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Kwan a possibility for Skate America?
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Michelle Kwan AND Sasha Cohen coming back for the 2010 Olympics in February?
Say it might be so.
A slot in U.S. entries for Skate America Nov. 12-15 in Lake Placid has been conspicuously left open, leading to speculation it's being held for Kwan, says The Baltimore Sun's Candus Thomson.
Kwan is mostly mum, and even her long-time agent says she hasn't asked for the slot, or has tipped him off about her plans.
But Kwan, who just graduated from the University of Denver, said she has been training for months. Kwan would be 29 in Vancouver in February, creaky by figure skating standards and especially striking considering the top-ranked American skaters are currently 21, 16 and 16.
Mostly out of the public eye since 2006, Kwan remains America's most popular skater, by far, in at least a generation. Kwan has said she was inspired for a possible comeback by watching swimmer Dara Torres, who at 41 became the oldest Olympic swimming medalist when she won three silvers at Beijing in August.
Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, was the first to throw down the glove, requesting and receiving a slot in Skate America, the next-to-last event in the Grand Prix series. Cohen left the sport after the 2006 World Championships to pursue an acting career, but has been touring for ice shows ever since.
Can Kwan be far behind?
Kwan's only competition under the new, non-6.0 scoring system was the 2005 World championships, where she placed fourth. She says she still loves skating, and her surgically repaired hip no longer bothers her. (She didn't compete in the 2006 trials but was granted an injury exemption onto the Olympic team before withdrawing prior to competition in Torino.)
Unlike Cohen, automatically qualified for January's 2010 Olympic Trials (U.S. Championships in Spokane) by virtue of winning a medal in the most-recent Olympics, Kwan would have to qualify via regional competition in October. She'll have to declare whether she's coming back by midnight on Sept. 1, Thomson reports.
But it's likely it'll be earlier than that. Stay tuned.
