Cohen squeezes past Slutskaya in women's figure skating
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-22 10:27

SQUARE ONE

But she refused to get carried away by her achievement.

Irina Slutskaya from Russia reacts after the women's short program during the Figure Skating competition at the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, February 21, 2006. [Reuters]

"The free program is going to be like starting over, like tonight didn't really count. It's back to square one," said Cohen, who finished fourth in the Salt Lake City Games.

"We are separated by so little that anyone could win."

Sporting a sparkling catsuit, Slutskaya was the 18th out of 29 skaters to perform and her dramatic routine to Liszt's Totentanz remained the benchmark for most of the evening until Cohen squeezed past her.

The Russian executed a series of soaring jumps and artistic spins to draw loud cheers from the crowd and will fancy her chances of overhauling Cohen on Thursday as she will be the last competitor to take to the ice.

The top three were separated by only 0.71 of a point after Arakawa led a strong showing by the Japanese contingent.

Her compatriot Fumie Suguri finished fourth while Miki Ando, who will attempt to become the first women to land a quadruple Salchow at the Olympics in the free skate, was eighth.

Italy's chances of winning a medal at the Palavela rink all but vanished when world and European bronze medallist Carolina Kostner mistimed her opening triple-triple jump combination and crashed to the ice on her bottom. She finished 11th.

European silver medallist Elena Sokolova also put herself out of contention for a medal with an error-filled display.

A stunned Sokolova struggled to hold back the tears when she was left in 18th place.