Cohen Slips Into Second

While U.S. champion Sasha Cohen and world champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia faltered, Shizuka Arakawa blended elegance and athleticism into a triumphant package Thursday night to become the first Japanese figure skater to win an Olympic gold medal.

Arakawa, who considered retiring after she won the 2004 world championship because she lacked motivation to continue, found strength and beauty in Puccini’s “Turandot.” As cool as the mint green of her sparkling costume, she transformed it into four mesmerizing minutes of theater on ice.

“Many times I’ve thought about quitting,” she said through a intrepeter. “I’m happy I have continued and I haven’t stopped.”

Although at 24 she is a senior citizen in a sport that had crowned two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old its champions at the last three Olympics, Arakawa’s performance left Cohen grateful to have finished second and Slutskaya stunned by another cruel turn of fate.

Traditionally the most glamorous event at the Olympics, the women’s figure skating finale featured far more spills than thrills.

Cohen, 21, wasn’t expecting to win a medal after a routine in which she fell on her first jump and put both hands to the ice to brace herself while landing her second jump.

She said she had taken off her dark-red costume and had changed into street clothes in preparation for leaving the rink, not anticipating she’d have to go back onto the ice to accept the silver medal. However, her musicality and expressiveness won her enough points from the judges to bring her the second-highest mark for her program components, or artistry. Cohen had 62.41 points, second only to the 63 earned by Arakawa.

“I’m really excited,” said Cohen, who lives in Corona del Mar and trains in Aliso Viejo. “I think it was a gift. I’m very pleased.”

Slutskaya, 27, was far less pleased with her bronze medal.

The pre-Olympic favorite, Slutskaya skated last and displayed little of her trademark speed. She also took an ungainly fall on a jump she had long ago mastered, a triple loop.

Panicked by the prospect of losing points and aware that the sport’s new judging system rewards skaters who take risks, she deviated from her planned program and improvised jumps.

Her strategy failed. She completed three triple jumps, one fewer than Arakawa, and finished with 181.44 points. Her pale face, so dramatic against the cherry-red of her dress, and her stunned expression exposed her emotions as she finished to a medley of flamenco music.

“I’m a bit disappointed in my skating, because I was prepared for this competition,” said Slutskaya, who suffers from vasculitis -- an inflammation of the blood vessels -- and must take medication that reduces her stamina. “That’s competition. It’s pressure all the time.”

Cohen’s U.S. teammates, Kimmie Meissner of Bel Air, Md., and Emily Hughes of Great Neck, N.Y., learned about Olympic pressure for the first time.

Each had done well in the first part of the competition, the short program, a 2-minute, 50-second performance in which each skater must perform prescribed jumps and spins but can do them in any order and to the music they choose.

Meissner, runner-up to Cohen at the national championships last month, had ranked an impressive fifth; Hughes, younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes, had been ranked seventh. Both had outside chances of contending for medals, until Hughes fell on one jump and had some shaky landings on others, and Meissner stumbled on two jumps and reduced the difficulty level of others from triple to double. Meissner, 16, finished sixth, with 165.71 points. Hughes, 17, was one place behind, with 160.87 points.

“It wasn’t one of my best programs, but it’s pretty good for being my first Olympics,” said Meissner, who is usually given to giggles and confessed this week that the downside of being at the Olympics was that she missed her cat, Ozzie. “This experience tonight definitely inspires me for the next Olympics in 2010. Hard work will eventually pay off.”

Hughes, who skated 15th in the 24-woman field, will savor the memory of having been the leader until the final nine skaters performed. “It felt awesome to be No. 1,” she said. “Next time, let’s hope I stay there.”

The pressure inherent in leaping into the air, rotating two or three times, landing on a narrow skate blade and looking graceful and sure while doing all that, has undone many a skater. Cohen, often admired for her balletic grace, has just as often been criticized for crumbling under pressure.

Cohen was in third place after the initial phase of the competition at the Salt Lake City Olympics, the short program, but performed a mediocre program and finished fourth. She also was the early leader at the 2004 U.S. championships and world championships but fell out of the top three each time.

She said Thursday that the rap against her is unfair and said she was proud of herself for rallying her wits and finishing her routine far better than she had started it.

“I was able to believe in myself, when everything was dark and gray,” she said. “The music carried me. It goes beyond an athletic event.”

The new scoring system was adopted after a vote-trading scandal undermined figure skating’s credibility at the Salt Lake City Games. Arakawa trailed Cohen by less than a point after the first phase of the competition and was .71 behind Slutskaya.

Although Arakawa skipped the challenging triple-triple jump combination she had planned to try, her supple spirals and fluid skating helped her win by nearly eight points, 191.34 to 183.36 for Cohen.

Arakawa’s victory made her Japan’s only medalist at the Turin Games. Japan’s Midori Ito finished second to American Kristi Yamaguchi at the 1992 Games, and no other Japanese skater had come close since.

For Arakawa, her triumph was too much to comprehend, at least on Thursday, with the cheers of 6,000 fans still ringing in her ears.

“I cannot believe it,” she said. “I made a mistake in the program but I could skate with pleasure.

“I think I will realize that I have won a gold in the next two or three days.”