Boitano knows that truth well. In the storied “Battle of the Brians” in Calgary back in 1988, he left himself neck-and-neck with Brian Orser and then beat him in the free skate. But on the flip side, six years later in a comeback attempt in Lillehamer, he stumbled on his opening jump, touched down with both hands-and found himself buried in ninth place with no chance for even a medal.
Boitano’s deep understanding of the nuances of his sport has been even more critical in the last several months. He is a close friend and mentor to Michelle Kwan-a role that has taken on vital importance since she fired her coach in the fall and began to coach herself. The two talk by phone daily, often more than once. Boitano is the most knowledgeable of a skating triad, which includes Michelle’s sister, Karen, a former top national skater, and her dad, Danny, whose support tends to the emotional and the motivational rather than the technical.
Last night, Kwan demonstrated that she had learned the lesson well-or, as is likely, fully understood it herself anyway. She skated beautifully, with emotion and energy. But Kwan never let herself get egged on by the fervor of the pro-American (and among the Americans, decidedly pro-Kwan) crowd to push herself beyond her comfort zone, out of her natural rhythm and onto a slippery terrain. It was enough to put her in first place, ahead of Russia’s Irina Slutskaya and American teen Sasha Cohen, both of whom also demonstrated gold-medal form. Sarah Hughes skated without major error, but without the flair and drama of her rivals. She finished fourth in the short program.
Kwan’s lively, but controlled skate was hardly the only demonstration of understanding this sport’s complex lessons. Slutskaya, upon coming off the ice, launched a mild, preemptive strike against the judging, which seems de rigeur for any contender who emerges on the short end of the judges’ call. The Russian said she performed “harder jumps and much more harder footwork” than Kwan. That didn’t go completely unnoticed, since six of the judges gave her a better technical score and only one judge (not even the American) favored Kwan. Rather, it was Kwan’s string of 5.9s for artistry, the same edge she has always held over Slutskaya, that enabled her to prevail.
The American teens had nothing to complain about. But Hughes, while expressing delight at being in fourth place-“she’s better as the chaser than the one being chased,” said her coach-complained mildly that after being third in the world and skating a clean program she deserved higher scores. Ever the optimist, Hughes said she would have given herself a 5.8, 5.9, which would have, not coincidentally, made her the runaway leader. Cohen, by contrast, was ecstatic with her dazzling turn. “When they called my name, all the butterflies were gone,” she said. “I just went out there to attack.”
Thursday night’s showdown is surely a crapshoot, with none of the contenders out of the picture. But increasingly it looks like a Kwan-Slutskaya duel. And the judge’s panel, which has a 5-4 geographical split in favor of the western bloc (but includes some vaguer allied nations like Finland and Slovakia), seems well-disposed to Kwan’s artistry. That artistry has even more value in the free skate than in the short program. But over the longer, four-minute program Slutskaya’s technical virtuosity is far more conspicuous as well.
Kwan’s fate likely lies on her own skates. With her reputation, with her stellar career, with her unparalleled grace and artistry, she has to be the favorite given her strong opening. Plus, you have to go back four Olympics, to 1988, to find a reigning ladies’ world champion who didn’t win the Olympic title. (Of course, you also have to go back further, to 1984, to find a reigning men’s champion who did follow up with an Olympic gold medal.)
The key may be Kwan’s lone triple-triple combination. It is the simplest triple-triple in the books, the triple toe loop-triple toe loop. But Kwan has not hit it in competition all season, seldom even trying it. But she landed it without a wobble in a morning practice session today in which she was the most energized of all the top competitors. Kwan’s triple-triple can’t compare to Slutskaya’s difficult array of combos. But Kwan skates next to last, followed by Slutskaya in the final position. Slutskaya will take the ice listening to Kwan’s scores. If Kwan nails the triple-triple in crunch time and then skates a clean program, the psychological effect on the crowd and the judges might make it impossible for the Russian to top her under virtually any circumstances.
