Eric Gay / AP

Sasha Cohen of the United States falls during the second jump of her routine in the women's figure skating final.  Cohen won silver despite the miscue.

Another point worth mentioning is that Cohen never was the favorite for the gold. The pre-skate line was that she could win it if she skated perfectly and everything else fell into place. But coming into the Games, Irina Slutskaya was the favorite. And Arakawa, as a former world champion, is hardly a surprise winner.

Going into the free skate, although Cohen was first, it was by must .02 points over Slutskaya and less than a point over Arakawa. If anyone dropped the gold, it was Slutskaya, who repeated her disappointing performance of 2002 in Salt Lake City, when she fell on the way to her country’s first women’s gold and let Emily Hughes’ sister, Sarah, take it from her.

Too bad for Russian
You had to feel for Slutskaya, who is 27 and in her third Olympics. She’s battled a circulation disease that nearly ended her career. Her mother is on dialysis while awaiting a kidney transplant. And late last week, the coach of the Russian Olympic Figure Skating Team said that Russian women aren’t suited to singles skating, explaining that they are too big and better suited to laying railroad tracks in Siberia.

I don’t need to explain what that statement would have earned him in the United States or Western Europe. Slutskaya certainly was aware of it and it couldn’t have helped put her in a confident state of mind going into the final.

Slide show   Emotional Moments Feb. 26: See photos of athletes' highs and lows from Sunday.

In her big moment, Slutskaya had only herself to blame. She skated without fire, without the lyrical pizzazz of Arakawa and Cohen, and, to cement her third-place finish, also crashed on a triple jump.

So give Arakawa all the credit she deserves for being the cleanest and best when it counted most. But give Cohen credit, too, for picking herself up, keeping a 38-year medal streak alive, and bringing home silver.

Most of all, keep an optimistic eye on the future, which Emily Hughes and Kimmie Meissner gave every reason to believe will continue the proud tradition of American women’s figure skating.