When the curtain closed on the women's figure skating competition Thursday night, the world was stunned by multiple surprises after two weeks of predictable results.
By now, anyone who watched the medal ceremonies at the Palavela Arena can hum a strong rendition of Russia's national anthem, as Russian skaters claimed the top podium in the Pair's, Men's, and Ice Dancing events.
But in the final ladies event, Shizuka Arakawa of Japan emerged from the shadows of the media spotlight to skate a seamless program and capture the gold medal. Her victory signified a huge upset over gold medal favorite Irina Slutskaya, and thus ended Russia's hope of sweeping all four figure skating events in Torino.
Arakawa entered the free skate in third place after her performance in the short program on Feb. 21, trailing American Sasha Cohen in first and Slutskaya in second by a slim margin.
In the past few years, Arakawa has made strong showings on the international circuit, most notably winning the World Championships in 2004. However, with the spotlight on Cohen, Slutskaya, and the Michelle Kwan story, she slipped under the radar in the Winter Games.
The lack of attention may have been Arakawa's greatest advantage. She calmly sailed through a conservative yet solid free-skate program, leaving out her planned triple-triple jump combinations. In spite of this, she pulled in front of her competitors with an eight-point lead.
Cohen had been in first place after skating brilliantly in the short program, but the pressure of maintaining that tenuous spot proved too great. After falling twice during her warm-up, Cohen reluctantly tip-toed back onto the ice with eyes full of fear and doubt, instead of their usual fire and confidence. This translated into a fall on her opening jump sequence and near-miss on her second. But Cohen quickly recovered and successfully completed the rest of her program with unparalleled grace and dazzling presentation, hanging on for the silver medal.
Slutskaya was confident going into the free skate, sitting behind Cohen by only hundredths of a point. But an uncharacteristic fall near the end of her routine ended all chances for gold and dropped her down to third place. At 27 years old, Slutskaya's Olympic story mirrors Michelle Kwan's all too closely. Both women have won silver and then bronze in Games in which they were heavy favorites, and both of their illustrious careers have ended without the ultimate prize.
American skaters Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes both had respectable showings in their first Olympic Games, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. The two teenagers are now setting their sights on the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Ice Dancing, often mocked for its lack of athleticism, has grown tremendously as a sport due to the new judging system implemented in these Olympics. Seeking to pull the highest scores, dancers pushed themselves, sometimes beyond their limits, to perform the most difficult and innovative choreography ever witnessed in an Ice Dance competition.
Many of the high-ranked European couples struggled with their complex routines and suffered disastrous falls on the night of the Original Dance, the second of three required dances. These falls meant a one-point deduction for each skater who hit the ice and opened the door for U.S. skaters Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto to move into second place behind Russian favorites Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov.
The young Americans skated well enough in the free dance to stay in second, earning the U.S. its first medal in Olympic Ice Dancing since 1976. The Russians won the gold and the Ukrainian team of Yelena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov took the bronze.
In the men's competition, Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia was considered a shoo-in for gold and proved it on the ice, taking an astounding 28-point lead in the free skate over second-place finisher Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland. Plushenko, who was in a comfortable lead after the short program, manipulated the new system by incorporating just enough difficulty to secure him the gold. Like Lambiel, Jeffrey Buttle of Canada made several errors in his program but was nonetheless able to capture the bronze.
American contender Johnny Weir fell from second place after the short routine to fifth after a sloppy and uninspiring free program. Fellow Americans Evan Lysacek and Matt Savoie were two of the best performers of the night, but finished in fourth and seventh places, respectively, due to low scores in the short program.
CORRECTION ADDED: MAR. 1, 2006Yesterday's Sports article "Arakawa flew under radar, stunned world" (Feb. 28, 2006) was erroneously attributed to Kelley Vendeland. The article was written by Contributing Writer Alyson McGee.
