land, I realized I needed to be se-
rious about my decision."
In Boston, the pair practiced
for a few days and decided they
had the right chemistry to skate
successfully together.
Mr. Gates, who lives in the
Chaloms' Beverly Hills, Mich.,
home, has been embraced as one
of the family. "She's my little sis-
ter," Mr. Gates said about Ms.
Chalom. "We are always to-
gether, and we actually get
along better than most brothers
and sisters do." Ms. Chalom also
has an older brother who at-
tends Yale and plans to become
a rabbi.
Together, Ms. Chalom and
Mr. Gates would like to make
the U.S. Olympic team, but be-
cause Mr. Gates is not an Amer-
ican citizen, he cannot skate in
the 1998 Winter Games in
Nagano, Japan.
"As dance teams go, we're
young and we have time," Mr.
Gates said. "Look at Torvill and
Dean — they're in their 30s."
Unlike Ms. Chalom, who first
laced up skates at the age of 8,
Mr. Hollander tried ©n a pair at
the tender age of 4.
As a toddler, he went with his
sister's Brownie troop to a roller
skating rink and loved the feel-
ing of gliding across the floor.
His mother encouraged him to
try ice skating instead because
there was an ice rink close to
home.
Figure skating won out over
playing hockey because of a
hockey commercial.
"I remember seeing this
mean, ugly guy on TV who had
no teeth and thinking, `Man, if
I played hockey I'd be so ugly no
one would marry me,' " said Mr.
Hollander, a Berkley High
School graduate.
That commercial, and Mr.
Hollander's decision to devote
himself to skating, led the 5-foot-
2-inch skater to his current ath-
lete's schedule: Waking up at
4:45 am., he is on the ice by 6:30
am. for two hours of practice be-
fore taking a break. Starting at
12:30 p.m., he spends another
six hours in weight training and
ballet.
Ms. Chalom, an honor stu-
dent at Birmingham Groves
High School, lives by a different
tf, schedule. She attends school un-
til noon. By 12:30 p.m. she is at
the Detroit Skating Club in
Bloomfield Hills for 31/2 hours
of practice with Mr. Gates. The
Fg pair then commits an addition-
s GUTS, GRACE AND GLORY page 34