Kwan Turns Down NBC Job

Michelle Kwan left Turin for Los Angeles on Monday, declining an opportunity to stay at the Olympic Games as a figure skating commentator for NBC.

Kwan withdrew from the women’s competition Sunday, a day after she’d strained a groin muscle during her first practice in Turin. She moved out of the athletes’ village Sunday night and spent the evening in a hotel with her parents before all three began the trip home.

NBC had made the job offer before a test skate Jan. 27, during which she had to prove she was fit enough to compete in Turin. She won the judges’ unanimous approval to skate and prepared to compete.

The network reportedly renewed the offer after she withdrew, but she decided to return home to heal.

Emily Hughes of Great Neck, N.Y., was named to replace Kwan. A spokeswoman for U.S. Figure Skating said Hughes had not yet booked her trip to Turin, but that when she did arrive, she’d be accompanied by her older sister, Sarah, the 2002 gold medalist.

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An ice dancing judge from Azerbaijan, Irina Nechkina, was removed from the Olympic judging panel by the International Skating Union because of poor judging in previous competitions.

She has received four cautions for serious judging errors and/or bias in the last three years.

She will be replaced by standby judge Rolf Pipoh of Germany.

Two members of the Salt Lake City judging panel returned to judge the pairs event here. Marina Sanaia of Russia and Anna Sierocka of Poland were on the panel that chose Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharuldize of Russia over Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada, a result that was changed to give the Canadians gold medals after French judge Marie-Reine LeGougne claimed she had been pressured by her national federation to vote for the Russians.

Both judges, incidentally, placed Berezhnaya and Sikharuldize first.

-- Helene Elliott

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The U.S. speedskating program has benefited from the migration of a growing number of inline skaters, broadening the sport’s recruiting base beyond cold-weather states. Joey Cheek, who won the gold medal in the men’s 500, grew up as an inline skater in Greensboro, N.C.

His brother, Michael, also is an inline skater, though, their mother, Chris, said she did not expect Michael to follow Joey into speedskating.

-- Bill Shaikin

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Kwan’s withdrawal has prompted two major television advertisers who were featuring the figure skater in their campaigns to reevaluate their plans.

Coca-Cola has decided to shelve one of its two commercials that reference Kwan. Visa USA is sticking with her.

A series of Coke ads featuring rabid fans rooting on their favorite athletes included one where they were rooting for Kwan. The skater herself is not seen in the ad.

“Given that it’s cheering her on to win, hopefully, and she is not competing, we didn’t think the ad was still relevant,” said Susan McDermott, a Coke spokeswoman.

Kwan and speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno are mentioned in another Coke spot: “Without ice, Apolo Anton Ohno would be a speed swimmer, Michelle Kwan would be a water skater, and our Cokes would be warm.”

That will stay on the air, McDermott said.

A 15-second Visa ad features footage of Kwan skating, illustrating the theme of “life takes poetry.”

Since it’s not tied specifically to the competition, Visa decided to go ahead with the campaign, said Susanne Lyons, chief marketing officer.

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Four suspended Olympic cross-country skiers took new hemoglobin tests Monday and all passed -- including two Americans and a German gold medalist.

A dozen skiers were suspended for five days last week for elevated levels of hemoglobin, the part of the red blood cell that can increase endurance. The rest chose to delay their tests because they weren’t scheduled to compete in the men’s and women’s team sprint today.

German cross-country skier Evi Sachenbacher, who sat out the women’s double pursuit Sunday, and the two Americans -- Kikkan Randall and Leif Zimmerman -- were among the four retested.

Randall is set to ski today. Zimmerman is not racing but chose to be tested immediately after his five-day suspension was served.

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Anne Abernathy, the 52-year-old slider known as “Grandma Luge,” withdrew from the Games because of a broken wrist she suffered during a crash in practice Sunday.

These Games were the sixth for Abernathy, a cancer survivor who made her Olympic debut for the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1988 at Calgary.

-- Associated Press