The New York Times-20080124-The Next Ones Are Closing In on Their Moment

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The Next Ones Are Closing In on Their Moment

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As Caroline Zhang pulled her free foot toward her head in a Biellmann spin, one of figure skating's more difficult positions, her leg stretched with such apparent ease that she seemed to be made of elastic. Mirai Nagasu, like Zhang a promising 14-year-old, showed equally astonishing flexibility on a layback spin Wednesday, leaning so far that the back of her head nearly touched her backside.

If the sight of such supple young challengers at the United States Figure Skating Championships made Kimmie Meissner nervous, she was not saying. Meissner, the defending senior champion, finished her practice at the Xcel Energy Center and left without speaking to reporters.

She just wants to train and keep her focus and not have distractions, said Meissner's coach, Pam Gregory.

Two years out from the 2010 Winter Olympics, this week's competition shapes up as a typical mid-Olympiad introduction to the Next Ones, the up-and-coming skaters setting their sights on Vancouver, British Columbia.

Zhang, Nagasu and 16-year-old Ashley Wagner, the top three finishers at last year's world junior championships, all moved up to the senior level and were expected to contend for medals here. So could Rachel Flatt, 15, the silver medalist at this season's Junior Grand Prix final and a fifth-place national finisher as a senior last year. (Flatt competes as a senior nationally and as a junior internationally.)

The newcomers bring a fresh excitement to the women's event, which begins Thursday night with the short program and finishes with Saturday night's free skate. The three-time national champion Johnny Weir and the defending champion Evan Lysacek lead the men, who skate Friday and Sunday.

With Meissner having an uneven season, and the 2006 Olympian Emily Hughes withdrawing with an injured hip, the women's event is so wide open that there may be three first-time medalists. That could be problematic, too. Zhang, Nagasu and Flatt are too young to qualify for the senior world championships in March; skaters had to be 15 by July 1, 2007. Usually, the three national medalists go to worlds, so U.S. Figure Skating would then choose three others to compete.

Zhang draws the inevitable comparisons to Michelle Kwan from connections and coincidences. The two have a Chinese heritage. Each grew up and trained in California. Kwan's sister, Karen Kwan-Oppegard, is one of Zhang's choreographers. And Zhang's agent, Shep Goldberg, also represents Kwan.

For now, Zhang is keeping her expectations reasonable. I'm focusing on the podium, and skating two good programs, she said.

In October, Meissner took gold to Zhang's bronze at Skate America in Reading, Pa. A week later Meissner sprained her right ankle, on her landing leg, at an ice show in Cleveland, an injury she did not disclose until recently.

Though hampered, Meissner held off Wagner in Paris, but in December, at the Grand Prix final in Turin, Italy, Meissner fell on the first three jumps of her free skate to finish sixth, two places behind Zhang.

It was partly probably just a bad day, and partly because I've been going through a lot of changes with the program, Meissner, 18, said in a question-and-answer session on the U.S. Figure Skating Web site, the only formal interview she did leading up to nationals. It's been a hard year for me, with everything being up and down.

Gregory, her coach, said, She's feeling good, and she's had the longest amount of time to prepare her program where I think she's feeling comfortable right now.