ROUNDUP
Kwan's Return Is Most Popular
Associated Press
Monday, December 12, 2005; Page E06
With the Turin Olympics looming, five-time world champion Michelle Kwan appears to be recovering nicely from her hip injury.
Kwan won the women's competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Challenge in Boston yesterday.
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Fans determined the winner by voting in the stands and via phone and Internet, and Kwan won overwhelmingly, earning 59 percent of the vote in the finals to beat fellow American Sasha Cohen.
It was Kwan's first performance since injuring her hip in October.
"I started jumping not too long ago, like two weeks ago. From not spinning, not jumping to performing, that was a big step for me," Kwan said.
Two-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir overcame a fall in his first program to win the men's competition. Weir earned 64 percent of the vote in the finals to beat Michael Weiss.
Weir landed three jumps in his final program and overwhelmed the crowd with his innovative spins.
SPEEDSKATING: Enrico Fabris capped a successful weekend of speedskating for host Italy by winning a 1,500-meter World Cup race in Turin, with Chad Hedrick of the United States finishing third.
Fabris finished 1 minute 46.46 seconds ahead of Denny Morrison of Canada and Hedrick, the world record holder.
Joji Kato of Japan won the 500 in 35.29 seconds, ahead of Dmitry Dorofeyev of Russia. Jeremy Wotherspoon of Canada and Yu Fengtong of China tied for third.
In the women's 1,000, Anni Friesinger of Germany won in 1:16.30, followed by Cindy Klassen of Canada and Jennifer Rodriguez of the United States.
