The New York Times
February 13, 2006
Kwan Withdraws; Hughes Is Called in to Take Her Place
By LYNN ZINSER
TURIN, Italy, Feb. 12 — One jump on a practice rink changed the face of the United States figure skating team Sunday, ushering 17-year-old Emily Hughes into the Olympics. She will replace Michelle Kwan, who was forced to pull out with a groin injury, leaving Sasha Cohen as the only realistic candidate to uphold the United States' medal hopes.
When 25-year-old Kwan told skating officials here early Sunday that she would have to withdraw, ending her last hopes for a gold medal, Hughes and her family were eating a sushi dinner Saturday night at Daruma of Tokyo, her favorite Japanese restaurant, near their home in Great Neck, N.Y.
It was the same restaurant where Emily's older sister Sarah first met Kwan — and got her autograph — after Kwan performed at Nassau Coliseum some seven years ago.
Back in Turin, Kwan's withdrawal began what turned into a disappointing day for the United States. The team won two medals, a gold and a silver, in the men's halfpipe but did not win a medal in the men's downhill, short-track speedskating or the men's luge singles. Its total of three medals after two days of competition matched the total in Salt Lake City.
Kwan arrived here full of hope that she could compete for the gold medal that was missing from her Olympic career. A previous groin injury had put that in doubt, forcing her to withdraw from the national championships in January. She was named to the Olympic team after petitioning for a spot, then proving that she was healthy by performing for skating officials about two weeks ago.
But in her first practice here, Kwan landed badly while attempting a triple flip and United States team doctors said she pulled a groin muscle. This one ended her Olympic career.
Kwan tried to hold back tears during her news conference, but halfway through, she cried. "I've learned it's not about the gold," Kwan said. "It's about the spirit of the Olympics. I have no regrets. I tried my hardest and if I don't win the gold, it's O.K. I'll be happy."
Kwan's disappointment in 2002 was even more acute. She was the favorite, but fell in her long program and finished third. It was the second straight Games in which she failed to come through with the gold.
In 1998, she finished second to another teenager from the United States, Tara Lipinski. Kwan surprised many by trying for a third Olympics. At last year's world championships, she finished fourth in her first exposure to the new scoring system, which puts a premium on the kind of difficult elements she was not doing.
Her intensified efforts to add those elements, Kwan said, led to her injury-plagued season. A hip injury knocked her out of several international competitions and the Grand Prix series. A groin injury in December kept her from the nationals, an event she had won a record-tying nine times.
To petition successfully onto the Olympic team, Kwan had to skate her short and long programs for a team of observers Jan. 27 at a rink in Artesia, Calif. She performed so well that Bob Horen, chairman of the United States Figure Skating Association's international committee, said he believed Kwan could win the gold.
But those hopes crashed during Kwan's first practice in Turin. When she was forced to withdraw, Kwan advised Hughes not to forget to enjoy herself. "The Olympics is a wonderful experience," Kwan said. "I'm sure she'll have a great time and I'm sure she'll make the country proud."
Kwan said she would head home immediately. "I don't want to be a distraction," she said. With that, she left the Olympic stage to Cohen and Hughes.
