Skating Just For You

If you're crazy about Olympic figure skating but weren't able to score a trip to Salt Lake City next month, you still have an opportunity to check out an arena full of luminaries from that quadrennial exhibition. The 16th edition of "Stars on Ice" glides into Oakland tonight and San Jose on Sunday afternoon, featuring Tara Lipinski, Katarina Witt and the Bay Area's own Kristi Yamaguchi.

This being a Winter Games year, "Stars" -- conceived in 1986 by former Olympic champion Scott Hamilton and his manager after Hamilton's contract with the Ice Capades wasn't renewed -- is highlighting its troika of gold medal-winning ladies. They get more ice time than even cast mate Ilia Kulik, who, like Lipinski, is the most recent winner of the Olympic singles crown.

Rounding out the lineup are: world champ Kurt Browning; Olympic silver medalist Denis Petrov; world silver medalists Jenni Meno and Todd Sand; Olympic silver medalists Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov; British champion Steven Cousins; and Swiss champ Lucinda Ruh (in her first season with "Stars"; she's the only member who has not competed at the Olympics).

Yamaguchi, of course, claimed her gold medal 10 years ago in Albertville, France, a feat that brought her global renown and a string of lucrative product endorsements. She initially signed with Hoescht Celanese, maker of the fabric acetate. Now, at 30, she is spokeswoman for Heinz, Allstate, Bank of America and General Motors.

The Hayward native has been with the "Stars" team ever since Albertville, a relationship that is about to end.

"It gets harder after 10 years," she said two weeks ago, on the day the 2001-02 season kicked off in Baltimore. "It's harder on the body. It's harder to be on the road, especially with lifestyle changes. This will probably be my last year with 'Stars.' I'm ready for a break. I want to miss what I do and want to come back."

For Yamaguchi, who says she flashes back to her ultimate triumph "every once in a while, and especially during Olympic years," moving on probably means finally settling down and starting a family. She and Bret Hedican, a defenseman for the NHL's Florida Panthers, were married in 2000. They had met as fellow Olympians in 1992 but didn't start dating until 1996.

Yamaguchi owns homes in San Francisco and Reno, and her family lives here. But "since July, maybe I've been there a couple weeks total. A couple days here and there."

Not surprisingly, she calls the "Stars" San Jose date "usually my favorite stop on the tour. I love the arena, and I'm a huge Sharks fan." She also can count on her parents, plus all her uncles and cousins, showing up at Compaq to cheer her on.

There, as elsewhere, Yamaguchi will perform, in addition to several group numbers, two solo turns. " 'Gold,' by Linda Eder, is from a new Broadway musical," Yamaguchi says, "and 'Trust' by Janet Jackson is more dark and thrashy."

Does that mean the all-American image Yamaguchi has cultivated all these years -- remember the Annie Leibovitz-photographed milk-mustache ad she did for the National Milk Board? -- is getting a thrashing, too?

"No," she says quickly. "It's just good to reinvent yourself, and it's hard to do that after 10 years."

One thing hasn't changed, even after one Olympics, two world championships, one national championship, four world professional titles and almost 600 performances with "Stars on Ice." "I absolutely still get stage fright," she confesses. "It's a pretty humbling sport still."

Eight-time British national champion Steven Cousins may be humble off the ice -- at least about his talent -- but he's Mr. Showman otherwise.

"I have a real rapport with the audience," says the 29-year-old, who was born in Chester, England. "I enjoy what I do so much that it rubs off on the crowds."

The first Briton to land the tough triple axel in competition, Cousins is in his fourth season with "Stars," but he's still got the energy and enthusiasm of a wide-eyed rookie. "It's such a challenge every day," he says, "but it's a total privilege. It's up to me to be a performer, not a competitor. I knew I'd never be an Olympic medalist. Some people are built for the critics, some for the masses. I'm built for the audience."

Cousins, whose Tom Cruise-like looks contribute to his fan appeal, has a Bay Area connection. Not long after the 1992 Olympics, where he finished 12th, he decided to train here for a while. His hosts were the family of Kristi Yamaguchi in Fremont. "I absolutely loved it," he recalls. "When things wind down in my career, I'll probably spend more time there."

Meanwhile, home is Barrie, Ont., when he isn't on the road. Despite the taxing routine of skating in a different city nearly every night from now until April 20, Cousins tries to keep grounded. "The only time it's all-consuming is on the ice," he says. Otherwise, "I watch the news, read the newspapers, figure out what's up in the world."

He says his parents "were always saying, 'Life comes first; skating comes second.' They brought me up to believe it's about the process, not about the medals. If you have to sacrifice yourself for a medal, how happy will you be?"

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Target Stars on Ice
Annual ice extravaganza featuring former Olympic champions

Where: Compaq Center at San Jose, 525 W. Santa Clara St.

When: 4 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: $35-$58

Call: (408) 998-TIXS, (415) 421-TIXS and (510) 625-TIXS. Or visit www.ticketmaster.com; information: www.starsonice.com