Why Tara won

The conventional wisdom was that as long as Michelle Kwan stayed upright, she couldn't lose to Tara Lipinski. Well, Michelle didn't fall, but Tara still won. Here's why:

  • Tara nailed all nine jumps, including her trademark triple loop-triple loop combination, which no other man or woman landed at the Olympics.

  • Michelle committed minor bobbles on two of her 10 jumps, nearly losing an edge on her triple flip and landing tentatively on her triple loop.

  • Tara skated the artistic performance of her life, receiving all 5.8s and 5.9s.

  • Michelle, despite receiving all 5.9s for artistry, skated deliberately and slower than last month at U.S. nationals, where she recorded 15 perfect scores of 6.0.

  • Tara received six first-place votes from the nine judges.

  • Michelle received the other three first-place votes, including the nod from the U.S. judge, Susan Johnson.

    The Great One

    Olympic gold medal, meet Wayne Gretzky.

    It was 2 this morning and Tara had just returned to her home away from home -- the Olympic Village -- as the new Olympic champion.

    She was in the cafeteria eating pasta and gossiping with Russia's Irina Slutskaya about Slutskaya's new boyfriend when "the most famous hockey player in the world" walked toward her.

    "I didn't have a clue what he wanted," Tara said. "He said, 'Congratulations, Tara.' I guess he watched."

    Gretzky held Tara's medal and smiled. The 15-year-old had something the 37-year-old could only admire.

    One for the ages

    The first few hours of Tara's life as Olympic gold medalist were more than scrapbook memories.

    She took her medal and held it to the phone when she called her friends from the Detroit Skating Club. When she went to bed at 4 a.m., she slept with the medal, holding it close to her heart.

    By 10 a.m., Tara and the medal were in the CBS broadcast booth at the Zenkoji Temple. After the interview, Tara went to the temple's huge incense pot and put her head -- and her medal -- in the smoky cloud in a purification ritual.

    "Look," Tara said, tracing the medal with her fingers. "It's the rising sun and the mountains in the back. It's so cool."

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