UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 7, Page 1
October 12, 1995
Olympians to perform in Blue Ice Arena on Oct. 22

     "Olympians-Past, Present and Future" is the theme of an ice
skating show with Olympic gold medalists, scheduled for 4 p.m.,
Sunday, Oct. 22, in the Blue Ice Arena.
     Sponsored by the UD Ice Skating Science Development Center and
Aetna Health Plans, the show will feature the 1980 Olympic Ice Dance
Champions Natalia Linitchuk and Gennadiy Karponossov, who have not
performed publicly together since the Calgary games in 1988; 1994
Olympic Ice Dance Champions Oksana Gritschuk and Yvgeny Platov; and
skaters currently training at the University who show the potential
for becoming future Olympians, including Tara Lipinski.
     Linitchuk and Karponossov joined the University's Ice Skating
Science Development Center in 1994, bringing with them numerous of
their Olympic, world and national champion skaters from all over the
globe, including the Ukraine, Switzerland, Japan, Italy and the United
States.
     In addition to the 1980 Olympic Gold Medal, they have won
European and World Championships and were national champion ice
dancers in the Soviet Union for four years. Among the skaters they
have coached are Oksana Gritschuk and Evgeny Platov.
     Gritschuk and Platov, who have trained at UD since 1994, have
been skating together for six years under Linitchuk's tutelage.
Gritschuk began skating at the age of 5 and was a junior champion.
Platov, also a junior champion, began skating when he was 9 years old.
In 1989, the team placed fifth in the World Championships, moving up
through the ranks to become gold medalists at the 1994 Olympics in
Lillehamer, Norway.
     Among the other skaters featured in the show will be Tara
Lipinski, the UD figure skater who has won top honors in national and
international competitions and has attracted the attention of the
media around the world.
     Directed by Ron Ludington, himself an Olympic medalist, the
University of Delaware Ice Skating Science Development Center is a
complete training center integrating all of the science and training
components in a single site. The program concentrates on three areas:
development and training of competitive figure skaters; training and
education of coaches; and research directed toward the advancement of
knowledge of figure skating mechanics, physiology and equipment
development.
     Admission to the show is $12 for adults and $8 for children, and
patron seating, which includes a reserved seat for the show and a
reception with the skaters immediately afterward, is available for
$25. Patron seating is limited and must be purchased in advance.
Tickets are now on sale at the Bob Carpenter Center and Perkins
Student Center box offices and the ice arena.
     Call the ice arena at 831-2868.