Top skaters to watch this season
Michelle Kwan has dominated American skating for so long that it's hard to believe there were any other U.S. women skaters out there. By winning nine U.S. titles in a decade, and five world titles, Kwan pretty much shut the door on everyone else.
But there are young talented skaters out there. And with Kwan out this season, opting to study at the University of Denver and recuperate from a hip injury instead of competing, this season will give the American public a chance to get to know some of these other skaters.
And not just American skaters, either. There are plenty of international newcomers poised to make some noise.
To get you up to speed, here is our list:
Women
Mao Asada
Considered the best skater who didn't compete in Torino, Asada was too young (by less than three months) to qualify for the 2006 Olympic Games. Asada, the first woman to land two triple axels in a program, moved from Japan to the United States this summer to train with Rafael Arutunian. He is best-known for having worked with Kwan. "I am a lucky man," Arutunian said. "You can try to get Michelle Kwan one million times and never get her. The same is true with Mao."
Kimmie Meissner
The world champion had to fight for a spot on the Olympic team. Now, she has everyone chasing her skates. Like Asada, Meissner is one of the few women who have landed a triple axel in competition. (Meissner and our old pal, Tonya Harding, are the lone American women who have landed one.) Meissner, however, hasn't landed one since the 2005 U.S. Championships, when she claimed the national bronze medal, finishing behind Kwan and Sasha Cohen, respectively.
Meissner opted to focus on her artistry last season, but she didn't give her rivals any breathing room technically. At the World Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Meissner landed two triple-triple combinations. U.S. Figure Skating is downright giddy over this kid, especially as it desperately needs someone with Kwan and Cohen out this season, and possibly longer. Perhaps the hardest competition Meissner will face this season is expectations. It's tough enough to stay on top when you're a world champion. It's even tougher when you walk past two huge banners bearing your photo every day in the rink lobby before practice.
Yu-Na Kim
Korea is hoping it can be a force in international skating with this up-and-comer. Kim won the world junior title, edging out heavy favorite Asada. In beating Asada, Kim landed six triples, including a triple-triple combination. Like Asada, Kim was too young to compete in Torino, so it will be interesting to see how she makes the adjustment to life at the senior level.
Emily Hughes
It also will be interesting to see how the Skate America final standings fall with Asada, Meissner and Hughes all in the field. Hughes finished third at the 2006 nationals, and the United States sent three women to Torino, but she didn't get a ticket to Torino until the Games already had begun. Kwan, who withdrew from nationals with a hip-flexor injury, was forced to pull out of the Olympics, as well. Hughes, meanwhile, was kicking back with her family eating sushi on Long Island when she got the call to head to Italy. That made her the second member of the Hughes family to compete in the Winter Olympics. Big sister Sarah, who now is at Yale University, was the surprise winner in Salt Lake City. Emily has earned her own stripes in the sport and has even come up with her own innovative move for the season, a charlotte turned into a layback spin.
Joannie Rochette
Sure, there are a slew of Japanese skaters to watch, but with Canada putting on the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, we shouldn't forget about the Canadian women. A two-time Canadian champion, Rochette was fifth in Torino and seventh at the World Championships. Although Canada has not had a woman win the Olympic gold since 1948, when Barbara Ann Scott won in St. Moritz, Elizabeth Manley did her country proud by winning the silver in the 1988 Games in Calgary.
Men
Stephane Lambiel
With Russia's Evgeni Plushenko not entered in any international Grand Prix events this season, Lambiel is the man to beat this season. He won the world title the past two seasons, but both times, Plushenko didn't compete. When they faced each other at the Olympics, Plushenko took the gold and Lambiel settled for silver.
Jeffrey Buttle
The 2006 Olympic bronze medalist follows a long line of talented Canadian male skaters, yet none of them has won Olympic gold. As with Rochette, Canadians hope Buttle can break through in Vancouver. He is known for his artistic presence on the ice, and his programs are usually beautiful to watch.
Evan Lysacek
Lysacek could be America's best bet for a world medal again this season even though he has yet to claim a U.S. title. The winner of the world bronze medal the past two seasons, Lysacek showed a lot of courage at the Olympics. He was 10th after the short program in Torino and was battling illness. Still, he rallied with a clean long program to vault to fourth overall.
Johnny Weir
Strangely enough, this talented skater hasn't reached the world podium. His best finish at worlds came in 2005, when he was fourth. Weir is a three-time U.S. champion and has the potential to be a force internationally. One of the best spinners around, Weir often gets in trouble when he tries to put his own spin on the media. He marches to his own drum, but he needs to keep a consistent rhythm on the ice to stay on top.
Nobunari Oda
Japan is loaded with talent in the women's division, but Oda shouldn't be overlooked among the men. In a strange twist of fate last season, Oda claimed the Japanese title only to relinquish it hours later when a judging miscalculation was discovered. He didn't compete in Torino, but went to the World Championships and placed fourth.
Pairs
Qing Pang and Jian Tong
China's reigning world champions will be the team to beat, but they will face stiff competition from Chinese world silver medalists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang. Zhang and Zhang were also silver medalists in Torino. Pang and Tong, meanwhile, were fourth.
They easily could have retired after competing in the Olympics and winning their second U.S. title, but after finishing fourth at the world championships and after landing a throw triple axel, they decided they weren't ready to hang up their skates.
Ice Dancing
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto
The three-time U.S. champions couldn't compete in the 2002 Olympics because she didn't have her American citizenship at the time. A native Canadian, Belbin scrambled and was sworn in just in time to compete in Torino. All the legal work paid off. Belbin and Agosto won the silver medal, marking the best U.S. finish ever in the event at the Olympics. With the citizenship issues behind them, they can focus full time on skating instead of memorizing minutiae from the U.S. Constitution.
Others
Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, the Bulgarian world champions, and Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, the world silver medalists from Canada, aren't going to let Belbin and Agosto have a cakewalk to the top.
Amy Rosewater, a freelance writer based in Baltimore, is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.
