It won’t make Michelle Kwan’s life any easier, but the best thing that can happen for her sport is to have either Sasha Cohen or Jennifer Kirk–or both–skate brilliantly in Saturday’s long program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
If Kwan loses or is good enough to beat their best, so much the better. It will mean that skating could have a rivalry to regenerate flagging U.S. interest in the sport. The women are the only skaters worth paying attention to anyway.
Who would want to watch men as awful as the group that picked up where they left off at last year’s nationals, a competition veteran coach Frank Carroll characterized as “absolute Abbott and Costello”? If the men’s final Saturday is as bad as Thursday’s short program, fans should demand a refund.
The entire pairs competition, won by Rena Inoue and John Baldwin even though each fell once in Friday’s free skate, was equally dreadful. And ice dancing … well just congratulate Tanith Belbin and partner Benjamin Agosto, a Chicagoan, on winning their first national title Friday in a discipline that is more prejudged entertainment than sport.
That leaves the women, where lately no U.S. skater has been able to challenge the hegemony of the Kwan dynasty.
While this is a sport so individualized athletes talk mainly of competing against themselves, one way to attract fans beyond the hard core of skating aficionados is to have rivalries so strong the outcome becomes as compelling a story as the individual.
Think Tara Lipinski against Kwan in the late ’90s, or Rosalynn Sumners against Elaine Zayak in the early ’80s, or Carol Heiss against Tenley Albright in the 1950s.
“It’s always exciting when you have a strong field,” said Cohen, who beat Kwan in Thursday’s short program. “It pushes each skater to a different level. Ultimately, what brings out the best in you is best for you.”
Until now, Cohen, 19, has stumbled on the way up, failing to capitalize on her remarkable performance and interpretive skills because she has botched technical elements in the free skate. Second twice at nationals, fourth at the Olympics and worlds, she always has been a step away from greatness.
“Sasha’s skating has been like listening to a musical performance that is magnificent until you hear a little squeak on a string and think, `Yikes!”‘ said Robin Wagner, the skater’s new coach. “We know Sasha has so much talent that when mistakes happen, we almost get angry at her for letting them take away from four minutes of sublime beauty.”
Cohen blew chances at winning the 2000 nationals, when she also led Kwan after the short program, and at winning medals in the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2003 world meet.
Kirk, 19, has had similar problems, although she has yet to reach a level where they attracted much attention. She has been fifth at the last two national meets.
Thursday night, Kirk captivated the audience with a short program many felt was superior to Kwan’s, even if the judges placed Kirk third. (One of the nine judges did put Kirk first).
Skating to selections from the musical “Chicago,” Kirk transformed herself into a flapper with body language and hand movements. The image would have been even more complete had Kirk been able to sing while she skated, for her breathy voice resembles that of actress Renee Zellweger in her interpretation of “Chicago” protagonist Roxy.
“I love the program,” Kirk said. “It’s almost like a show program.”
But it contained impressive athletic components, including a triple-triple jump combination and a triple lutz jump preceded by footwork. Neither Kwan nor Cohen did jump elements of that difficulty.
“My goal in the competition was to skate two great programs, no matter what happened,” Kirk said.
One more, and who knows what will happen?
