Clock ticks as U.S. looks for next star
Pick an Olympics, any Olympics, and you’d find an American woman squarely in the mix for figure skating’s gold medal.
With Vancouver only two months away, the Americans are in danger of being bit players in the Olympics’ glamour event. They’ve gone three years without a medal at the world championships, their longest drought in 45 years, and send only Ashley Wagner to this week’s Grand Prix final.
“We have a lot of young, talented girls coming up, and everything changes in this sport so quickly,” said Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen, whose comeback plans are about the only thing creating a buzz in the United States. “You don’t know who will be on top at any time or who will improve. I think we have the potential in the next few years with these girls.”
That will be too late to capitalize on an Olympics that’s the next best thing to being on home soil, however.
Americans have commanded the spotlight in women’s skating since Sonja Henie hung up her skates in the late 1930s.
Peggy, Dorothy and Michelle had that all-important crossover appeal, becoming so big they don’t even need last names. The talent pipeline seemed endless, too, with another budding star – or two or three – ready to take the ice whenever a big name was finished.
But Cohen and Michelle Kwan haven’t competed since 2006, and none of the young Americans has been able to fill the void, on or off the ice.
If Cohen can’t compete at nationals, which are Jan. 15-23 in Spokane, or she fails to make the Olympic team, the United States will have to hope two women unknown to the majority of Americans can capture the country’s – and the TV audience’s – attention.
“Who they think is going to be the most competitive is not always the person who wins,” Wagner said. “Also, miracles happen in the Olympic year. The last couple of years, the winners have been complete surprises. So people shouldn’t be pigeonholing us just yet.”
It’s not as if the United States doesn’t have talent.
American women swept the podium at the junior world championships for the first time in 2007, then did it again in 2008. Rachael Flatt, runner-up at the national championships the last two years, was fifth at her first senior worlds, an impressive debut.
Wagner medaled at both of her Grand Prix events, finishing second at the Rostelecom Cup and third at the NHK Trophy. Though she was the only American to qualify for the six-woman Grand Prix final, Flatt and national champion Alissa Czisny were the first alternates.
“We have so many girls that could make it to the Olympics,” Wagner said. “I couldn’t say we’re all like Michelle, but there are a bunch of amazing skaters.”