The name at the top of the standings was "Michelle Kwan," and the graceful 20-year-old skater, the best of her generation, had won a fourth career world championship.
This one might have been more special than the others, and it brought a burst of tears from Kwan as she hugged Carroll and prepared for a joyous lap around the ice with a gold medal hanging from her neck.
"I can't believe this is happening," Kwan said.
By overtaking Slutskaya with a solid long program, Kwan affirmed not just to the skating community but to herself as well that she would have enough ammunition to gun for an Olympic gold medal in Salt Lake City in 10 months. A performer whose grace can mask the hard wire of resolve at her core, Kwan displayed a steadiness in the long program that was a triumph of guts over doubt.
"I haven't had a lot of confidence in my skating until the last month," Kwan said. "I didn't believe in myself. I was sort of lost and didn't know what I was doing. The last month, I understood this was my goal."
There is really nothing left for Kwan but the Olympic gold. In January, she won her fifth U.S. championship. With this fourth world title, she passed Peggy Fleming and has won more gold medals at the world championships than every U.S. skater except Carol Heiss and Dick Button.
The newest world championship wasn't the sweet surprise of 1996, when Kwan was a captivating 15-year-old, nor the cold comforts of 1998 and 2000, when she was still recovering from the Olympic loss to Tara Lipinski and Salt Lake City seemed such a long way away. Now it is clear not only that Kwan will reach the 2002 Games, but also that she will be a major player when she arrives.
