Friday, Aug. 2, 2002 | 8:59 a.m.
When Timothy Goebel skates onto the ice, the audience gets a little crazy.
By now the 21-year-old Olympic bronze medalist from Rolling Meadows, Ill., has become wildly popular with ice-skating fans.
Not only was Goebel the first American male to win an Olympic figure skating medal since 1992, he also made history by being the first skater to perform a quadruple salchow jump (four in-air turns) in Olympic competition.
On Saturday, fans will be watching Goebel and other figure-skating favorites in a more relaxed environment when they perform in the "John Hancock Champions On Ice 2002 Olympic Tour" at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The roughly two-hour production, is an exhibition of past and present world champions and Olympic medalists. Skaters perform to songs by the Rolling Stones, Ella Fitzgerald, Enigma and the Village People, among others.
Away from the stress of competition, the tour gives skaters a chance to let loose and show a less intense side of themselves, organizers say.
"It's a lot different from competitions in many ways," Goebel said from his hotel room in Seattle, where the skaters are nearing the final leg of the 85-city tour that began April 3 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
"First of all, we're not skating for any judges, we don't have that pressure," Goebel said. "There are no required elements. We can take a lot more artistic liberty and have some fun, which is fun for the crowd.
"It's a different atmosphere. We can really take a piece of music and have fun with it."
Saturday's lineup includes 2002 Olympic medalists Michelle Kwan, Irina Slutskaya, Alexei Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko, among others. Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes has appeared on the tour, but due to prior engagements will not be performing in Las Vegas.
Goebel will perform to Paul McCartney's recent song "Freedom." The show opens and closes with numbers that include all the skaters.
"I think we have 27 Olympic medals on the ice at one time," Brian M. Clavano, performance director for "Champions On Ice," said. "It's overwhelming.
Referring to the skaters, Clavano said, "They're still somewhat competitive. If so-and-so landed one extra jump in a performance one night you know the next one is going to try and do that."
But for the most part, he added, "They're really out just to show their fun and creative side."
And in the wake of the 2002 Winter Olympics held in the United States for the first time since 1980, audiences have been enthusiastic, Clavano said.
"Interest is at its all-time peak," he said. "We've been playing at packed houses around the country."
Crowds have really been showing their support for Michelle Kwan, an Olympic favorite who lost her chance for gold at the 2002 Olympics.
"It's goose bumps," Clavano said. "The roar from the crowd is just deafening."
Goebel, who was recently named one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in figure skating for the 2001-02 season by International Figure Skating Magazine and selected as one of the 20 sexiest men in sports by Sports Illustrated for Women, said that he's getting more attention from audiences on the tour than he did last year.
"A lot more people know who I am," he said. "It's been a lot of fun to get out there."
Performing with athletes he's competed against adds to the appeal of the tour, Goebel said.
"The tour gives us a chance to get to know each other and to become friends," he said.
Goebel said he hopes to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Winning a medal at his first Olympic appearance was not something he expected.
"It was really a great surprise for me to get out there and perform so well and come away with a medal," Goebel said. "That really was my dream since a kid. It was awesome."
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