FIGURE SKATING/ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Bobek: A Rebel With an Early Lead

BIRMINGHAM, England —  So, can Nicole Bobek skate?

Oh, that.

Besides breaking and entering, chasing boys, jettisoning coaches, chasing boys, smoking and carousing, chasing boys, missing curfew and catching boys, Bobek also occasionally skates.

Friday, she skated better than any other woman or girl entered in these World Figure Skating Championships.

That’s some list of also-rans too:

--Five-time European champion and two-time world runner-up Surya Bonaly of France.

--Olympic bronze medalist Lu Chen of China.

--Olga Markova of Russia, who outskated both Bonaly and Chen on Friday.

--And Michelle Kwan, who until a month ago represented the short- and long-term future of American women’s figure skating.

This must have come as quite a revelation to ticket holders at the National Exhibition Center, who knew Bobek only by what they could find in the English dailies.

Not once did Bobek spit on the ice. Nor did she interrupt her program at any time to light up. Her skating apparel was gold-spangled virginal white, not studded black leather. She skated elegantly, almost classically, to Russian folk music arranged by Egor Moiseyev, not Nine Inch Nails.

And when she finished and the obligatory we-love-you teddy bear was tossed onto the ice, Bobek grabbed the bear and, instead of ripping off its head, gave it a big hug and skated off--looking very much like any other 17-year-old American girl who had just wowed ‘em overseas in 2 minutes 40 seconds.

Bobek received six scores of 5.9--five for artistic presentation. That moved her to the top of scoreboard, bumping Markova to second, Chen to third and Bonaly to fourth. Kwan was fifth.

You can’t swing a skate guard around inside the National Exhibition Center without hitting one of Bobek’s former coaches--there are seven of them--and Carlo Fassi could scarcely contain himself after watching his old problem child.

“Nicole was fantastic,” Fassi enthused. “Exciting, very natural. Nothing is studied. When she is on, she is on. She has the sparkle that is incredible.”

Richard Callaghan, Bobek coach No. 8, said he was very pleased with the performance.

“My immediate thought was, ‘I’m glad it’s over with,’ ” he said. “The biggest thing with Nicole is keeping her focused. I’m proud that she kept it so organized.”

Emerging from a four-day Callaghan-imposed silence, Bobek spoke to reporters after her routine.

“This goes to show that a lot of hard work pays off,” she said, and made fleeting reference to her November arrest for house invasion, charges that have since been dismissed.

“I had a lot to prove,” Bobek said. “Prove that this whole incident didn’t affect my skating. That’s what I want to do here.”

Kwan’s fifth-place standing puts the United States in position for two medals after today’s long program, though she might have been slotted higher had she not skated immediately after Bonaly.

Bonaly turned in a flawed program, touching her hand to the ice on a combination jump, struggling on a couple of spins and doing a good deal more churning than gliding. Kwan skated a clean routine and made all her jumps, but five of the nine judges rated Bonaly’s performance higher.

“I find it strange,” said Kwan’s coach, Frank Carroll. “It is interesting that (Bonaly) had difficulty out there and Michelle didn’t have any.”

Yet, Carroll said he couldn’t be surprised.

“There are skaters that are admired and have track records,” he said. “Judges tend to swing with the person who’s a past champion.” Lack of credentials didn’t hurt Bobek, however. A year ago, she failed to qualify for the World Championships. Now, she leads them after the short program.

Did she ever fathom it?

“Well, one day,” Bobek said. “I didn’t know about this year.”