Olympics story by Boris Webb, Sat, 25 Feb 2006 07:04:00 GMT


TURIN, Italy - Shizuka Arakawa of Japan upset the Russian dream of clinching all four figure skating titles in the Winter Olympics when she beat Irina Slutskaya by 9.90 points to become her country's first Olympic ladies' champion.

The 24-year-old soft-spoken Japanese women later revealed that she had contemplated quitting, "I thought about quitting - I'm very glad now that I chose to continue. I want to give hope to everybody who watches me skate," she said. "I made a mistake in the programme but I could skate with pleasure. I was hoping to win a medal but I'm surprised - it hasn't sunk in."

Skating to violin music of Puccini's Turandot, Arakawa was perfect on the ice and proved to be more than a match for her illustrious rivals including hot favorite Sasha Cohen of the United States. Cohen was disappointed at losing out, but was graceful and philosophical in defeat, "Ultimately, it's four minutes of one day in my life. I look back on the past four years and I've had such an incredible journey in this process. I've grown so much as a person and as an athlete," she said.

"I've become stronger, tougher than I think I am, and I have to be proud of all those things and take them with me to whatever I choose to do." Slutskaya, on the other hand was relieved to have won a medal after she made an early mistake, "I am happy with my medal. Other girls came and competed and didn't get any medal. I'm just happy with what I've got," she said.

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