Kwan Surprising; Yagudin Hurting

SPOKANE, Wash. -- With few things left to prove in her figure skating career, Michelle Kwan might inadvertently disprove an axiom about athletes and entertainers.

That old practice-makes-perfect idea seems overrated after what Kwan did late Thursday night at Skate America, in which she decided to compete only a week ago.

She threw together an Olympic-style short program in less than two weeks, skated it publicly for the first time in this opening event of the Grand Prix series and delivered a performance that was world-class by whatever judging system measures it. If she can match that skating level today with a relatively well-rehearsed long program -- it is six weeks old -- Kwan will show again she can be the class of the world.

After winning the men’s short program Friday night, Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia said the pain in his right hip has returned with such intensity that his future as a competitive skater is imperiled. Yagudin said a doctor who gave him an anti-inflammatory injection here Thursday told him the hip problem was congenital and would probably worsen quicker if he continued to compete.

The four-time world champion became tearful when asked if next week’s Skate Canada might be his final competition. “I really have to think what’s the best thing for me,” he said.

Kwan has yet to commit to any other competitions after this weekend, but she hinted strongly about going for a seventh national title in January and fifth world title in March.

“It’s so nice to surprise everyone,” Kwan said.

She was referring to her decision to compete here after Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes pulled out because of a leg injury. That feeling also could be applied to the quality of her performance and the compelling nature of her program.

Her music was Peter Gabriel’s “The Feeling Begins,” which uses an Armenian melody and Near Eastern instrumental tonalties. Those sounds allowed Kwan, a collaborator in the choreography, to incorporate some of the best hand, head and arm movements from similar programs she has done.

The 10 judges gave her marks of mainly 5.7 for technical merit and mainly 5.8 for presentation. The interim scoring system in force this year counted only seven of the 10 judges’ marks, selected randomly and secretly, but each of Kwan’s marks was higher than all but two rivals.

No matter what judging system is in place, reputation still scores. That is how Yagudin earned a 4-3 edge over France’s 18-year-old Brian Joubert for first place in Friday’s short program, despite Joubert’s superior skating.