Scott Davis has been what Todd Eldredge now is -- the hottest U.S. male figure skater.
Now, he wants the title back.
"I've always been a competitor, and I think the way Todd has been skating will push me to do my best," said Davis, 23. "I'm out there for that, to be the best skater I can be, to keep improving and to have fun."
Davis gets his chance at Eldredge, 23, this week at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the Providence (R.I.) Civic Center. Eldredge won the men's title in 1990 and 1991. Davis is the two-time defending champ.
Davis is seeking to become the first American to win three straight U.S. crowns since Brian Boitano took four in a row (1985 to 1988). He and Eldredge might be pushed by Michael Chack, Aren Nielsen and rapidly improving teen-ager Michael Weiss.
Michelle Kwan, 14, is favored to win the women's title.
Davis and Eldredge have been on the comeback trail, but Eldredge has been more competitively active. Eldredge's most impressive performance this season came at the U.S. Pro-Am in Philadelphia, where he beat Davis and Olympic champion Alexei Urmanov of Russia.
He hasn't had a bad outing since last year's nationals, when he came in fourth. Eldredge again is displaying that style of a brilliant jumper who routinely can toss off triple axels.
"I feel strong, able to do things that I couldn't do years ago because of injuries," said Eldredge. "But I've learned from it, and I also think it's helped me develop as a skater and as a person."
Eldredge was only 20 when he won a second title in 1991, but a year later, a back injury caused him to withdraw from the 1992 nationals. Eldredge was given a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, but was not in shape and finished 10th at the Albertville Games. He then finished seventh at the worlds.
The fall continued with a sixth-place finish at the 1993 nationals and a fourth place at last year's nationals. Just before that event, Eldredge came down with the flu and had to skate with a 104-degree temperature.
"I was skating so well going there," said Eldredge. "I was really looking forward to skating in Detroit and against Brian Boitano to see if I could measure up to his skating."
"Not making the U.S. team was the tough part," he said of missing the Lillehammer Olympics and subsequent world championships. "I was ready to show how far I had come back, but I never really could do it."
Davis hasn't returned to the form that helped him upset Boitano at last year's nationals. He bombed at Lillehammer, finishing eighth, and was seventh at the world championships. He has spent a lot of time refining his routine with more athletic moves that demonstrate his jumping skills.
The full routine now calls for eight triple jumps, including the most difficult combination, a triple axel-triple toe loop. Davis probably needs to hit all of them to keep his title.
Kwan placed second last year in the championships and should have little trouble out-skating Nicole Bobek, Tonia Kwiatkowski and the rest of a weak field.
Kwan burst onto the national scene on a scorching hot day in the summer of 1993 at the Olympic Festival in San Antonio. A crowd of 25,691 -- the largest ever to watch a figure skating event -- packed the Alamodome.
Out came a 4-foot-11, 77-pound girl who had turned 13 just 2 1/2 weeks before. Kwan seemed oblivious to the surroundings. She flawlessly performed six triple jumps, including two triple Lutzes and two triple toe loops -- one to open a jump combination -- a triple flip and a triple Salchow.
The crowd buzzed, and later gave Kwan a standing ovation.
A victory in Providence would be a major step toward fulfilling predictions that she will be the next American skating superstar, joining the likes of Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and Kristi Yamaguchi.
"She's earnest when she says she wants to compete for 10 years," coach Frank Carroll said of his pupil, who is now 5-2 and weighs 98 pounds. "Being so good so young, at 14, there are a lot of years left. So potentially, if luck is with us, she will be one of those greats."
Olympians Jenni Meno and Todd Sand are strong favorites in pairs, followed by Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen. In dance, defending champions Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow also are big favorites over former champions Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur.