NAGANO, Japan -- Fifteen minutes after he saw six years of recovery, angst, joy and frustration mesh into disappointment, American Todd Eldredge had enough class to confront his downfall head-on.

What happened Saturday night at White Ring to Eldredge is simply this: A bronze medal was his to lose.

He lost it.

Todd Eldredge's medal dreams were erased in one fall. (Reuters)

As easily as Russia's Ilia Kulik skated toward the gold, Eldredge was 3 1/2 minutes on his way to the one thing that has eluded him in a career that has included five U.S. national titles -- more than Brian Boitano and Scott Hamilton.

BUT ELDREDGE WAS GOING FOR MORE than a bronze. He knew the beginning of his program was sluggish. So he tried to make up for it at the end. He tried to turn a double axel into a triple, knowing that earlier he had failed to land a triple-triple combination. The improvisation did not work. The triple busted into a single, and in a matter of seconds those six years of work and soul-searching that moved Eldredge to this moment were for naught.

For naught, at least as far as a medal is concerned. On the bigger issues, Eldredge has not lost sight of what matters. That is impressive enough. It's especially impressive when his perspective is so strong 15 minutes into accepting defeat.

"It's another stop on the road of life. Hopefully, we'll go on to a good performance at the world championships (in Minneapolis next month)," Eldredge said. "More than likely, after the world championships, we'll explore areas in the pro arena."

He could have cashed in those chips six years ago, after a disappointment at Albertville when back problems were partly to blame for a missed double axel that cost him dearly. In 1994, Eldredge was competing at the U.S. nationals in the town he trains, Detroit. While so much would be made of the blow to the knee Nancy Kerrigan suffered at the hands of the Tonya Harding's forces, Eldredge was suffering in his own way, at the worst time. He had a temperature of 104. He passed out in his hotel room.

THAT WAS THE YEAR THE PROS were allowed to come back. Boitano was one of those pros. Meanwhile, Scott Davis was prominent. Watching the Lillehammer proceedings from afar, Eldredge caught the bug again. He re-committed himself.

The same names he saw in '94 were at the center of the Nagano experience. Elvis Stojko, who won the silver this time around. Philippe Candeloro, the flamboyant Frenchman who received low technical merit marks but -- surprise! -- a 6.0 in artistry from the French judge, won the bronze.

Eldredge could have beaten Candeloro. The bronze was his to win.

And he lost it.

In the long run, Eldredge is a huge winner. His amateur career will go down as one of the best among American men. There are no medals to show for his Olympic work. Sometimes, though, we lose sight of what it means just to get there.

ASKED IF HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN LINE for even the gold had he not missed the triple jump, Eldredge said, "If I hadn't failed at the end? I don't think so. I didn't do enough in the program. ... Throughout the whole program, all of the jumps I did I had to pull them out. Nothing came easily. I was a little more fatigued than I should have been."

His coach Richard Callaghan noticed tension in his student.

"This was very important to him," Callaghan said. "He has waited so long, but he forgot to put it in perspective. He tried too hard. He was a little tight and his timing was off because of that. But I saw him fight back and his other triples went quite nicely. The final triple axel, he just tried too hard."

Said Eldredge: "Things just didn't seem to happen easily for me."

Nothing does for him, it seems, except for the grace with which he accepts his fate.

"Sure, sure, anytime you don't skate the way you want it's a disappointment," he said.

IN THE END, ELDREDGE NEVER DID ATTEMPT a quadruple toe loop. It's not his thing. He fell when he tried one at the U.S. Championships in Philadelphia. He had no regrets about not trying one at White Ring.

He was confronted, of course, with the quad question.

"Didn't do it," Eldredge said with a smile. "When I went out, I decided it wasn't going to be in the program."

He had no regrets on that score.

"Quad didn't matter," Eldredge said. "The triple mattered."

That's Eldredge, never one to lose perspective. The 'quad or not to quad' question has been a fascination of reporters. To Eldredge, it was immaterial. He has bigger things to think about on the ice. Now, with this disappointment at the end of his Olympic run, he faces a period of healing.

It is hard to reconcile working this hard and coming so close.

"I guess I will have to hold my head up high," Eldredge said. "It has been six years since we have been here (to an Olympics), and we finally got back. I would rather have had a better performance. But it did not happen."

And so, his life moves forward.