Feuding skaters make peace, almost

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TORINO, Italy -- Figure skater Sasha Cohen produced a stunning performance on the ice when she shimmied and sashayed her way through the ladies short program. And there was a stunning performance off the ice too, when two U.S. speed skaters pretended they liked each other.

Cohen's display lasted right to the end, but Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick could not quite make it.

The feuding pair had tried to present a united front to the incredulous media huddled together after the 1,500 meters final -- although no one present was buying it, including the skaters themselves.

But the show went on. Despite having sniped publicly at each other in previous days, the pair professed to merely being committed competitors with a strong rivalry, denying any personal bad blood between them.

Anyone who saw them on the medals podium, however, would have seen through that portion of the script.

Davis, the silver medallist, and Hedrick, who took bronze, both congratulated Italian gold medal winner Enrico Fabris. But they did not even acknowledge each other during their entire time on the dais, much less shake hands.

Still, for half an hour or so in the same room surrounded by team officials and journalists, they stuck to the official line.

The pair did trade some subtle -- and not-so-subtle -- verbal volleys, such as when Hedrick speculated about one day becoming an actor, only for Davis to pledge his eternal allegiance to speed skating, saying: "I'm not a phony person. There's no way I'll ever be a Hollywood actor." After a pause, he added: "Not knocking Chad." No, of course not.

They also disagreed on whether or not their antipathy -- sorry, fierce, professional rivalry -- was good for the sport. Hedrick said yes; Davis said no.

And then the facade fell, when Davis started talking about how Hedrick had not shaken his hand after he won the 1,000 meter race earlier in the program.

This time, Hedrick did. But it was too little, too late for Davis.

"It would have been kind of nice after I won the 1,000 if he would have been a good teammate and shook my hand, just like I shook his hand -- or hugged him -- after he won the 5,000," he said.

And with the first hint of a crack in the veneer, Davis stormed out, muttering: "Shakes my hand when I lose. Typical Chad."

That left a stunned -- but grinning -- Hedrick with the last word. He said he felt betrayed by Davis's decision to focus on individual races rather than skate in the team pursuit. The U.S. team, which included Hedrick, lost in the quarter-final.

"Not only did he not participate, he wouldn't even discuss it with me as a leader of the team. I thought we passed up a medal," he said.

Not quite a feud of Harding-Kerrigan proportions, perhaps, but still a long way from grace and poise of Cohen and company.

Brilliance
Cohen, skating last, produced an mesmerizing display of agility and assurance to finish the night on top. She had needed to be practically perfect, after world champion Russian Irina Slutskaya's earlier skate.

The American snapped her fingers and pumped her fists twice in the air after completing her routine, clearly delighted with her night's work -- and how she had handled the weight of expectation on her shoulders. Judges agreed.

Cohen holds the lead by 0.03 points ahead of Thursday's four-minute free skate, an advantage that both skaters know affords little breathing space. But nevertheless, she is on top.

"I've trained my whole life for this," Cohen said. "To keep it together and skate well -- it's wonderful."

But she acknowledged any of the top three skaters could still win. Japan's Shizuka Arakawa, the 2004 world champion, is less than one point adrift.

"It's going to be like starting over. Like the short didn't really count," Cohen said, looking ahead to Thursday.

The dramatic tension was palpable during the short program, as skaters clearly at the top of their powers dazzled all with their brilliance and self-assurance.

The crowd joined in on the act: the familiar chant of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" from the American contingent during Cohen's routine having been matched earlier by a prolonged cry of "ROS-SI-YA! ROS-SI-YA!" from Slutskaya's fans.

"I skated great and this is important for me," said Slutskaya, who is aiming to complete a Russian sweep of figure skating gold medals at Torino. While Cohen is trying to remain level-headed, she admits the thought of how it would feel to be an Olympic champion has crossed her mind.

"I think about it every day, of course. A couple of times a day," Cohen said. "It would be so nice to take (a gold medal) home, but my job here is to enjoy the moment, stay strong and believe in myself."

Wisdom beyond her years, perhaps, but then Cohen is practically a competition veteran at the age of 21. "I'm the grandma leading the U.S. team," she said.