OLYMPICS
Kwan skates to 6th U.S. title
Associated Press
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| Two 6.0 scores for presentation sparked Michelle Kwan past two teenagers for her sixth U.S. Figure Skating title.
Associated Press |
This one was not for the doubters. It wasn't for the audience or even the judges. Michelle Kwan's sixth national title was all about satisfying someone else.
"I needed to skate like this just for myself," Kwan said last night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles after securing an Olympic berth with her fifth successive U.S. Figure Skating Championships crown. "Not so much for the people or the critics. I know I believe in myself. Tonight, I felt this was a performance all on its own."
And a performance featuring two perfect marks for presentation, sending a warning to her chief rivals from Russia: The chase for the Olympic gold next month will come through her.
Joining Kwan, the 1998 Olympic silver medalist, on one of America's strongest women's squads are Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes. The teenagers edged Angela Nikodinov to earn their first Olympic berths.
"I am so excited, I can't really believe it," said Cohen, 17, who sat out last season with a stress fracture in her back.
"I am proud to be an Olympian, it is really amazing," added Hughes, 16, who finished third. "I didn't even want to think about it. It's too much to fathom."
Kwan's sixth U.S. title tied her for second place on the career list with Theresa Weld Blanchard, who skated in the 1920s, and Gretchen Merrill, whose last crown was in 1948. Only Maribel Vinson, with nine, has more.
Kwan, 21, also is the first woman with five consecutive American championships since Janet Lynn (1969-73).
"I had this energy for the last month ... and it was ready to burst," Kwan said. "Today, I let it all happen."
Earlier in the day, Peter Tchernyshev and Naomi Lang won their fourth ice dance title, and with it, an automatic trip to Salt Lake City.
"I am very overwhelmed by the fact we are going. It is great to represent this country," said the Russian-born Tchernyshev, who spent nine years in the United States before finally becoming a citizen last January.
The other Olympic berth goes to Beata Handra and Charles Sinek, the fourth-place finishers. Yes, fourth place: Neither Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who finished second, nor Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov, who were third, are eligible.
Belbin is Canadian and doesn't have dual citizenship yet. Petukhov, a Russian, isn't a U.S. citizen.
ELSEWHERE
• Biathlon: Ralph Poiree and Vincent Defrasne became the first Frenchmen to finish first and second at a biathlon World Cup event. Poiree had just one miss and completed the 15-kilometer event with a mass start in 42 minutes, 42.4 seconds, edging Defrasne by 1.1 seconds at Oberhof, Germany.
• Bobsled: Christoph Langen guided Germany to victory in a World Cup two-man bobsledding event at St, Moritz, Switzerland, edging Christian Reichof Switzerland and Todd Hays of the United States. Langen and breakman Marco Jakobs posted the fastest time in both runs. Their combined time was 2 minutes, 7.68 seconds. Reich and Steve Anderhub crossed in 2:07.86, while Hays and the Garrett Hines finished in 2:08.07.
• Cross country: Fabio Maj of Italy won a men's 10-kilometer freestyle cross-country World Cup race, while Russia's Julia Tchepalova won the women's 5-kilometer freestyle at Novemesto, Czech Republic. Maj finished in 26 minutes, 12.9 seconds, while Tchepalova, the reigning World Cup champion, finished in 13:45.2.
• Freestyle ski: Eric Bergoust won a World Cup freestyle ski event at Mont-Trem-Blant, Quebec, beating Jeff Bean of Canada. Jacqui Cooper of Australia won the women's event, followed by Alla Tsuper of Belarus and Veronika Bauer of Canada.
• Men's downhill: World Cup leader Stephan Eberharter won a men's downhill at Wengen, Switzerland, to lead a 1-2-3 sweep by the Austrians. Eberharter completed the 2.8-mile Lauberhorn course in 2 minutes, 28.41 seconds. Hannes Trinkl, competing in his first World Cup race in almost 10 months, finished second in 2:28.67. Josef Strobl was third in 2:28.86.
• Ski jumping: Sven Hannawald of Germany got the highest point total in ski jumping history when he won his record-tying fifth straight World Cup event at Willingen, Germany. Hannawald got 319.1 points for leaps of 141.5 and 148.0 meters, topping the previous mark of 316.0, set last year by Poland's Adam Malayz at Willingen.
• Women's downhill: Hilde Gerg of Germany won her second World Cup downhill in two days at Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, finishing ahead of a trio of Austians. Gerg swept down the Zwoelferkogl course in 1 minute 22.31 seconds. Renate Goetschl was next, .05 seconds behind, followed by Michaela Dorfmeister and Brigitte Obermoser, who shared fourth place with Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden.
• Women's luge: Sylke Otto of Germany defended her women's title at the European luge championships, winning by .759 seconds at Altenberg, Germany. The dominant German's team also captured the men's doubles in heavy snowfall, with Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch finishing two runs in 1 minute 25.338 seconds.
