Cohen poised for gold

TURIN, Italy – Now that’s an ending.

American Sasha Cohen, the last skater of the night, punctuated the women’s figure skating short program on Tuesday with a sparkling performance that landed her first place and gave the Americans a shot at a fourth gold in the last five Winter Olympics.

Cohen, the U.S. champion, skated brilliantly to a gypsy song she described as “seductive,” wrestling away the top spot from Russian Irina Slutskaya, the 2002 silver medalist and world champion who trails Cohen by a scant 0.03.

“It’s wonderful,” said Cohen, who has won silver twice at worlds. “First of all, it means so much to skate well and then be rewarded on top of that is icing on the cake, especially coming in second to Irina last year at worlds. It meant a lot to be on top.”

If Cohen is equally dynamic in the long program, she could prevent the Russians from cinching a clean sweep. The Russians already have gold medals in the pairs, men’s and dance. They would be the first country to take all four events if Slutskaya wins gold on Thursday.

“It’s definitely going to be tough for everyone to do great longs with the pressure,” Cohen said. “I’ve trained as hard as I possibly can this entire year. I’m going to believe in myself and expect the best.”

The field’s top three represent the very best of figure skating. Two of the top three were world champions – Slutskaya and Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa – and then there is Cohen.

The Japanese certainly are in position to spoil things for Slutskaya and Cohen, with Arakawa and Fumie Suguri sitting third and fourth. American Kimmie Meissner is a surprising fifth.

Both Arakawa and Meissner skated personal bests. Arakawa was given a 66.02. Meissner, a 59.40.

The short program went particularly well for the U.S’s up-and-coming skaters, Meissner and Emily Hughes, the sister of 2002 gold medalist Sarah Hughes.

With her sister watching in the audience, Emily Hughes skated a personal best 57.08. She was all smiles after executing her double axel.

Hughes replaced favorite Michele Kwan, who withdrew because of an injury.

“I probably let it out a little too much,” Hughes said, laughing. “It was a great feeling to know I landed all the jumps. I just thought it went really well.”

The 16-year-old Meissner was in the top three until Suguri dazzled the judges with an emotional performance that moved Suguri to tears when her routine was complete.

Getting her first taste of the big time, Meissner didn’t show a hint of nervousness, skating second. At program’s end, she also let go of some pent-up emotion.

“I was just so excited,” Meissner said. “I’ve been practicing really good and I just wanted to put it out there. When I finished and the crowd was screaming, it just made me even more excited. I couldn’t help but pump my fist a little bit.”

Just the second U.S. woman to land a triple axel, Meissner said she does not plan to unveil that complicated move for Thursday – even though she’s in a much better position to take risks than the top contenders.

“I want it to be so solid,” Meissner said. “Some days it is and some days it isn’t. I just don’t feel like it’s ready to put out there. I’m definitely going to keep working on it. I’m not going to give up on it.”

Right now, it seems as if the women’s figure skating event is Cohen’s and Slutskaya’s to lose.