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Saturday, January 20, 2001

By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Michelle Kwan can't explain it. She can't predict it. And she isn't capable of it on a routine basis.

But when everything aligns correctly, Kwan can combine athleticism and artistry as well as anyone on the planet. Proof came again yesterday evening in the ladies short program at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships.

Wearing a grey velvet dress with green-spangled accents and skating to the London Symphony Orchestra's rendition of music called "East of Eden," Kwan brought the crowd in the FleetCenter to its feet with a graceful, powerful performance that earned seven perfect scores of 6.0 for presentation.

Needless to say, every judge placed her first.

"Just being out there, being in the moment, I think that's what all skaters dream of," Kwan said. "Feeling that sweet spot."

Kwan's athleticism was obvious. A day after she took an uncharacteristic fall in her official practice, she landed all three of her jumps -- a triple-lutz, double-toe-loop combination, a triple flip and a double axel -- with ease. She displayed the best spiral in the business and a variety of stand-out spins. She received technical marks ranging from 5.7 to 5.9

But her artistry dominated.

There was something about the music that was quintessentially Kwan. That's probably because the elegant, sweeping music is reminiscent of the Rachmaninoff piano concerto Kwan used for her short program during the 1998 season. At the Olympic trials that year, she also received seven perfect presentation scores.

Kwan's coach, Frank Carroll, thought this was Kwan's best short program since that competition, although he and his skater were reluctant to compare them.

"Each performance is different," Kwan said. "Tonight, it stood on its own."

Kwan's performance stood out even amid a slew of strong programs. The top seven finishers not only skated clean, which in itself is rare, but with style.

Second-place Sarah Hughes, wearing a periwinkle, sequined dress and skating to another different Rachmaninoff piece, coped with the stress of skating just seconds after Kwan's scores were announced. Even Hughes' coach was applauding.

"She did have a lot of 6.0s," Hughes said. "It's rare. Most of the time you don't have to skate after someone gets those kind of marks."

Hughes landed all three of her jumps, which were the same as Kwan's, and made only one tiny bobble in her spiral sequence. Her technical marks ranged from 5.6 to 5.9, and all but one of her presentation marks were 5.8.

Said Hughes, "I knew what I had to do, and I did it."

Third-place Angela Nikodinov, who has been known for her rather wooden skating style, showed off the influence of her new coach, a former ballerina for the Bolshoi Ballet, with a lyrical, elegant performance. She, too, landed the same jumps as Kwan ... but with less flair.

Kwan's music came to her team's attention in the mid-1990s. A coaching friend of Carroll's had always loved the music, but he didn't have any skaters good enough to interpret it. So he passed the piece on to Carroll, suggesting it might work for Kwan.

When Carroll heard it, he got chills. Kwan got similar vibes. They used the music for an exhibition routine in 1995, and Kwan has skated that program periodically ever since.

She began this season with an uptempo, jazzy short program set to an Eric Clapton song from the movie "Rush" and designed by former ice dancing champion Christopher Dean. The judges didn't respond with unqualified approval.

So after the Skate Canada competition in early November, Kwan's usual choreographer, Lori Nichol, altered the 31/2-minute exhibition program to make it a 2-minute, 40-second short program. Kwan had skated it only once in competition before yesterday -- and finished second at the Sears Canadian Open.

This time, the outcome was never in doubt.

"I think Michelle is one of the most beautiful skaters there's ever been -- she's probably going to kill me for saying that -- but she has a special quality on the ice that is very, very rare," Carroll said. "This music has a quality that is very uplifting, even if you hear it without seeing her skate to it. Combine a gorgeous, beautiful music with a gorgeous, beautiful skater, and you're on the right track."