Skater's Nagano hopes hinge on weekend result

Friday, October 24, 1997
By Beverley Smith
Sport Reporter

DETROIT -- For Jayson Dénommée, the Skate America International competition this week is almost too crucial to think about.

"Too important," Dénommée, 20, of Asbestos, Que., said after his first practice on the ice at Joe Louis Arena.

Dénommée is well aware that he must finish in the top six in the men's event this week to qualify under Canadian Olympic Association standards for a crack at the Nagano Olympics in February.

Under International Skating Union rules, Canada earned three men's berths for the Japan Games because Elvis Stojko of Richmond Hill, Ont., won the gold medal at the world figure-skating championship last March and Jeffrey Langdon of Barrie, Ont., finished ninth.

But skaters -- as well as other athletes -- must deal with the national Olympic criteria to get the Nagano ticket. Both Stojko and Langdon have qualified under COA standards. But no other Canadian male has yet qualified for that third spot.

Dénommée is half-qualified because he finished in the top six at another major international competition last year. He needs only one more top-six finish, and Skate America is his only major international assignment this year.

Dénommée is thankful for the chance to skate here because he fumbled at the Canadian championship last year and finished ninth, too far down the list to make the national team. Only skaters on the national team get international assignments. "But [the Canadian Figure Skating Association] believed in me," he said.

Dénommée, a gregarious, fresh-faced youth with flair on the ice -- he comes from the same stable as Sébastien Britten, the Canadian king of artistry -- is seen as one of Canada's up-and-coming male skating stars. He has natural talent; he landed the first triple loop he ever tried and he landed the difficult triple Axel in only his third attempt one day when he was "just goofing around."

Dénommée is used to doing things with ease. Sometimes that works against him. There is almost an impatience about him. "I don't like to work for long periods on things," he said.

But last summer, Dénommée crashed. He almost quit. The pressures of the skating world were too much to bear. He had been the junior silver medalist in 1996, and last year, his first year as a senior, his own expectations were high. He started the season strongly, then everything spiralled out of control at the end.

"The last half was totally awful," he said. "It was a major concern. I wondered if I was going to be able to do it or not, or was I always going to look like I was a junior. It didn't stick well with me. I had never felt like that before."

While he and coach Josee Normand tried to sort it all out, Dénommée took two months off from skating last summer. "I felt like my brain was about to explode," he said.

For the first time in about 12 years, he went on a holiday with his parents. Some things die hard, though; he took his skates with him, even though the vacation was in Florida. When he returned, however, Dénommée decided that he wanted to be the best in his sport. He said his ultimate goal is to be world champion, just like his idol, Kurt Browning. He also likes Scott Hamilton, Brian Orser, and former German skater Daniel Weiss, known for his entertaining programs.

"But it's hard to make a statement when you're still learning," Dénommée said. Because he missed so much training time in the summer, he's had to put his work on quadruple jumps aside. (He said he's landed three, and even lists a quadruple Lutz as being a possibility.) He has spent most of his time developing a mature look.

"Last year, I could do the jumps," he said. "But I didn't feel comfortable on the ice. Being senior is the most important thing. It's not just a matter of doing things, but looking great doing things."

Last year he sometimes just tried too hard, he said. He would try to unleash a huge triple Axel to impress the judges, but he would actually over-rotate it. All this, he had to sort out in his mind.

With new resolve, Dénommée has decided it isn't enough any more to skate just for fun. He wants more. The trick, he said, is to build his confidence.

It hasn't been all that easy. Dénommée has had to fight not only the gremlins of his mind, but a chronic case of asthma that has plagued him during the past two months. He has struggled to get it under control, using medications that keep his bronichial passageways open.

He is also allergic to dust and cats. He won't find many cats at the rink, but he admits he owns one.

The past two days Dénommée has been coughing a lot. He's been under some stress; he just returned from a competition in Vienna, where he finished fifth. The high altitude caused his feet to swell so much that he found it difficult to put his skates on. He arrived from Quebec on Wednesday only an hour before his practice, tired from European jet lag.

"But now things are going well," he said after landing a triple Axel-double toe loop in practice. "I'm surprised that I was even able to skate today. But I feel like I really want to do this," he said. "I really want to be the best. I'm going to give it all I've got. I always wanted this to happen. I never planned on it happening so soon. I really have to do this [qualify for the Olympics]. It feels to me, that if I don't do this, it will be over for good."

Dénommée is in against some tough competition, skaters with a reputation, such as 1996 world champion Todd Eldredge of the United States, 1994 world bronze medalist Viacheslav Zagorodniuk of Ukraine, two-time U.S. champion Scott Davis and world junior champion Evgeny Plushenko of Russia.

Making things harder, Dénommée has chosen to skate to music from the movie Gettysburg . And Eldredge, who skated to the number in 1995, has resurrected it, although the actual cuts he's using are 70- to 75-per-cent new. It will be a tough act to follow.