Skating order
The order for tonight's long program in the women's figure skating is set. Sasha Cohen will go second in the final group and then have to wait for four skaters to see if she's capture the gold.
The final skater? Irina Slutskaya.
Instant analysis from our figure skating expert, John Powers, is that skating last could hurt Slutskaya a bit because she will have warmed up and then have to sit backstage for nearly 30 minutes before skating. And at her age, that can cause you to stiffen up.
Another colleague, David Barron of the Houston Chronicle, so far has correctly picked 8 of the 9 medalists in order in the men's, pairs and dance. His picks for tonight, printed weeks ago, were Slutskaya, Cohen and Shizuka Arakawa of Japan. They all happen to be top three going into tonight.
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Look for contributions from the following Globe Staffers in Beijing:
- John Powers
- Shira Springer
- Bob Ryan
- Marc J. Spears
- Gregory Lee
- Scott LaPierre
- Patricia Wen
