Kwan Gets Ready For An Uphill Battle
by Laura Fawcett |
| Michelle Kwan was third in her qualifying group. Photo by Michelle Wojdyla |
Ladies Qualifying Group A Results
Ladies Qualifying Group A Photos
All Worlds Results/Photos
(3/24/2004) — Five-time World champion Michelle Kwan will need to make a comeback in order to win her sixth World title this week at the 2004 World Championships in Dortmund, Germany. A subpar performance from Kwan landed her in third place in her qualifying group behind two skaters — Japan's Shizuka Arakawa and World Junior champion Miki Ando — who landed triple-triple combinations.
Kwan was shaky from the get-go, popping her opening triple loop in the program to "Tosca." She picked it up in the middle of the program to land a triple Lutz-double toe combination, triple flip, triple Salchow-double toe and a triple toe before falling on her last jump, a solo triple Lutz.
"I can't say it felt like me out there," Kwan said. "I wasn't skating deep into the ice. I'm still adjusting a little bit, and it should have been a little bit more on beat. I couldn't get into the ice. I couldn't feel it."
Kwan's technical merit marks ranged from 4.9 to 5.6, while she received 5.6-5.9 for presentation.
"I wish I could do it over," she said. "It wasn't a good performance for me. That's a shame."
A skater as experienced as Kwan, however, is used to all kinds of situations, including making comebacks. In 2000 in Nice, France, she was third heading into the free skate after finishing second in qualifying and third in the short program. She won the event by vaulting over both Irina Slutskaya and Maria Butyrskaya.
In Dortmund Wednesday, Kwan and Ando split the second and third-place ordinals, with Ando coming out on top. The 16-year-old rising star didn't exactly have a stellar performance, but she did have a triple Lutz-triple loop combination. She's the only woman to ever land a quadruple jump, but she fell on her attempt at the quad Salchow this time around. She also had a triple toe-double toe combination, triple flip and two double Axels. A bad landing on her triple loop gave her four clean triples for the performance.
"I'm really pleased," Ando said. "I skated with joy today. I'm very happy to finish in second place in my group and be in the final flight for the short program. I regret that I fell on the quadruple Salchow, but I will continue to try it."
Arakawa, who recently left coach Richard Callaghan to train with Tatiana Tarasova, was the group's clear winner. After opening with a double Lutz-triple toe combination, she hit a nice triple Salchow-triple toe combination. Overall she hit six triples and collected all of the first-place ordinals.
"I have trained only for a very short time with Tatiana Tarasova, but I learned very much," Arakawa said. "I think that's why I skated like I did today.
Arakawa is also working hard on her presentation.
"Maybe I was a bit too focused on the jumps," she said. "Next time I also have to show a more artistic performance. I was very sruprised about the 5.9 — normally my second mark is lower than the first one. I didn't expect this."
Some of the other top skaters in the flight struggled with their performances. Japan's Fumie Suguri, who skated first, is in eighth after a shaky program that included some tough landings. She also doubled a flip late in the program.
Russia's Irina Slutskaya, skating in her first competition all year after being out due to illness, was fifth. She did not have a combination and landed four triples.
"It was great coming back into competition today," she said. "After being away for a year I really needed the feeling to perform and do my best again. I have not yet totally recovered from my health problems. There are still days when I feel tired, but there are more and more better days in practice. The program wasn't excellent, but I'm on my way back to the top."
Finland's Susanna Poykio is in fourth.
