SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Michelle Kwan’s medals collection still is incomplete. The Olympic gold she came back to claim four years later belongs to another American teen-ager – Sarah Hughes
Hughes, with the performance of her young life, soared from fourth place to win the free skate and the title Thursday night in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic figure skating history.
While Hughes played the same role as Tara Lipinski four years ago, Kwan made two major mistakes to fall to third, behind Russian Irina Slutskaya, who won the silver medal.
“I skated for pure enjoyment,” Hughes said. “That’s how I wanted my Olympic moment to be.”
The 16-year-old Hughes is a year older than Lipinski was at the Nagano Games. She also was a much longer shot to win because Lipinski owned a world title in 1998. And Kwan is a far more accomplished skater now, with four world championships and six U.S. titles.
But Hughes was sensational and the rest of the top competitors were ordinary.
Hughes’ mouth dropped open and tears sprang from her eyes when the marks showed she had won. Coach Robin Wagner, who was sitting beside her, screamed and the two of them hugged.
“I didn’t think it was possible after the short, being in fourth,” Hughes said. “It’s wonderful. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of.”
A skater’s final total is reached by adding “factored placements” for both the short and long programs. Until Slutskaya skated, Kwan’s combined score would have been enough to beat Hughes.
But Slutskaya’s performance in the free skate earned her second and pushed Kwan into third. The placement differential left Kwan with the bronze medal.
Hughes showed none of the tension of her short program, rollicking through seven triple jumps, five in combination. Wagner leaped as high as her student after Hughes nailed a huge triple toe loop-triple loop combo.
The smile on Hughes’ face grew along with the crowd’s din, and she nearly doubled over in joy when she finished a captivating program. Wagner, meanwhile, practically jumped over the sideboards to hug the youngster, who responded magnificently in the biggest moment of her life.
Kwan did not respond nearly as well. She fell on a triple flip, two-footed another triple jump in combination and didn’t skate with the passion and fire that has become her trademark in world and U.S. championships.
It was eerily reminiscent of how she lost to Lipinski.
“I made a few mistakes,” Kwan said. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Slutskaya had a wide opening, and she skated better than Kwan. But she was conservative, not bothering with any triple-triple combinations that have become her trademark. And she had a sloppy landing on a triple flip.
Still, she appeared stunned and angry that she didn’t win. The difference was a tiebreaker with the judge from Finland, who gave Hughes the edge in artistry.
Nerves seemed to get to Hughes on Tuesday night in the short program. But once she hit the ice Thursday and landed her first combination, she was flying to heights few predicted when she finished third at nationals last month behind Kwan and Sasha Cohen.
Cohen was fourth here.
“I didn’t want to skate for a gold medal,” Hughes said. “I went out and had a great time. I said, ‘This is the Olympics. I want to do the best.’ “
And she is the best, a spot Kwan had in her grasp. But the 21-year-old Californian couldn’t reach out and grab it.
Nor was it meant to be for Cohen, who was third after the short program. The precocious 17-year-old two-footed a triple lutz and fell on a triple toe. Her routine lacked footwork, as well, and she seemed to realize her medal chances were gone as soon as she left the ice.
Hughes is the seventh American, third in the last four games – and the most unexpected of all – to skate off with Olympic gold.
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