Gold slippers

TURIN -- It was, finally, the night of the Rising Sun -- and it barely had to peek above the horizon. In what may have been the most slipshod women's figure skating final in Olympic history, Shizuka Arakawa won Japan's first gold medal in the sport simply by not falling down.

''I'm so surprised, and I can't find any words for it," said the 24-year-old Arakawa, after she had outpointed United States champion Sasha Cohen and Russian world titlist Irina Slutskaya to win her country's first gold at these Games.

Arakawa, who didn't make the team in 2002, considered retiring two years ago, and was only third at her national championships, didn't skate anywhere near her best. But on a night when Cohen kerflopped twice in the first 35 seconds and Slutskaya went down on a simple triple loop, Arakawa, the oldest women's champion since Sweden's Magda Julin-Mauroy (25) in 1920, literally was the only contender left standing. If Michelle Kwan had hung around and skated figure 8s, she might have gotten a bronze.

''As I was third in the short program, I was hoping to win a medal," said Arakawa, who claimed the first for Japan since Midori Ito's silver in 1992 and only the second ever. ''But I forced myself not to think about it."

By the time the former world champion took the ice, Cohen already had blown her chance at the gold, falling on the opening lutz of her planned triple-double-double, then going down on her subsequent triple flip-double toe. ''I definitely didn't think I'd be able to win any medal at all," said the 21-year-old Cohen, who was so convinced of it that she changed out of her dress. ''It was a nice surprise."

What saved her was the new scoring system, which gave Cohen points for trying, and the judges, who thought enough of her grace and elegance that they awarded her the second-highest component marks (62.41). ''It's bittersweet," said Cohen, whose pratfall four years ago cost her a medal. ''I tried hard, I have no regrets. For that performance, silver is generous."

Had everyone else skated cleanly, Cohen likely would have been out of the medals. But Japan's Fumie Suguri, who had lower technical values, doubled her flip-toe combination and left off the final loop on her double-double-double. ''Unfortunately, I cannot stand on the podium," said Suguri, a two-time world bronze medalist. ''That means that God showed me to work harder for the next time."

Then Kimmie Meissner, Cohen's 16-year-old teammate, couldn't finish either of her triple-triple combinations and left the loop off her double-double-double. ''It wasn't one of my best programs," conceded Meissner, who finished sixth, one place ahead of 17-year-old teammate Emily Hughes. ''But it's pretty good for being my first Olympics."

These were the third Games for the 27-year-old Slutskaya, who'd won the silver behind Sarah Hughes in Salt Lake City, and the pressure on her to win was immense. The Russians, who'd claimed the men's, pairs, and dance titles here, were going for an unprecedented sweep. The only gold medal they'd never won was this one, and if Slutskaya had skated the same program that won last year's world crown in Moscow, she might well have done it.

She never came close. From the start, Slutskaya began winging it, watering down her planned jumps and mixing-and-matching. She chopped off her opening triple-double combo after the lutz. She did a triple flip where her triple toe-double toe was supposed to be, then plugged in a double flip-double toe.

When Slutskaya fell on the loop, a jump that's so easy for her that she uses it in her show routine, her technical score was in the dumper, just five-100ths of a point better than the rookie Hughes. ''I'm so happy I got one more Olympic medal, another small piece of history," said Slutskaya, who would have been the oldest champion since 1908 (Madge Syers). ''I am a little disappointed with how I skated."

Had she been able to do any triple-triple combo plus a triple-double-double, Slutskaya likely would have walked off with the gold. As it was, Arakawa prevailed with a program that was so conservative and deliberate that she seemed to be walking barefoot on coals.

Several days ago, she and her coach had decided to turn her opening triple lutz-triple loop into a triple-double. Last night, Arakawa did the same to her subsequent triple salchow-triple toe. ''I didn't want to take the risk," she admitted. Then, she doubled her triple loop. So it went.

A cautious cruise through her final triple salchow-double toe-double loop and Arakawa ended her four minutes still vertical, with enough component points (63.00, including an 8.04 for skating skills) to give her a total of 191.34, nearly eight better than Cohen (183.36). ''I think I will realize that I have won a gold in the next two or three days," said Arakawa, who'll likely compete in next month's world championships in Calgary.

This was the title the Japanese thought they would get 14 years ago in Albertville, where Kristi Yamaguchi outsteadied a nervous and wobbly Ito. Odds are it won't take them that long for another. The best skater in the world may be Mao Asada, the 15-year-old who won this season's Grand Prix title over Slutskaya but is too young for Olympus. Had she been here, she could have shown her elders what a triple-triple looks like.