Evern though I'd won Nationals,I wasn't considered the favorite to win Worlds in Edmonton,Canada.I was just one of the favorites.A lot of great skaters were there, including Lu Chen, the defending champion,and Midori Ito,another former world champion.
But, favorite of not,I was at my favorite competition.And what I felt at Nationals,I felt even more strongly at Edmonton---that my best could be the best.
After my short program---a flamenco-style routine---Iwas in first place,so things were looking good. But the freeskate counts for much more, so the competition was still anybody's to win.
Lu seemed to be as confident as I was.She skated a great long program.Frank and I were in the flower girls'dressing room backstage when we heard her scores.She got two 6.0's for artistic expression! Those were perfect scores. No woman had ever gotten 6.0's at Worlds, at least not that anyone could remember.
Now I was panicked. "How can I beat that?"I asked Frank.
"There is still a little bit of room,"Frank answered---because after the 6.0's,the announcer read a couple of 5.8's.
Frank was right. There was a little opening for me after all. If I got 5.9's where Lu got 5.8's,I could sneak through.
I went out on the ice and felt that great surge of energy that I've always felt at Worlds, and that I'd been feeling all season long .My music started. Now I was not the little kid they'd patted on the head last year. I was Salome. I was dynamite.
My program was going perfectly. As I came to the close, I hadn't made any mistakes. But Lu hadn't made any big mistakes,either. So I thought;I've got to do something more to push ahead of her. With a second or two to go in the program, I had only a double Axel left.In the blink of an eye, I decided to turn that Axel into a triple toe-loop. That would give me one more triple jump than Lu.
I got up a little extra speed, took a breath, and took off into the jump. I landed it cleanly. Then I saw that the audience was coming to their feet. I saw those wonderful American flags waving. I've done it.
I tried not to cry. I hit myself on the head, as if to wake myself up from a dream. But that must have knocked the tears loose, because they came tumbling out. My emotions overwhelmed me.
The judges gave me two 6.0's,too.It was very close, but most of them ranked me ahead of Lu. I was the gold medalist. Todd Eldredge had also won a gold in the men's competition, so it was the first American sweep at Worlds since Debi Thomas and Brian Boitano won in 1986.I had something in common with Brian, my hero!
What a year. First I became wicked Salome, who did her dance in order to have someone's head delivered to her on a platter. And then I became the world champion. You could even say I had become famous.
People asked if it surprised me. In a weird way, no. I mean, one part of me just couldn't believe that I was at the top of the podium. Yet at the same time, it seemed logical. After all, I'd been climbing that podium step by step for the past three years. |