Slutskaya Is Poised for Gold

A woman amid a sea of little girls, Irina Slutskaya skated calmly around the ice at the Palavela on Monday, practicing one of the routines that could launch her into figure skating history.

No female Russian singles skater has won an Olympic gold medal, but the 27-year-old Muscovite is poised to change that, starting today, when she performs her short program. With longtime rival Michelle Kwan knocked out of the competition by an injury, this is Slutskaya’s moment. And a victory would create an unprecedented Russian sweep of the figure skating medals, after Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin won the pairs event, Evgeni Plushenko won the men’s competition and Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia won in ice dancing.

“No other competition can be the same,” Slutskaya, the Salt Lake City silver medalist and defending world champion, said a few weeks ago. “The Olympic atmosphere is not like any other.”

But if the Games bring great rewards, they also bring great pressure.

Just ask Sasha Cohen of Corona del Mar, who was third after the short program at Salt Lake City and stumbled to a fourth-place finish behind Sarah Hughes, Slutskaya and Kwan.

“I’ve learned a lot since last time around,” said Cohen, who has finished second at each of the last two world championships. “You learn a lot about yourself, about competing and training.”

What she apparently hasn’t learned, however, is how to muster the emotional and physical strength to perform two flawless routines in a competition. Slutskaya, by contrast, has overcome illness and the duress of caring for her chronically ill mother while winning two world titles and losing only one major competition in the last year, the Grand Prix Final.

Cohen and Slutskaya are the class of the 29-woman field, but Slutskaya appears to be a notch above her 21-year-old rival.

“At the moment, I don’t feel any pressure,” Cohen said after a light practice in which she skated through her short program but skipped the jumps, her usual strategy for warming up but conserving her energy before she competes.

“I want to have a great time out there and enjoy it, give it my all and go home feeling good. I haven’t put pressure on myself to win or to be perfect. It’s about enjoying the process.”

The process of arriving at this day has not been easy for any of the elite skaters.

Some have struggled to adjust to the sport’s new scoring system, the result of a judging scandal that erupted at the Salt Lake City pairs competition. Others have dealt with injuries or illness. For still others, the weight of expectations proved too heavy to jump and spin with lightness and grace.

Although Slutskaya has grumbled about the inconsistency of judges’ evaluations of her performances, her speed and superb technical skills have allowed her to flourish under the new system. Her total of 198.06 points at last year’s Cup of Russia event is the top total score recorded in an International Skating Union competition since the new system was introduced in 2003. Cohen has the top short program score, 71.12, and long program score, 130.89, both accomplished in 2003.

The new system has also been kind to Cohen, but she shied away from questions about her expectations here.

“It’s hard to tell because we’re not into the competition yet,” she said. “But I feel pretty good about it right now.”

She also said she had no problem with having drawn last to perform today. She’s scheduled to take the ice at 11:14 p.m., local time, four hours and seven minutes after U.S. teammate Kimmie Meissner of Bel Air, Md., who will be the second skater. The third U.S. entrant, Emily Hughes of Great Neck, N.Y., will skate 15th.

“I’m fortunate because I get the latest practice time in the morning and I get to sleep a little bit,” Cohen said. “I’m used to skating in all positions, first or last. You take it all in stride and do your job. You don’t worry about what you can’t control.”

Meissner, the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team at 16, said she was happy with her draw.

“I can warm up and come off and take a break and go back on,” she said. “And it’s kind of nice to be done early, instead of real late and just be waiting around. That whole wait time is actually the worst thing.”

Hughes, younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes, said she was “a little bit nervous” about her Olympic debut but was advised by her sister simply to have fun.

“Coming into this competition, I don’t have any expectations,” she said. “I just want to skate my best and do a personal best.”

Any challenge to Slutskaya and Cohen is likely to come from a strong Japanese contingent.

Shizuka Arakawa, the 2004 world champion, said this week that she had considered retiring after her victory because she didn’t think she could top that achievement.

“It took one full year to regain my motivation,” she said through a translator, “and from that point I decided, ‘OK, I will complete my athletic career with enjoyment,’ and I got the momentum after that point.”

Miki Ando, 18, said this week that she planned to incorporate a quadruple salchow into her long program Thursday. That would distinguish her as the first woman to land a quadruple jump in the Olympics.

Although Ando is a technical marvel, the third Japanese skater, two-time world bronze medalist Fumie Suguri, has a wonderfully expressive style but has been hampered most of this season by a groin injury.

“There’s a lot of depth on the Japanese ladies’ team,” said Carol Heiss Jenkins, the 1960 Olympic champion and Ando’s coach since last year.

“All three are different skaters but have a lot of talent and have a very good chance, all three of them, of doing well at the Olympics. It’s a matter of how healthy you are.”

For Cohen, this competition is about seizing the moment -- or having it seized from her again.

“I’m really excited to be here in the Olympic village. Practice feels great,” she said. “I’m feeling really, really good. I’m excited and confident.”