U.S. skaters nudged aside at Skate America

EVERETT — Asia rises. America clings to past glory.

It's not an economic treatise, just a sky-view snapshot of the figure skating world as the countdown begins to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Sunday's final sequined flourish of Skate America in Everett only served as confirmation: If figure skating's marquee event, the women's Olympic final, took place tomorrow — or even in six months — it'd be a blowout, with a medal stand packed with talented skaters from Japan and Korea.

Such was the case Sunday, when 18-year-old Korean phenom Yu-Na Kim blew away the field in the women's free skate, amassing 193.45 points — and demonstrating that she's a full level above the best American skaters.

The only other skaters here with the chops to even stick with her — and they could not — were the Japanese duo of Yukari Nakano, 23, and Miki Ando, 20, who finished second and third with 172.53 and 168.42 points, respectively.

The top U.S. skater here, Rachael Flatt, 16, of Colorado Springs, skated well in a free skate packed with seven triple jumps, scoring 155.73. But it was clear she's not likely to acquire, anytime soon, the Gumby-like flexibility and stunning jumping height of the likes of Kim. Or the scores that come with that.

Young American Marai Nagasu, 15, might have the skills to compete with the world's best sometime down the road. But as of now, she's a work in progress, with a nagging ankle injury to boot.

And the one U.S. skater providing the most medal hope, 2006 world champion and 2007 U.S. champion Kimmie Meissner, failed badly here, continuing a full-fledged crisis in confidence, despite new coaches and new routines.

Other U.S. skaters are in the pipeline, including the graceful, but oft-underperforming, Alissa Czisny; and the young Ashley Wagner and Caroline Zhang. But the truth is, the cream of the American crop was here for Skate America.

And the cream got creamed.

That major vacuum everyone feared when Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen skated off into the sunset? Still unfilled. In a big, big way.

It gets worse: Ando and Nakano are only the second- and third-best skaters in Japan, where Mao Asada, the reigning world champion, continues to work on her "A" game as the Olympics near.

And worse: Ando and Nakano didn't even put their best stuff on the ice here. Ando has in her quiver a program-opening quadruple Salchow (playing safe, she made it a triple Sunday); Nakano likes to open her own free skate with a triple Axel, rarely seen in women's competition. She doubled it Sunday.

They'll bring both out in coming competitions. Look for the real fireworks show from both at the World Championships in Los Angeles in March.

Kim's Skate America performance, meanwhile, added to her status as a rising international superstar. She's a wonder on the ice. Her jumps soar and appear effortless. Her spiral sequence is top-notch. And her flying spins are entered literally in flight.

There's no secret why: She's finally skating pain-free, says her coach, Brian Orser.

Kim, a third-place finisher at the most recent world championships who trains with Orser in Toronto, got special treatment in Korea during the offseason for a longtime hip injury, and her entire training regimen has been changed to accommodate it.

First sign of pain, everything shuts down, says Orser, adding it flares up occasionally.

Even better for Orser, Kim is learning English, which makes their on-ice communication more seamless.

"We can have a regular conversation on the ice now," he says. "We text. We talk."

Their focus already is squarely on the Vancouver Games, he admits.

"We know it's 15 months away," he says. "We're having in-depth conversations about where we want to be in 15 months."

With a skater, that's about as far ahead as you can look, Orser says. He laughs when he's asked why he can't map out an athletic career two Olympic cycles in advance for Kim, as U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, purportedly did.

"For her, we look forward to Vancouver" — but no further, Orser says. "The pre-Olympic season is important. You want to go into the Olympic season as one of the favorites."

He's right. And for the first time in many Olympic cycles, that may be a status no American woman enjoys this time around.

Ron Judd: 206-464-8280 or at rjudd@seattletimes.com