Is the height of summer really a good time to hold an elite-level figure skating competition like the Goodwill Games?

Judging by the overall quality of the skating at last week's event, the answer is no. With the exception of a handful of standout performances -- mostly in the men's free skate -- the skaters tripped, stumbled, flopped, popped, and waxeled their way through their routines, one after another.

According to

An overly demanding competitive schedule might have contributed to Olympic gold medalist Ilia Kulik's back problems. (Allsport)

the calendar, the Goodwill Games were the first senior international event of the 1998-1999 season. But, in truth, for most of the skaters, this competition marked the end of a very long and stressful Olympic year rather than the beginning of a new one.

CONSIDER MICHELLE KWAN'S SCHEDULE, for example. Since the World Championships in early April, Kwan has spent more than three months on a national tour. In addition, she has somehow managed to squeeze in two pro-am events, the filming of a TV special that required her to learn new programs and choreography and a performance in her home training rink's annual show. She has also found time to attend honors functions at the White House and the United States Figure Skating Association's annual governing council meeting.

In speaking of her upcoming vacation plans, Kwan's relief and anticipation were obvious: If she could just make it through one more event, she would finally be able to relax for a little while.

A dozen years ago, this sort of summer schedule would have been unheard of for a competitive skater. The post-Worlds tour lasted only a few weeks in the spring rather than stretching for months into the middle of summer. The summer was a time for mental rest from the demands of competition and public performance. It offered a chance to pursue cross-training activities and work on new choreography and technical elements before building back up to focused training of competitive programs in the fall.

The demands on the top skaters' time during the main part of the competition season have increased, as well. Before the television skating boom began in 1994, it was typical for skaters to compete in only one or two international events in the fall, plus nationals and World Championships. Now that has increased to three or four ordinary international competitions and an additional three or four pro-am or similar made-for-TV competitions. On top of all that, some skaters also tour or appear in TV specials during the fall and winter.

Despite this already hectic schedule, the International Skating Union this year is starting a new series of up to nine pro-am competitions while adding a new regular competition called the Four Continents Championships, which is the equivalent of the European Championships for skaters from non-European countries.

How much is too much?

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF concerns here. Foremost is the additional risk of injury to skaters who must now pound away at triple and quadruple jumps year-round. Already there have been an alarming number of repetitive stress injuries among top skaters. In the past year, for example, both Olympic men's champion Ilia Kulik and dance silver medalist Angelika Krylova spent part of the season sidelined with back trouble, while Kwan was forced to spend several weeks off the ice while recovering from a stress fracture in her foot.

Overtraining triple and quadruple jumps probably also contributed to the groin injuries that have kept both Alexei Urmanov and Elvis Stojko off the ice for many months.

Mental burnout

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is another very real problem for skaters. The pressures of competition are enormous: Years of preparation and training are reduced to just a few minutes in front of the judges and huge TV audiences -- minutes that can make or break a skater's career. Spectators might be misled by polished smiles for the TV cameras. When one competitor after another dissolves into hysterics and uncontrolled tears after concluding their programs at the Olympic Games, it gives a hint as to the depth of mental and emotional exhaustion behind the smiles.

In addition to problems caused by the longer season, the sheer number of events being crammed into it causes practical difficulties for the skaters.

The ISU, for example, has provisionally scheduled the 2000 Four Continents Championship in Japan for the week immediately before the U.S. Championships -- the one annual event American skaters typically consider the most difficult and exacting. It's hard to see how any skater could be at his or her peak level of performance immediately after another competition halfway around the world, particularly with all the attendant problems related to jet lag and disruption of their normal training regimen.

MEANWHILE, IT IS BECOMING MORE difficult for skaters to pick and choose their competitive events.

In the past, some skaters might have been informally pressured into participating in events, such as pro-ams, out of fear of reprisals from the ISU or USFSA. But now, the ISU Congress has adopted regulations that explicitly require skaters placing in the top 10 at Worlds to give top priority to participation in events subject to ISU television and commercial contracts. Failure to fulfill such commitments has been branded "improper conduct" and is subject to sanctions such as exclusion from other ISU events.

Given these new regulations, we can only infer that the ISU has become more interested in making money than in doing what's good for the skaters.