When Sarah Hughes first joined the same training group as Michelle Kwan at a skating competition, she was 13 and awestruck. She wanted Kwan's autograph as much as she wanted high marks from the judges.

''Sarah, please practice,'' her coach, Robin Wagner, told Hughes, who is from Great Neck, N.Y. ''You're just standing around.''

Two years later, at 15, Hughes speaks respectfully of Kwan, but she also speaks of the real possibility of beating her at the United States Figure Skating Championships here on Friday and Saturday. A curious thing is taking place at these championships. Kwan, despite being one of the greatest female skaters of all time, a four-time national champion and a three-time world champion, appears vulnerable, and questions persist about her chances of winning a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

A kind of Kwan fatigue seems to be occurring in the skating community. It is a nebulous thing, but in a sport with a subjective component, perception can quickly become reality.

This perception must be viewed through the lens of skating, where an environment of gossip and fierce opinion is fostered, and every move on and off the ice is judged. Loyal followers can tire quickly of the familiar, hungering for the new and creative.

Kwan has not finished lower than second in an Olympic-style competition since 1995. She has been at the top of her sport longer than any female skater since Carol Heiss four decades ago.

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