0.cached.png
By Mark Starr
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
I have a privileged vantage point from which to experience the Olympics here in Torino, making me uniquely unqualified to opine on the level of American interest, or most would say disinterest, in these Games. From where I stand -- up close and personal -- the Olympics is always a pretty compelling athletic spectacle.
But believe me, I do understand your grievances. You don't care about most of these sports in the first place. You don't like to see events on tape delay because if you are a real fan, it's hard to maintain your ignorance of the results. You miss Michelle Kwan a whole lot. You discovered that Bode guy was a blustery bust. Apolo turned out to be less than divine. You don't care how many medals they win, those bickering speed skaters are an embarrassment. And the underachieving U.S. hockey teams didn't exactly rekindle interest in their sport.
But everything has now changed, all that negativity drifted away Tuesday night when a diminutive -- 5'2", 96 pounds -- young figure skater in Russian gypsy garb stepped out on the Palavala ice for her short program. Sasha Cohen curled her tongue across her lips, batted her eyes at me (OK, maybe at you too) and flashed a "come hither" smile that -- according to reliable witnesses -- had the young guys in my office moving toward the TV as if there were some gravitational pull at work.
Read More on News
The 21-year-old American champion revealed none of the weight of past disappointments, none of the pressures of an unlucky draw this night. She was required to skate last, a four-and-a-half hour eternity from the time the first-ever Turkish Olympic figure skater took the ice. And she would have to skate after Carolina Kostner, the great Italian hope, whose every jump and spin would electrify (or, as it actually turned out, break the hearts) of the hometown crowd.
None of this seemed to affect Cohen, who sustained a connection with the crowd from the moment she struck her opening pose to the final gypsy rhythms of the music, "Dark Eyes." Terming her routine "very seductive and playful," Cohen explained, "It's all about me getting involved with the audience, the judges, the spectators. I love the attention." And on this evening, everyone -- most importantly of all the judges -- loved giving it to her. Her balletic lines, her leg extensions, her twisty spins were unrivalled and more than offset the minor flaws on her jumps. And you could get lost in her eyes and her smile.
When the last ice chip fell, Cohen had soared past the world champion and Olympic favorite Irina Slutskaya by the margin of a skate blade -- just .03 points -- and into first place. Japan's Shizuka Arakawa was a close third, only .71 back. No other skater appears to be in contention for the gold medal, as Japan's Fumie Suguri, in fourth place, is five full points behind Cohen. The two other American skaters, Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes, made it a proud evening for the red-white-and-blue. Each performed superbly and without major error, Meissner finishing fifth and Hughes in seventh.
All of which means that for viewing America, on Thursday night the Olympics will finally become destination TV. Of course the ladies' final has always been a blockbuster, the ratings star of every Winter Games. As long as there is an American star of the first rank in the ladies' free skate -- and there pretty much has been for a half century now -- American women tune in to this sporting event in unprecedented numbers. That woman of the first rank was supposed to be the beloved Michelle Kwan on her final quest for Olympic gold. It wasn't clear that in just the nine days since she left town with an injury, Cohen, who despite two world championship silver medals has always skated in Kwan's shadow, could establish herself as a major attraction in her own right.
Unquestionably, she did that last night. And her sassy vamp on the ice is likely to have played well with male viewers, who haven't been this excited about a ladies' final since the reign of Katarina Witt. The comic Web site Sports Pickle termed her a "heartbreaker" as well as a "saucy little minx" and opined that "many believe Cohen's appearance on the worldwide stage will enable her to cast her spell of seduction on every male across the globe." It wasn't at all clear that they were joking.
If there seems no doubt now that Cohen will deliver to NBC the ratings bonanza they have been waiting and praying for, the bigger question is what will she deliver to herself. This is not the first time Cohen has been well positioned after the short program. Four years ago, she stood third and, with a good free skate, it could have been her rather than Sarah Hughes claiming the upset gold. Instead she stumbled out of medal contention. She has a history of being poised for victory, then, with a strange twist of fate, transforming it into defeat. Her coach John Nicks said she skipped practice Wednesday, needing some rest because she was too excited to sleep after her performance. But some reporters wondered if Cohen preferred not to face the questions again about the state of nerves under pressure. Nicks was dismissive: "She's answered that one hundred times so 101 times would not have made a difference."
Even if Cohen's nerves are not a factor, she has some significant obstacles to overcome before she can claim America's third successive ladies' gold. Her weakest scores Tuesday came on her jumps and there are a lot more jumps showcased in the long program. She will not even be attempting a more difficult triple-triple jump combination. By contrast, Slutskaya's jumps are the strongest part of her game and Arakawa's can be downright spectacular, as she plans to do at least one triple-triple combination.
Slutskaya, 27, is also a popular figure in skating and has proved her mettle repeatedly before these judges. The Olympic gold is the only thing missing from her resume. While many believed Cohen's dazzling performance was clearly superior to Slutskaya's, that superiority translated to just .03 points when the judges pushed their magic buttons. Nobody really knows how this new scoring system plays out. Slutskaya has already groused about it, even though it appears that she is skating with the benefit of the doubt. The old boxing adage about fighting the champion may apply here: Sasha may not get the close decision and just might have to knock Irina out to win the title. (That is a metaphorical knockout and not a reference to the Tonya Harding approach.)
What Cohen has going for her is that she is a truly beautiful skater, a skater who loses herself in the character she plays and surrenders to the passion of her music. At her best she is a true enchantment, a step up from the solid, if pedestrian Slutskaya. The challenge is for her to be at her best. But that's Thursday night's challenge. Until she skates again, she has at least found something that has been missing for Americans here in Torino. Buzz thy name is Sasha.
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines