Figure Skating

OTTAWA - Olympic silver medalist Elizabeth Manley said she is ready to pass the torch to Skate Canada champion Joannie Rochette.

After 20 years of Canadian women failing to make the podium at a world championship, it is about time.

Rochette thinks she is the one to do it. The 22-year-old skater from Île-Dupas, Que., also believes she can win a medal at the world championship at Los Angeles in March. "For the first time, I have the confidence, the faith, the assurance and perhaps maturity to say that I want to land on the podium [in Los Angeles] since I believe I have the skills to do it," she wrote on her website before Skate Canada.

Manley can see it coming, too. Rochette won the women's event at Skate Canada with a Canadian record score of 188.89 points, about 25 points more than silver medalist Fumie Suguri of Japan. During Rochette's free skate on Saturday, Manley was rendered speechless and could not make comment as she watched. It's not easy to render Manley speechless.

Rochette held the crowd spellbound with her performance to Concierto de Aranjuez, a piece of music that has been used by many skaters.

But Rochette is now making it her own, and as soon as she finished, the crowd rose as one and gave her a long, noisy standing ovation.

The new Rochette is a curious blend of coolness and warmth, of power and femininity, of athleticism and artistry.

"It was breathtaking," Manley said after the event was over.

"It's been a long time," she added. "It's been an honour that I'm still the last [Canadian] girl to win a medal. Every year, it's still there. But I'd be honoured to pass the torch to her."

Manley and Rochette saw each other immediately after the performance. Manley said they both burst into tears.

"I feel good about Joannie, and we've have built this little relationship," Manley said. "I've spent some time with her. She keeps talking to me. She is feeding off me a little. If I can be a help to her in any way, I'm all over her. I really feel it."

She told Rochette: "This is your year. It's your time."

Manley, whose performance stepped up a notch at the Calgary Olympics in 1988 when she landed jump after jump with great speed, said whenever Rochette approached a jump, she had total confidence that she could do it.

Manley said Rochette reminded her a little of Michelle Kwan, who usually emitted total confidence when she skated.

Manley noted that Rochette was brave enough to wear a teal costume for a Spanish number when other skaters tend to wear red.

"It was saying: 'Look at me.' It was bold. That's what it takes to win," Manley said.

Rochette said she started to believe she was a contender before last year's Four Continents and the world championships, where she placed fifth. It has made all the difference.

She admitted that she sacrificed the past two seasons to gain confidence about doing a triple-triple combination, which is necessary to be a competitor at the top levels. On Saturday, Rochette did not manage the triple-triple that was so confidently landed in practices, but it also means there's room for her to improve on what she did at Skate Canada.

Debbi Wilkes, former skater, commentator, and now director of marketing and communications for Skate Canada, said she left behind her analytical bent when Rochette skated. "I realized I felt like a bead on her costume and she was taking me on an adventure. I don't remember thinking that wasn't very good or that was beautiful. I just remember feeling blanketed by this experience.

"Those moments in skating don't come along very often," Wilkes said. She said it was as if the crowd was in a "magic bubble" and you could hear a pin drop when Rochette skated.

Yesterday, in practice for exhibitions, Rochette again made the spectators silent, and received applause.

"Thank god she's finally put everything together," said Ann Shaw, Canada's ice dancing guru. "I've seen her not have perfect programs all these years, and now it's good to see her nail it. She's been undervalued by so many people. But she's got it all. I think she's a new skater. She has an air of confidence about her."