Tobi Harpur and Barbara Froman will be the most anxious observers when the men's figure skating competition begins today at the 17th Winter Olympics.

Ever since the decision to allow professional skaters to compete again in the Games, the skating community has been at odds. Before the decision, two Canadians were the favorites for the top two Olympic medals -- Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko. Now, it's a little different.

"It's wide open," said Froman, who, along with Harpur, is a member of the Penn State Student Skating Club. "Whoever stands up will win."

These two graduate students hold a perspective many others at Penn State can't appreciate -- both are Canadian. And considering what the new rule has already done to America's friends to the north, the two have cause for concern.

On Tuesday, the ruling cost Canada a gold medal in the pairs event. World Champions Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler performed the long program of their lives, but had to settle for the bronze behind the two returning Russian pairs.

"Canadians have really latched onto that feeling that you're really hurting a whole lot more people than you're giving opportunity to," Harpur said. "Katarina Witt and Brian Boitano really smack of, 'I want the glory again.' "

Both Harpur and Froman are crossing their fingers that the men's competition will be kinder to their country.

The field is highlighted by two returning pros -- 1988 Olympic Champion Boitano and 1992 Champion Viktor Petrenko -- and Browning, a four-time world champion who has maintained his amateur status. But two upstarts, Stojko and American Scott Davis, defeated their aforementioned countrymen in each of their respective national championships.

"It still pisses me off," Froman said. "Nobody forced them to go pro."

Froman said the consensus Canadian opinion was that the likes of Boitano and Petrenko had their chance. Harpur agrees, but thinks motivations other than greed exist for these skaters.

"I personally believe (they) are looking for an excitement that they can't find as professionals, that somewhere they're really losing their competitive edge," she said. "They feel like they always have to be pushed."

But the frustration isn't limited to our northern compatriots. Phyllis Kuo, president of the skating club, doesn't care if Boitano wins for the United States. As far as she's concerned, gold translates into greed.

"I don't understand why those pros went back to get an Olympic gold medal -- the new amateur athletes are deserving of a chance," she said. "(The pros) should just go on with life -- Boitano already has a gold medal. The new blood is not getting a chance."