Michelle Kwan The Salt Lake fave had to settle for bronze. Why won’t she just stay home and play with her grandkids? Wait! Michelle’s career may span a full decade, but she’s just 22. Though she’ll never jump as well as her teenage rivals, she’s still the most elegant and artistic performer in the field. If the kids falter, Kwan could skate away with her seventh U.S. championship.
Sasha Cohen Cohen, 18, left California and her longtime coach to work with the renowned Tatiana Tarasova across the country. Sasha has always had enough dazzle to win; standing up under pressure has been her problem (witness her fourth-place finish in Salt Lake). She’s been on a tear this season, with two golds and a silver in international competitions.
Sarah Hughes The 17-year-old Golden Girl has been slowed by a leg injury–and perhaps a bit distracted by the college-admissions grind. (She’s been accepted at Harvard and awaits word from Columbia.) But Hughes is sure eager to shed one distinction: among the seven American women who’ve struck Olympic gold, she’s the only one without a national title to her name.
