UD skaters prepare for Olympic competition

Answering questions about nationals and the upcoming Olympics are, from left, Ron Ludington, director of the University of Delaware Ice Skating Science Development Center; skater Philip Dulebohn; coach Karl Kurtz; and skater Tiffany Scott.

Tiffany Scott brings everywhere the sewing project she has been working on the past three years as a gift for her grandmother.

“It’s been all around the world,” her skating coach Karl Kurtz said.

And, its next big trip will be to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, where Scott will compete for a gold medal with her pairs partner, Philip Dulebohn.

“I think it’s going to be so exciting,” Scott, a UD junior majoring in nutrition, said at a news conference Jan. 17. “I’m so proud to be on this team.”

The two earned their spot at the Olympics when they placed second at the U.S. Figure Skating Association championship pairs competition Jan. 11.

At the news conference, Dulebohn said a lot of the pressure is off now that the nationals are over, and he says he feels they can go in and really enjoy themselves at the Olympic games.

But, the pressure was on up until about a month ago when Dulebohn finally recovered from a pelvic bone injury that plagued him for four months.

“It was very distressing,” said the 29-year-old Maryland native. “It was definitely the hardest year I ever had to go through.

But, it makes everything more worth it.”

Scott said she was never discouraged by her partner’s injury and was supportive throughout his long recovery.

“I never stopped believing,” she said. “I never lost sight of my dream.”

Kurtz agreed, adding that she never, for one second, lost her faith, and the team’s biggest goal now is to stay healthy and work safely toward an Olympic medal.

Dulebohn said that working through his injury with the support of his partner of six years made him recognize how much of a team they really are.

YoUDee, recently selected the gold medal mascot in a national competition, cheers on University of Delaware Olympic figure skaters Philip Dulebohn and Tiffany Scott.

“It really made me realize that we’re very strong and can get anything done.”

The fully recovered Scott and Dulebohn will join their U.S. Olympic teammates, Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, on Feb 8. in Salt Lake City for the competition’s opening ceremonies. They will perform their short program the next night.

Joining Scott and Dulebohn at the Olympics will be three other teams who train at UD:

• Ilia Averbukh and Irina Lobacheva, who hold the 2001 World Championships Bronze Medal and will be representing Russia;

• Ruslan Goncharov & Elena Grushina, who will be representing the Ukraine; and

• Daniel & Eliane Hugentobler, who will be representing Switzerland.

Scott and Dulebohn will fly to Colorado Springs, Colo., on Jan. 20 to begin practicing in a higher altitude comparable to Salt Lake City.

The choreography of their long program, which they will perform on Feb. 11, will be based on one from last year, Scott said. “Hopefully, it’s just brought to a higher level.”

Kurtz said the pair’s routines have been a constantly changing work in progress that finally earned them a spot at the 2002 Olympics Games. “It all started with a bag of CDs and a trip to Lake Placid,” he said.

Scott and Dulebohn will be featured in the Olympic Send-Off Figure Skating Exhibition, scheduled at 2 and 5 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 26, in the Rust Ice Arena. Tickets are on sale at UD box offices.

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