| | NICE, France -- Michelle Kwan may have returned her focus to
figure skating a little too late for a world title this year.
As graceful as ever, Kwan still bobbled on a triple flip during
the short program Friday at the World Figure Skating championships
and finished third going into the final free skate.
| |  | | | Maria Butyrskaya is looking for her second world championship. |
Skating with porcelain calm, Russian Maria Butyrskaya won the
short with an elegant program that emphasized her maturity, beating
younger rivals Russian Irina Slutskaya and Kwan, even though both
had slightly more difficult jumps in the technically dominant short
program.
The United States had three women place in the top seven. Sarah
Hughes of Great Neck, N.Y., at 14 the youngest competitor, finished
fifth, placing fourth overall going into the final free skate.
Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro, Calif., placed sixth in the short,
and is seventh overall.
Kwan's chances at winning her third world title were marginal,
depending on both Russians' bombing in Saturday's free program. In
her freshman year at UCLA, Kwan scaled back on training in the
transitional fall quarter, but shifted the balance back toward
skating in the winter, moving out of the dorm and taking fewer
classes.
"This year has been completely different for me," Kwan said.
"It's been a lot of fun. The first quarter at school was hard. I
had a full load and competitions coming up. I didn't skate as much
as I wanted."
She shook Slutskaya's hand with obvious admiration after the
Russian told reporters she had been attending college for five
years and would take her final exams next year.
"Congratulations!" Kwan said.
The U.S. champion appeared tense going on to the ice but seemed
to relax after hitting a fine double axel and a triple lutz-double
toe combination. The program, to an orchestral version of the
Lennon-McCartney hit "A Day in the Life," flowed into her
graceful spirals, which she held for nearly the length of the rink,
then let go a bit with a hip swivel when the pace picked up.
Kwan's only real problem was the landing on the triple flip,
which was added to the program to increase the difficulty. Her
technical marks were mostly 5.6s and 5.7s with one 5.4.
"I had a little bobble after the triple flip," Kwan said.
"But I'm glad I went for it. ... I felt really good out there, but
I let loose and had a lot of fun."
Old in skaters' years at 27, Butyrskaya diverted all attention
from the much ballyhooed Kwan-Slutskaya rivalry with a softly
skated romantic program to Sarah Brightman's "Scene d'amour."
With all the elements performed perfectly, the judges didn't seem
bothered that her optional jump was the less-difficult triple loop
to the triple flip jumped by Slutskaya and Kwan. It was only after
that officials revealed she had lightly cut two right fingers
cleaning her blade before going on the ice.
Though she beat an ailing Kwan at last year's worlds to take the
title, Butyrskaya has often been overlooked going into major
competitions, partly because of her age and partly because she
tends to save her best skating for the end of the season. The
six-time Russian champion is somewhat of a late-bloomer, winning
her first major title only in 1998 at Milan.
"When there's a long season, it's important to know when you
get your best form," said Butyrskaya's coach, Yelena
Tchaikovskaya. "Maria Butyrskaya came to this competition in her
best form."
Slutskaya, 21, lacked only the polished gestures that
distinguished Butyrskaya, winning mostly 5.8s for presentation.
After failing to place at Russian nationals last year and dropping
completely from sight, the rosy-cheeked Russian beat Kwan at the
Grand Prix final this year and is savoring her return to
international competition.
"I think I skated well. I did all my elements cleanly without
mistakes," Slutskaya said.
France's Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat ended Russia's
eight-year lock on the ice dance title with an intense and
intricately choreographed free program to the gothic chants of
"Carmina Burana" that earned four 6.0s for presentation.
Italians Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, who had led
beginning the free dance, skated a Celtic-inspired dance to get the
silver. Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania bumped
Russians Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Avebukh from the podium _ the
first time since 1968 a Soviet or Russian couple had not won a
dance medal.
Americans Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev were eighth, and
former junior world champions Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek
finished 12th. | |
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