Springs' anti-Weir ready for nationals

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD THE GAZETTE

U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir likely will perform in one of his outlandish costumes at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this week in Spokane, Wash. It's possible he'll slip and a bizarre comment about spandex, self-tanning or his mother will come out of his mouth.

Ryan Bradley, 23, of the Broadmoor Skating Club, will be competing against Weir. The short and free programs for men and women are Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Bradley doesn't describe himself as "princessy" as Weir did at the 2006 Turin Olympics. The most bizarre thing about Bradley is the injuries he's been battling to get back to form.

The meniscus tear that Bradley suffered in his left knee in the summer of 2004 was normal enough. But during his rehabilitation, Bradley discovered recreation-league dodgeball.

That's how he broke his arm.

"As I was throwing, it just snapped. Spiral fracture all the way up the humerus," Bradley said. "It was horrible, the worst pain I ever felt in my life."

He nearly fainted that October day when he saw his arm bone jutting strangely out of place, but not quite breaking the skin.

"Every time I would move, I would see it poke, and that would gross me out," Bradley said.

Bradley, who finished second at this year's Midwestern sectionals, was off the ice for six months after he broke his arm. In April 2005, he returned to the Ice Hall at World Arena to resume training and, on the first day, broke his foot. He slipped on a jump and put his skate blade through his right foot.

With the three injuries, Bradley missed almost 10 months of training.

"You take a piece of steel and shove it that deep in, it gets infected and you can't really move," he said.

More than a year removed from the wince-worthy incidents, Bradley feels he has a fighting chance against Weir and Evan Lysacek, the other male favorite. Lysacek finished fourth in Turin.

After pushing themselves to excel at the Olympics, many of the top skaters are tired and recovering, Bradley said. It's an opportunity for a new person to grab the spotlight.

"It's really wide open," he said. "It's really motivated me to step my skating up and work on the finer points of skating that are really my weak points."

Jeremy Abbott, who took first place at the Midwestern sectionals, is another promising Colorado Springs skater.

Similarly, women's skating is lacking a dearth of superstars at nationals. Michelle Kwan is juggling school and her job as a U.S. diplomatic envoy. Sasha Cohen, who won a silver medal at the Turin Olympics, is taking a leave of absence to pursue an acting career. Cohen has said she will return for the 2009 World Championships and 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Their absence leaves an opportunity for 2006 world champion Kimmie Meissner, 17, and she's been pegged as the favorite. But that hasn't made any difference in her approach, Meissner said.

"Definitely this year, I'm under a little more pressure for everything but I've been trying to just focus on myself and my training," she said in a conference call. "I'm still going into nationals the same way, hoping to do well in the short and the long and give a really good performance that the audience enjoys and hopefully the judges do too."

Cheyenne Mountain High School freshman Rachael Flatt is competing as a senior for the first time after placing first at Midwestern sectionals. It's also her first time competing in a nationally televised event. While she's not nervous about skating, Flatt is preparing herself for the sort of media attention she's never witnessed.

"It's very different," Flatt said. "But it's so cool at the same time."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-4807 or soraya.mcdonald@gazette.com

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