Cohen puts her spin on things

TURIN -- Her eyes were gleaming, shots of brown dancing through a step sequence that took her end-to-end. She had to know by that point she had, to quote snowboarder Danny Kass, ''slaughtered it."

Skating last, after more than four hours of sequins and sparkles and spins, Sasha Cohen threw passion into her performance, playing to the crowd with a shot of personality. Not only did she nail each of her four jumps -- triple lutz/double toe loop combination, triple flip, double axel -- she added the wink and kick needed to finish with the highest program component and highest total scores of the night. And, in the process, she managed to win over a Palavela full of Italian fans heartsick after the triple flip sit-down of national hero Carolina Kostner.

Cohen got a standing ovation. She deserved it. Her only sour note on the night? The garish teal-and-purple ensemble that would have made even Johnny Weir wince.

''This is a really fun program," Cohen said of her short routine, done to the Russian folk music ''Dark Eyes." ''It's a gypsy number . . . very seductive and playful. It's about getting involved with the audience, the judges, the spectators. That's what I tried to do. I love the program and when I compete and have people watching I love the attention. I feel my performance kicks up a notch. I just have fun. I let it happen."

Of course, with the new scoring system in place, the top three finishers in the short program -- Cohen, Russia's Irina Slutskaya, and Japan's Shizuka Arakawa -- are effectively tied. Just .03 separates Cohen (66.73) and Slutskaya (66.70), and Arakawa (66.02) is less than a point behind. That's where it ends. More than 4 points, a sizable gap, stand between the top three (and likely medalists) and the rest of the field, a set of far more inexperienced, unreliable skaters. With Kostner effectively out, it appears the trio at the top will stand on the podium come tomorrow. It's just a matter of where.

Cohen, after that final spin had slowed, pumped a fist, clearly enjoying the moment and the feelings. She's been here before, near or at the top of a major international competition, poised to take a medal. And fallen. And fallen again. She was third in Salt Lake City before tumbling less than a minute into her free skate, helping make room for Sarah Hughes. She was first at nationals and the world championships two years ago. A first-place finish? Neither time.

''Salt Lake was very different for me," Cohen said. ''It was my first major international. I had something to prove. I was a different person, a different athlete. I've learned so much and matured, and how to handle the nerves a bit better since then, and evolved."

That will be the question tomorrow. As for last night, Cohen remained basking in the glow of her performance, a skate in which the only problem was a double axel without enough lift that the pixie-ish 21-year-old still managed to land.

''I definitely don't feel flawless," Cohen said. ''I felt like I was strong and I made it happen, but I definitely wasn't flawless."

She might need to be flawless tomorrow. With the exception of Kostner, the top women made few major mistakes. No shocking falls, no particularly unsteady footwork, at least not at the top.

So it's advice time. There are 48 hours between the short and the long programs. That's more than enough time to screw up a mind and set the nerves on edge and erase a gold medal from one's future. OK, John Nicks, coach of the leading ladies' figure skater at these Olympics, what are you going to tell her? What pearls of wisdom does she get?

''You don't," Nicks said, ''tell Sasha a lot."