, he came over to the boards and signed a bunch of autographs. This was a bit distracting during Steven�s run through to GWTW, but we were still able to watch after the little kiddies sat down. When Steven finished his program, he quickly got off the ice and the dueling zambonis resurfaced.

Steven made his way over to the section of autograph-seeking kiddies and I decided I wanted to talk to him and maybe get a picture taken with him ... share a Kodak moment. I barged my way through the herd of kids and down to Steven. �May we share a Kodak moment,� I asked, and he smiled, �Sure!� Jen took the picture and then I also asked him to pose for a picture. If I knew any better, I would not have wished him good luck tonight, because it seems like when I do that, whoever I wish good luck does terrible. All I remember after that was me saying something about getting robbed of his marks to which he agreed and rolled his eyes in the direction of the judges section. He made sure he signed autographs for all the fans before leaving.     

Men�s Free Skate - Thursday, April 2

It�s been two hours since the men�s event ended. All I can say tonight is �Wow!� I�ve been saying it once about every 30 minutes. It�s unbelievable�the energy at the Target Center tonight. What a competition. Todd was unbelievable. Unstoppable. Of course, it all started for me watching Steven Cousins skate his beautiful GWTW program. Sigh. I was nervous the whole way through and literally on the edge of my seat. The second he landed his final 3axel, the crowd went nuts and I jumped out of my seat, hopping up and down and wanting to scream (unfortunately, laryngitis has already set in). <g> I waved my sparkler (and Jen�s) like mad and couldn�t hold it in any longer. I cried happy tears. Never have I seen Steven skate such a wonderful free program and to be there live was out of this world. Just to be at the Worlds tonight in itself was overwhelming. The emotions. The energy. Incredible!! He may have received unfair marks from the judges, but I don't think Steven really cared. He had skated great and he knew it. It was amazing and I will never forget it. Way to go, Steven!

. . . in memory of Jenny Winkel