Kwan not so strong

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VANCOUVER, B.C. - Apparently, you can change the dress, but judges still spotted the Michelle Kwan who showed up to skate yesterday afternoon.

And it wasn't the one worthy of a World Figure Skating Championship.

Wearing a springy tangerine costume, Kwan gracefully drifted through her short program at General Motors Place, stuttering only once, on the landing of her triple lutz-double toe combination.

She received a standing ovation from the sold-out audience. But the slight flub between jumps was enough to remind judges that they've seen better - from Kwan.

Kwan bit her lower lip and scrunched her brow as technical scores ranging from 5.4 to 5.8 flashed across the jumbo screen. She scored mostly 5.8s and 5.9s in artistic merit to place second in the short-program portion of the competition, which is 30 percent of the final score.

Irina Slutskaya took advantage of the judges' critical eye, executing a punchy and more upbeat routine despite her music stopping in the beginning of the program. Her dramatic layback spin seemed to twist forever and her jumps, including a triple lutz-double loop, were crisp.

Slutskaya placed first, leaving her in prime position to bump Kwan from the title today. It would be the fourth time this season, including twice at the Grand Prix, that Slutskaya has defeated Kwan in a major event.

"(Yesterday) was like a warmup," said Slutskaya, who never has won the World title. "It was important, too, but whoever wins the free program wins the championship, and I waited so long for this."

Its seems both skaters are competing against judges' memories of Kwan's stellar performances of the past. The Romanian judge was particularly harsh yesterday, giving Kwan a 5.4 in technical difficulty and voting her third, as did two other judges.

Kwan was not the only one squashed by the Romanian judge's pen. American Angela Nikodinov was voted fourth by the judge and Sarah Hughes sixth. They finished third and fourth, respectively.

"They are very critical and they should be," Kwan said. "I've been to Worlds eight times, so they know my skating well. They know my best performances."

Today's free-skate competition is just what ABC needed to battle March Madness on CBS. Kwan is the reigning world champion and has topped Slutskaya twice at past Worlds.

Kwan will skate third in the final group while Slutskaya is fourth, meaning the champion won't be able to see what she needs to do to win the title. Kwan said she doesn't watch her competitors, anyway.

Her coach, Frank Carroll, alluded to Kwan not performing two triple combinations, which many believe could be necessary to defeat the Russian. Kwan has suffered from back problems and hasn't landed two triple combinations in competition this year.

"I want to do the program the way I do it in practice," Kwan said. "It's the same idea as (yesterday) - to go in and just nail everything!"

Hello, my name is ...

Forgive Nikodinov as she fumbles with the microphone. She got a brief instruction on how to correctly speak into it at a news conference. She's not in this position often.

The native Californian triple jumped out of obscurity yesterday. Nikodinov, 20, is third behind Russia's Slutskaya and the United States' Kwan.

Normally, third is where you'd find the youthful Hughes of New York, but judges gave the nod to Nikodinov after she beautifully executed her short program. And to say she's stunned is putting it lightly.

"I never thought I'd place," she said. "This year, with all the changes I made, I don't quite know where I fit in with everyone. I feel like a totally different person. My personality, my attitude going into competition, I can't compare my skating this year to my skating last year. I feel like I have a fresh start."

Nikodinov made some big changes this season. Feeling homesick while training in Detroit, she decided to change coaches and move back home to San Pedro, Calif. with her parents. Coach Elena Tcherkasskaya changed her routines and gave her confidence.

Notes

Jayda Evans can be reached at 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com.