[Isabelle Brasseur] and [Lloyd Eisler]'s signature move has the familiar look of a star lift -- the woman flattening out and approximating the shape of a star -- until you notice that Eisler's holding Brasseur aloft with one arm and not two.

The pairs competition in these Olympics, which begins tonight with the short program, is supposed to be yet another test of Eisler's ability to handle disappointment. In the last three Winter Games, with Katherina Matouskek as a partner 1984 and with Brasseur thereafter, Eisler's finished eighth, ninth and third.

15. Jenni Meno-Todd Sand (USA): 16. Yelena Berezhnaia-Oleg Shliachov (Latvia); 17. Mandy Wenzel-Ingo Steuer (Germany); 18. Isabelle Brasseur- Lloyd Eisler (Canada).