US women could be in for starless nights at games

Most Olympic years, you'd know more about America's top female figure skater than you do some family members.

She'd have better air time on NBC than Jay Leno; OK, maybe not the best comparison these days. She'd grace the pages of everything from Sports Illustrated to Seventeen to People. You'd even see her face at the grocery store, smiling at you from some soda can or cereal box.

But this is not most Olympic years, and there is no Michelle or Nancy or Dorothy or Peggy poised to take Vancouver - and the rest of the world - by storm.

Figure skating's balance of power has undergone a seismic shift over the last four years, with men and dance the big stories at home now, and skaters from Asia dominating the women's competition. No U.S. woman has been on the world podium since 2006 and, for only the second time since 1924, the Americans will have just two women at the Olympics.

"Skating goes through different cycles," said Sasha Cohen, who could restore some of the old order if her comeback from a three-year layoff is successful. "We have a lot of talented girls coming up, and they're all young and establishing themselves."

There's hardly a death knell sounding for figure skating. The sport is thriving in Europe, Canada and Asia, where world champion Kim Yu-na is such a huge star she needs bodyguards when she goes back to her native South Korea.

Even the outlook in the United States is better than it was, say, two years ago. Evan Lysacek is the reigning world champion, and two dance teams are medals threats in Vancouver. The national championships that begin later this week in Spokane, Wash., are being spread over two weekends at NBC's request - all four finals will be shown live on the network - and there's been no shortage of those made-for-TV skating specials.

Corporate sponsorships have picked back up, and numbers in learn-to-skate programs are on the rise, said David Raith, U.S. Figure Skating's executive director.

"Membership is up, sponsorship is up," Raith said. "It's just a very positive time for figure skating."

Except in the rock star division - no small hole considering figure skating generates the largest TV audiences during the Olympics, with women making up more than 50 percent of the viewers.

"It has not diminished by one minute the amount of coverage we're going to provide," said David Neal, executive vice president of NBC Olympics. "The Olympics are an international gathering, and that's what you present. It's all about stories."

American women have been the dominant story since the days of skaters doing figures on outdoor rinks. They've won seven Olympic golds, including three of the last five. They've claimed at least one medal at every Winter Games since 1952 except in 1964, which was three years after the entire U.S. team was killed in a plane crash.

The biggest names - Peggy, Dorothy and Michelle - had that all-important crossover appeal. Heck, even Dorothy's hair had celebrity status. The talent pipeline seemed endless, too, with another budding star - or two or three - ready to take the ice whenever a big name was finished.

"When people think of figure skating, they think of Michelle Kwan and they think of that ladies event and they think of pretty young girls doing beautiful spirals," said Ryan Bradley, a hopeful for the U.S. men's team.

Even after an injury forced Kwan out of the Turin Olympics before they started, it looked like it would be more reloading, not rebuilding. Cohen won the Olympic silver medal that year, and her teammates, Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes, were still in high school. A month after the Turin Games, Meissner won the world title.

But Cohen took time off after the '06 worlds, only returning to competitive training last spring; a case of tendinitis kept her out of the Grand Prix season. Meissner and Hughes' ascents were derailed by injuries, though Hughes will be back at nationals.

So youngsters got shoved into the spotlight. Mirai Nagasu was only 14 when she won the U.S. title in 2008, and she and runner-up Rachael Flatt were both too young to go to the world championships that year.

"I'm a little disappointed nobody seems to feel the other American ladies are very good," said John Nicks, Cohen's longtime coach. "They're vulnerable, but they're very talented. On any given night, any one of them could win. They've gotten a very rough deal."

The young Americans have done quite well at the junior level - Flatt and Caroline Zhang won world titles as part of back-to-back 1-2-3 U.S. sweeps - but they haven't reached the same level of success as seniors. No U.S. woman has medaled at worlds since Meissner and Cohen took gold and bronze in 2006, and Ashley Wagner was the only American who qualified for the Grand Prix final this season. She finished fourth.

Some blame the judging system, which critics say is so technically demanding it has stripped the artistry from skating. Those breathtaking spirals that carried Kwan the length of the ice? There wouldn't be time for all of them anymore, not with so many other elements to cram in. The elegance that made Nancy Kerrigan so captivating? It can go out the window when you're furiously counting revolutions so a spin gets full credit.

"I think the men are more exciting," said Frank Carroll, Lysacek and Nagasu's coach. "It's very hard for a female to be a darling anymore because all of those personality things that made them a darling don't mean anything in the new system."

Of course, there are some who manage it quite well.

While the Americans have been suffering growing pains, Kim and Japan's Mao Asada have been ruling the world. Kim is the reigning world champ, and Asada took the crown in 2008. Kim has won three of the last four Grand Prix final titles, with Asada winning the other.

Kim, whose elegance and style is reminiscent of Kwan, is considered the heavy favorite in Vancouver after going unbeaten in the Grand Prix season.

"It's about youth and about another athlete, Ms. Kim from South Korea, being so dominant in the international sphere," Raith said of the U.S. woes. "I think our athletes are coming on, many are going to stay around for the next four years and we have others coming up.

"I do believe, with any of the ladies that stay for the next four years, we won't have that question."

Kim blew away Asada and the rest of the field by a jaw-dropping 35 points at Trophee Eric Bompard, the first Grand Prix of the season. But she also showed herself to be human, losing the free skate at Skate America to Flatt and the short program at the Grand Prix final to Miki Ando. She still won both events.

"She's amazing because she's managed to pull off a couple of incredible feats," Wagner said. "But it was interesting to see someone who is portrayed almost as being a robot and perfect no matter what could actually make mistakes. ... We'll have to see how that works out in Vancouver."

It's that drama, plus plenty of others, that still has NBC "bullish" on figure skating, Neal said.

Canada has Joannie Rochette and Patrick Chan in the medals mix. Defending Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko is back after a three-year hiatus, trying to become the first man to repeat in 58 years. Two-time pairs bronze medalists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China came out of retirement for one last run at gold.

NBC is so high on skating, in fact, that in addition to its prime-time coverage, there will be a "Vancouver Figure Skating Hour" each afternoon on Universal Sports, NBC's cable partner.

"Is it a luxury to have Michelle Kwan? Sure, it was a luxury for us and for CBS before us," Neal said. "But you've got arguably one of the greatest female figure skaters of all time in Kim Yu-na. If she doesn't appeal to an audience predisposed to figure skating, then I don't know who will."