Latest Champions on Ice skate into Denver April 21

DENVER - About five months ago, skater Rudy Galindo sat in a hospital bed after his second hip-replacement surgery.

Now he's landing his triple jumps and touring with Champions on Ice.

"There was one point when you look at your legs and you can't move them and you say, 'Oh my god, my career is over,'" Galindo said in a telephone interview.

For two years, he skated with a painful, cracked femoral ball.

In the summer of 2002, doctors diagnosed him with Avascular Necrosis, a degenerative disease that causes bone death from lack of circulation. This came two years after his diagnosis of HIV.

While some people would have quit skating competitively, Galindo said from his hospital bed, "I will return to the ice stronger and better than I've ever been."

That's par for the course for Galindo.

He didn't give up when his pairs skating partner, Kristi Yamaguchi, decided to compete solo after the pair had won three U.S. Championships and were poised to go even further.

Five weeks after his second surgery, which replaced his left hip with the same revolutionary ceramic-on-ceramic joint in his right hip, he returned to the ice to practice crossovers and half-rotation jumps.

He set a goal to land his triples before the new year, and he did.

Next year, he plans to land a triple axel in competition.

"Life has thrown me challenges all the time, but I've (adopted the attitude) that 'I'm going to dodge this dart and go on,'" Galindo said.

"I just didn't want to sit around. I just love skating so much. I'm not going to let this get me down."

Galindo joins a cast of more than 20 figure skating champions at the John Hancock Champions on Ice show Wednesday, April 21, at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

"It's one of the best shows," Galindo said about the current 18-city tour. "We have the most talented skaters right now."

One of those skaters is Michelle Kwan. After winning 42 championships and earning a record 44 perfect marks of 6.0, she is the most decorated figure skater in the nation's history.

The show includes three-time silver medalist Sasha Cohen, world champion and Olympic silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko, Olympic bronze medalist and national champion Timothy Goebel and Olympic champion Victor Petrenko.

Cohen, remembered for her boldness when she handed President Bush her cell phone at the opening ceremonies in Salt Lake, displays her maturing skating.

She has landed quadruple jumps in practices - one of the first women in the world to do so.

Another fiery skater, Surya Bonaly, is the only woman courageous enough to perform backflips and the only skater to land them on one foot.

Goebel holds the most records for landing quadruple jumps and combination jumps in competition.

The show introduces technically-precise national champion Johnny Weir and ice dancing champions Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto.

Pairs team Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China will make their first appearance at Champions on Ice after winning the last two world titles.

Champions from previous Olympic and World competitions will join the latest medalists.

Petrenko, once dubbed "the Baryshnikov of Ice" shows, his versatility and intense humor.

Nicole Bobek fills the stadium with her charismatic personality, while Galindo has amused crowds with outlandish disco steps to music by the Village People, as well as artistic, lyrical routines.

Elvis Stojko, one of the first men to master the quadruple jump, takes over the ice with hard-charging, agile and powerful performances.

And Philippe Candeloro, who's been known to lose a few clothes on the ice, has a following any rock star would envy because of his commanding presence and charming character mpressions, from Rocky to the three Musketeers.

Tickets, starting at $39, may be purchased at the Pepsi Center Box Office, online at www.championsonice.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (303) 830-8497.

Kimberly Nicoletti can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 245.

, or by e-mail at knicoletti@summitdaily.com.