Torino 2006: Disappointed in Women’s Figure Skating Medalists, Looking Forward to Meissner in Vancouver

Since I don’t own a television, it wasn’t until tonight that I was able to watch the women’s long program. Even though I knew the outcome, I was excited to watch my favorite women take the ice.

I felt so terrible for Sasha Cohen. When she’s in the right frame of mind, she brings that elusive ingredient to the ice. She possesses the same rare combination of passion, joy, technical brilliance and seeming effortlessness that has make Michelle Kwan figure skating’s darling for so many years.

On Tuesday night I was moved to tears by her short program. But just as the NBC commentators pointed out before her free skate, you could see the doubt in her eyes. She was thinking too hard. Her two falls left the door open for Shizuka Arakawa - whose performance was technically and artistically brilliant, but didn’t have that special fire - to take the gold.

But what I found so remarkable about Cohen is that after her two falls - which could have eliminated her from medals contention altogether - she skated beautifully. After she knew the gold was out of reach - that ingredient came back. I can only conclude that she’s a bit of a head case. But it’s possible that being a head case is part of what makes her so great when she’s on. Just like Kwan.

My other favorite, Irina Slutskaya seemed sure to win gold until she fell on the second to last jump of her program. She had the passion, she had the jumps, she had the footwork. I can’t decide whether she got cocky or just had bad luck. But at 27 it’s sure that she won’t be back for another attempt.

The real stars of these games were the rising stars: Emily Hughes and Kimmie Meissner. Both sparkled with spunk and joy. They knew that they weren’t in it for gold. They were just in it for the love of skating. Despite that, I got the sense that in four years - when she skates at Vancouver as a 20 year-old - Meissner will be a serious threat for gold.