Japanese skaters - so talented, so deep

The Japanese women's skating program is so talented and so deep that several medal candidates didn't even make the Olympic team. They'll be watching from afar, along with 15-year-old Grand Prix champion Mao Asada, when the Turin Games are held.

Imagine having the third-place skater in the Grand Prix final, Yukari Nakano, who landed a triple axel this season, not on the squad. Or Yoshie Onda, who beat teen sensation Asada in free skating at the Japanese nationals with a clean seven triples, also failing to qualify for Turin.

Yukina Ota, injured recently, but the winner of the 2004 Four Continents title, also won't be at the Olympics.

Nor will Asada, who did not reach her 15th birthday by the International Skating Union's age cutoff for the Olympics and is ineligible.

Instead, on their way to Turin are Fumie Suguri, Shizuka Arakawa and Miki Ando. All three have placed in the top 10 at the world championships the last two years.

Not even skating powerhouses such as the United States or Russia can claim such a wealth of skilled women.

"We are all so different. I hope we can show the world that Japan has unique skaters and the high level that Japanese figure skating has reached," Ando said after being chosen for the Olympic team.

The Japanese singles skaters already have been practicing at the Palavela, the venue for the Olympic figure skating competition in Turin, through an arrangement with the organizing committee. Certain teams were able to come in early and test the ice.

Suguri is the oldest of the group, turning 25 the last day of 2005. She is very emotional when she skates - and often after it. She burst into tears after a sensational free skate at the Japanese championships over Christmas weekend that won her fifth national title, but first in three years.

She may not have the technical skills of the others, but Suguri has been the most consistent. Since 2001, she has been ranked in the top seven in the world, including bronze medals at the 2002 and 2003 world championships.

She was fifth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

"I treated the last Olympics as a big international event. This time I want to treat it as a place to express myself," Suguri said. "I want to show what I have, to entertain rather than just compete."

Suguri was injured early in the season, but came back to win the free skate at the NHK trophy and then the national title.

Suguri trained in Chicago for a while and speaks English well, sometimes even cracking a joke in her second language. She could be a very popular skater in Turin.

Arakawa also has Olympic experience, but eight years ago. She was just 16 at the Nagano Games, and placed 13th.

Although she didn't make the world team until 2003, she won the world title in 2004 with an astonishing display of jumping that included a pair of triple-triple-doubles and a triple-triple in the opening 30 seconds. That dethroned Michelle Kwan as world champion.

Arakawa, who turned 24 on Dec. 29, is eager to return to the Olympics.

"The last time I skated in the Olympics, it was like a dream, so I feel refreshed to be going again," she said.

Ando is the youngest of the three, having turned 18 on Dec. 18.

Her showcase move was the quadruple salchow. She is the only female to do one in competition, in December 2002, when she was 14. However, as she grew, the quads became fewer, and the last one she landed in competition was at the Japanese nationals in 2003.

Yet, to some, it was a surprise for her to be selected to the Olympic team, especially after a sixth-place showing at the national championships.

But the Japanese federation picked its team on the basis of results over two seasons. She was sixth at the 2005 worlds and had a second and fourth in Grand Prix events. Ando has been national champion twice.

"I thought I would have to train for the Olympics four years from now," Ando said.

Instead, it is Asada, with her two triple axels, who will have to wait four years. But who knows? At the 2010 Vancouver Games, there could be another strong crop of Japanese skaters, and Asada might not even make the team.