Arakawa gives Japan surprise gold in skating
American Cohen falls twice but gets silver; Russian Slutskaya 3rd
 Eric Gay / AP Gold medlist Shizuka Arakawa, left, hugs silver medalist Sasha Cohen during medal ceremonies Thursday. |
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TURIN, Italy - Shizuka Arakawa clutched the Olympic gold medal in her hand, refusing to let it go lest it all be a mistake.
It was hers, all right. And Japan’s.
A surprise winner from a surprise country.
“I still can’t believe this,” said Arakawa, whose gold in women’s figure skating Thursday night gave Japan its first medal of these games.
For Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya, gold was theirs to grab but got away.
Falls and mistakes pulled Cohen down to silver and left Slutskaya with a bronze. They knew they are lucky to have anything. Arakawa finished with 191.34 points, almost eight points ahead of Cohen. Slutskaya was third at 181.44.
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Arakawa is the first Japanese woman to win Olympic gold, and she has lifted a burden for those who will come after her.
When Midori Ito finished second to Kristi Yamaguchi in 1992, Ito apologized, fearing she had disappointed her country. No one had come close since then, and pressure mounted with every passing games.
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In November, Arakawa called Nikolai Morozov and asked if he’d be her coach. She wanted a change — her coach, her costumes, her programs. It had to be drastic if she were to have any chance.
“Yes, of course I was surprised,” Morozov said. “I thought she could medal. But I didn’t think she would win gold.”
But Arakawa has the determination that turns contenders into champions.
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She landed five triple jumps, three in combination, but it was her beauty, elegance and unparalleled musicality that set her apart. She didn’t show much emotion on her face, but she spoke it with every other part of her body, from her toes to the tips of her fingers.
Skating to Puccini’s “Violin Fantasy of Turandot,” her gracefulness was edged with power. Her spirals were breathtaking. And when she did an Ina Bauer, a variation of a spread-eagle that puts her in a full backbend while her toes point in opposite directions, the crowd gasped in delight.
Arakawa’s face lit up when she finished. When she saw the marks that moved her into first place, she pumped her fists in a rare display of exuberance and flashed a “V” for victory sign.
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“Right now I’m just so surprised about all of this that I’m speechless,” she said. “I never expected that I would be the first one to win a medal for Japan, so I didn’t feel that pressure. But I’m very happy that I am the one who won it.”
She sang the entire national anthem, and stayed on the ice for more than a half-hour, clutching her medal. The only time she let it go was to grab a Japanese flag.
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