In the “Tales of the Arabian Nights,” a storyteller named Scheherazade staves off the shah’s threat to kill her at dawn by telling captivating bedtime stories left hanging from one dawn to the next for 1,001 days. The narrative has a happy ending when the shah finally realizes he loves Scheherazade and marries her.
For the 1,542 days since she finished second at the 1998 Olympics, figure skater Michelle Kwan of the United States has left the fans of her sport rapt with expectation for the conclusion of her story Thursday night at the Salt Lake Ice Center. In its final chapter, Kwan has assumed the role of the Persian storyteller, and how well she plays it during four minutes of skating will determine if she winds up feeling the joy Scheherazade did.
Maybe it is an omen that Kwan is portraying a woman who lives, while her closest contenders, Irina Slutskaya of Russia (Tosca) and Sasha Cohen of the United States (Carmen), are skating to music from operas about women who die. After all, the greatest performance of Kwan’s career was given as Salome, who certainly got what she wanted in the end.
“Just watching the men, it shows you never know what people are going to do,” Kwan said. “It is going to be tough. Whoever is the strongest wins.”
Kwan, 21, should gain strength from a partisan crowd as she tries to become the third U.S. woman in the last four Olympics to win the gold medal. Slutskaya, 23, is trying to become the first Russian woman to win the Olympic title, a task she believes has not been complicated by skating in the United States. “I think Americans like me,” Slutskaya said. “Of course, I am not a favorite like an American girl.”
Cohen, 17, has become the sport’s “it” girl. In the past, though, the four-minute program frequently has been 60 seconds too long, as Cohen has not done an error-free long program in a Grand Prix or championship event for the past couple of seasons.
“She is a unique person whose talent transcends the technical limits of the ice,” said Cohen’s coach, John Nicks.
Although her artistry is immediately compelling, Cohen hardly is a slacker on the technical side. No woman has landed the triple jump combination she will try–triple lutz-triple toe loop–in 10 years.
Cohen has caused some controversy with her tendency to be blissfully unaware of what other skaters are doing in practices and warmups. “Extremely focused, sometimes with a very narrow focus,” Nicks said.
The tempest over Cohen’s having bumped into Kwan during a warmup for the free skate at last month’s U.S. championships clearly had no effect on the judges here. They placed her third behind Kwan and Slutskaya in the short program, with marks even more impressive than her placement, especially because Cohen never has competed in a senior world championship.
“Sasha has convinced the skating community she deserves to be where she is–one of the premier skaters in the world,” Nicks said.
Cohen clearly was headed in that direction until a back injury forced her to withdraw from last year’s national championship. Between then and the 2002 national meet, her skating was so erratic few would have projected Cohen as a potential Olympic medalist.
“Last year was a really frustrating experience,” Cohen said, “but I never thought I couldn’t do this, and I worked really hard all year.”
As Cohen struggled, Sarah Hughes emerged as a medal contender, even looking as if she had a shot at gold after beating Kwan and Slutskaya at November’s Skate Canada Grand Prix event. Hughes is fourth after the short program, within reach of a medal if not the gold.
“Sarah doesn’t have to worry about holding on to a position,” said her coach, Robin Wagner. “She can really go for it.”
Hughes and Slutskaya each might try two triple-jump combinations. Kwan will go with the relatively easy triple jump combination, triple toe loop-triple toe loop, that she has used since 1995, although with only occasional success over the past three seasons.
A flawless free skate with seven triples, including the combination, was not enough for Kwan to beat Lipinski in 1998. Also the leader after that short program, Kwan skated tentatively as if, like Scheherazade, the outcome were a life-or-death matter. Kwan can only hope Thursday is the last time she has to tell that story.
WOMEN’S FINAL
The Final 6
In skating order for Thursday’s free skate.
Maria Butyrskaya
Russia
Starting time: 9:50 p.m.
Short-program finish: Fifth.
Home: Moscow.
Age: 29.
Height: 5-3.
Coach: Elena Tchaikovskaya.
Long program: “Tale of a Journey” (Russian movie soundtrack) by Alfred Schnittke.
Choreographer: Elena Tchaikovskaya.
1998 Olympics finish: Fourth.
Triple jump combo: Toe loop-toe loop.
Key factor: Fading fast after becoming oldest woman ever to win world title three years ago.
Sarah Hughes
United States
Starting time: 9:58 p.m.
Short-program finish: Fourth.
Home: Kings Point, N.Y.
Age: 16.
Height: 5-5.
Coach: Robin Wagner.
Long program: “Daphnis and Chloe” by Maurice Ravel.
Choreographer: Robin Wagner.
1998 Olympics finish: Did not compete.
Triple combos: Salchow-loop, toe loop-loop.
Key factor: Judges seem to be down on her skating.
Julia Sebestyen
Hungary
Starting time: 10:06 p.m.
Short-program finish: Sixth.
Home: Tiszaujvaros, Hungary.
Age: 20.
Height: 5-4.
Coaches: Andras Szaraz, Eszter Jurek.
Long program: “Man in the Iron Mask” by Nick Glennie Smith.
Choreographer: Nina Petrenko.
1998 Olympics finish: 15th.
Triple combo: None.
Key factor: Hungary never has won an Olympic singles skating medal. Just being in the final group is a medal for her.
Sasha Cohen
United States
Starting time: 10:14 p.m.
Short-program finish: Third.
Home: Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Age: 17.
Height: 4-11.
Coach: John Nicks.
Long program: “Carmen” by Georges Bizet.
Choreographers: John Nicks and Sasha Cohen.
1998 Olympics: Did not compete.
Triple combo: Lutz-toe loop.
Key factor: She is the sport’s new darling, but no woman ever has won Olympic singles title without competing at worlds the year before.
Michelle Kwan
United States
Starting time: 10:23 p.m.
Short program finish: First.
Home: Lake Arrowhead, Calif.
Age: 21.
Height: 5-2.
Coach: None.
Long program: “Scheherazade” by Rimsky-Korsakov.
Choreographer: Sarah Kawahara.
1998 Olympics finish: Second.
Triple combo: Toe loop-toe loop.
Key factor: Lost gold in 1998 because of restrained skating.
Irina Slutskaya
Russia
Starting time: 10:31 p.m.
Short-program finish: Second.
Home: Moscow.
Age: 23.
Height: 5-3.
Coach: Zhanna Gromova.
Long program: “Tosca” by Giacomo Puccini.
Choreographer: Giuseppe Arena.
1998 Olympics finish: Fifth.
Triple combo: Salchow-loop and/or lutz-loop.
Key factor: Never beaten Kwan in Olympics or in six worlds.
