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RODNINA CONFIRMS SOVIET STEROID USE

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Irina Rodnina of the Soviet Union, the greatest pairs skater in history, said Wednesday she was not surprised by the positive drug test involving Soviet ice dancer Marina Klimova after she won the recent European

Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

While almost everyone else in the sport has expressed shock and disbelief about Klimova`s apparent use of steroids, Rodnina said steroid use among Soviet figure skaters was endorsed by the country`s highest sports

authorities.

''For me, this is no surprise,'' said Rodnina, winner of three Olympic gold medals and 10 world championships from 1969 to 1980. ''I was with the national team for many years, and I know what goes on.

''But I don`t understand a dancer doing this. Boys in pairs and singles used drugs, but this was only in August or September. This was done just in training, and everyone was tested (in the Soviet Union) before competitions.'' Questions about accuracy of the Bulgarian lab that did the test and possible sabotage are being raised because it is so rare for figure skaters to be found guilty of drug use. The sport`s only other doping case involved a French junior ice dancer found positive for a weight-loss drug in 1982.

Rodnina, who spoke after watching the pairs competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships here, said she knew of the use of performance-enhancing drugs in figure skating dating back to the early 1970s.

The International Skating Union has confirmed the analysis of Klimova`s

''A'' sample by a lab in Sofia revealed an elevated testosterone/

epitestosterone ratio, which suggests the addition of testosterone not naturally produced by the body.

The result must be confirmed by analysis of the ''B'' sample. It will be done at the lab in Cologne, Germany, which is accredited by the International Olympic Committee. The Sofia lab is not accredited.

If the ''B'' sample is also positive, Klimova and partner Sergei Ponomarenko, the reigning world champions, would be suspended two years. That would knock them out of both the upcoming world championships and the 1992 Olympics.

- In Wednesday`s opening of pairs competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, an erratic set of performances in the original program produced an unexpected set of leaders.

The first-place team, Natasha Kuchiki and Todd Sand of Los Angeles, is no surprise, since the two were second to Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudi Galindo last year. The champions are not defending their title because Yamaguchi chose to concentrate on singles.

But the second and third finishers were both relative unknowns who have been paired only this season.

Second were Karen Courtland of Whippany, N.J., and Jason Dungjen of Troy, Mich. Behind them were Jenni Meno of Westlake, Ohio and Scott Wendlund of Costa Mesa, Ca.

Sharon Carz of Skokie and Doug Williams of Los Angeles, third in the 1990 nationals, struggled to fifth after Carz fell on a jump. Calla Urbanski of Chicago and Rocky Marvel of New Jersey were fourth.

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