Favorite Slutskaya, American Cohen Begin Gold Medal Quest

And now, the main event.

The women’s figure skating competition begins tonight with the short program, in which skaters have up to 2 minutes and 50 seconds to perform eight required elements in any order and to any music they choose. Under the old scoring system, skaters often said it was impossible to win a competition in the short program but possible to lose it, because errors were punished so severely.

That’s not quite true under the new cumulative scoring system, but a good score can provide a cushion against mistakes in Thursday’s finale.

The favorite is Russia’s Irina Slutskaya, the reigning world champion and the 2002 Olympic silver medalist. Sasha Cohen of Corona del Mar, a two-time world silver medalist, could win if she pulls off two clean performances and if Slutskaya can’t improve her artistry, long a weakness.

Only Miki Ando and Shizuka Arakawa of Japan are in their league.