Third Olympic Berth Is Settled Off the Ice
Cohen, Meissner Earn Bids; Kwan Is Awarded Spot, but Must Prove She Is Healthy

By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 15, 2006

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 14 -- One female skater -- Sasha Cohen -- earned a place on the Olympic team during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday night. Kimberly Meissner of Bel Air, Md., also earned a spot by finishing second, but Emily Hughes -- the younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes -- earned a date with uncertainty. When the competitive drama ended, the political drama began.

Not long after Cohen, Meissner and Hughes secured the first, second and third places in the deciding long program, more than two dozen members of the U.S. Figure Skating International Committee filed into a meeting room and decided to give an Olympic berth to Michelle Kwan, who had petitioned for an injury waiver onto the team. However, Kwan will have to prove she is healthy by skating before a five-person committee later this month. If she satisfies the onlookers, she will take the place of Hughes, who has never competed in a major senior international championship.

There was much less drama in the men's competition. Johnny Weir claimed his third national title with 225.34 points, followed by Evan Lysacek (224.47) and Matt Savoie (222.36). All were named to the Olympic team and will be attending their first Olympics.

"My mom is getting drunk already," Weir said. "My dad is sitting home with the dog, watching on TV. Everyone is so excited."

Weir, 21, said he won't stop speaking his mind even though U.S. Figure Skating Association officials have asked him to tone down his comments. In the last three years, he has made several references to recreational drugs.

"I don't make statements just to make them," Weir said. "I mean every word I say, regardless of whether it's mean-spirited or offensive or whatever. . . . If I appeal to myself and my mother, I'm happy with that."

In the women's competition, Alyssa Czisny, 18, in fifth place at the start of the night, quickly eliminated herself from contention when she fell three times during her long program. Czisny, who finished with 149.51 points, proved the biggest disappointment of this competition, having been the most successful U.S. woman on the senior circuit this fall. She fell five times this week.

"I don't think I skated my best out there tonight, obviously," Czisny said. "I don't know exactly what happened out there. . . . Nationals has never been my best competition. I seem to be better at other ones."

Meissner, 16, put together a program that included a triple-triple jump combination and was flawless -- until the last 10 seconds. Despite being the only American since Tonya Harding to have landed a triple axel in competition, Meissner fell attempting the double axel that was intended to kick off a three-jump combination.

"I was little disappointed because I don't usually miss a double axel," she said. "Either way, whether I make the Olympic team or not I'm going to be pretty happy with nationals because I did the best I could."

Cohen, 21, who had finished second to Kwan at four national championships but was a heavy favorite here, made no major mistakes and received a huge ovation from the crowd.

"Lot of silvers in boxes and storage units all over the place," she said. "I think the gold one will have a special place."

Hughes, 16, fell attempting a triple flip but otherwise skated a solid program in front of an adoring crowd, including sister Sarah, who finished third at the 2002 U.S. championships but won the Olympic gold.

Even while not competing here, Kwan, who said she suffered a groin injury in December, was a constant topic of discussion. A U.S. Figure Skating Association doctor, Leisure Yu, said in a statement a week before this event that he believed she would be in full health for the Olympics. She was examined by another USFSA physician Thursday night.

Though Kwan won last year's U.S. championships and finished third at the 2005 world championships in March, she had not competed in a major event since. She has skipped the last three fall grand prix seasons, which are considered the competitive circuit for Olympic-eligible skaters.

Skating Notes: Two Olympic veterans with ties to Washington barely missed the cut for the 2006 Olympic team. McLean's Michael Weiss, 29, who competed at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games, looked shocked and deflated as he saw his marks flash across the scoreboard and realized he missed third place -- and the last of the three available spots on the Olympic team -- by just 4.88 points.

"When I got off the ice," Weiss said, "I knew it was going to be close."

Tim Goebel, the 2002 Olympic bronze medalist who trains under Audrey Weisiger in Fairfax, endured a perplexing meltdown during his long program to finish seventh. Derrick Delmore, who trains under Shirley Hughes in Alexandria, finished 12th.

Tears streamed down Goebel's cheeks as he addressed reporters after the performance, which included no successful quadruple jumps -- he had landed three during an exuberant performance at the Salt Lake Games -- and two single axels. He said this week he had stayed in skating since 2002 solely to get another Olympic opportunity. He ended his brief news conference abruptly as his tears turned into sobs.

"I don't know what is wrong with me," said Goebel, 25. "Physically, I'm healthier than I've been in a while. Everything has been fine. I don't understand. . . . I wasted four years of my life. I don't know what I'm going to do now."