Mirai Nagasu

The ice is so big and figure skater Mirai Nagasu always looks so small, even after a growth spurt that allows the Arcadia resident to proudly proclaim she's nearly 5 feet 3. She may seem a solitary figure when she takes to the ice at Quicken Loans Arena today for the first phase of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but she will not be out there alone as she pursues her second consecutive national title.

Reporting from Greensboro, N.C. Alissa Czisny's first national title had been controversial. This time, there was no doubt. When she won two years ago, Czisny did it despite a third-place free skate that included just three clean triple jumps, fewest by a U.S. champion since 1993. Many felt the judges propped Czisny onto the top step of the podium by inflating marks for her artistry. Saturday, before a sellout crowd at the Greensboro Coliseum, Czisny deservedly topped the field on both the technical and artistic sides of the score sheet.

She has talked about needing to overcome her evil side, described herself as neither smart nor pretty, let her face be a mirror for every emotion she feels. Mirai Nagasu is not easy on herself, even if she swears most of what she says is not meant in a "self-deprecatory way" but comes from a sarcastic sense of humor that leaves her words open to misinterpretation. For all that, her answers remain blunt. Asked to describe herself, Nagasu replied, "Talented but lazy." It is the tension between those characteristics that Nagasu feels has kept her from building on the promise she showed two years ago, winning the senior women's national figure skating title at age 14. "Everything was so easy for me," she said, eating lunch during the break between recent late morning and early afternoon practices at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo.

Suspended Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas was ordered Friday to spend 30 days in a halfway house for his conviction on gun charges stemming from a locker-room confrontation with a teammate. District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin also sentenced Arenas to 400 hours of community service, which cannot be conducted at basketball clinics, and a $5,000 fine. Arenas apologized in court, saying, "Every day, I wake up wishing it did not happen." Arenas pleaded guilty to violating the city's gun laws in a Dec. 21 incident at Verizon Center with teammate Javaris Crittendon over an unpaid gambling debt totaling a few hundred dollars, "The evidence is that both of you felt disrespected," Morin told Arenas.

For someone who insisted all last week that the Olympics in which she hoped to skate were four years away, Mirai Nagasu sure knew a lot about the spoils she had earned for making the U.S. Olympic team that will compete at the Vancouver Winter Games next month. Nagasu said she wanted to attend many Olympic events since "we get the best seats because we're athletes. "And," she added, "I'm really excited about all the free stuff we'll get. I hope a medal will come too." The free tickets, clothing from underwear to fancy hats, luggage and other swag from sponsors are guaranteed.

Reporting from Greensboro, N.C. Alissa Czisny's first national title had been controversial. This time, there was no doubt. When she won two years ago, Czisny did it despite a third-place free skate that included just three clean triple jumps, fewest by a U.S. champion since 1993. Many felt the judges propped Czisny onto the top step of the podium by inflating marks for her artistry. Saturday, before a sellout crowd at the Greensboro Coliseum, Czisny deservedly topped the field on both the technical and artistic sides of the score sheet.

Suspended Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas was ordered Friday to spend 30 days in a halfway house for his conviction on gun charges stemming from a locker-room confrontation with a teammate. District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin also sentenced Arenas to 400 hours of community service, which cannot be conducted at basketball clinics, and a $5,000 fine. Arenas apologized in court, saying, "Every day, I wake up wishing it did not happen." Arenas pleaded guilty to violating the city's gun laws in a Dec. 21 incident at Verizon Center with teammate Javaris Crittendon over an unpaid gambling debt totaling a few hundred dollars, "The evidence is that both of you felt disrespected," Morin told Arenas.

Three forces of nature blew into the area late last week. Rain, snow and Mirai Nagasu. The weather wiped out the entire first weekend of alpine skiing at Whistler, forcing postponements of the men's downhill and women's super combined. Nagasu filled some of the entertainment gap with the mix of witticisms, wisdom, wacky observations about herself and her experiences, and the often self-critical honesty that already have made her a one-woman media show. Saturday, at a news conference for the two U.S. entrants in women's figure skating, the 16-year-old Nagasu once again left her audience to marvel at her no-words-barred approach.

In the end, despite all the intriguing story lines, the decision came down to a familiar scenario in figure skating, whether the judges preferred the accomplished athlete or the dazzling artist. But it wasn't the skater everyone would have singled out as the artist before the U.S. championships began. And it was no surprise, given the mathematical emphasis of the sport's new judging system, that the winner was an athlete who knew how to play the numbers exceptionally well.

Sasha Cohen took the ice a few minutes after the other five skaters in her practice group Friday afternoon, and why not? Doesn't the star always come on last? From the moment she finished second in her senior national debut at age 15 a decade ago, with a persona already so outsized it was hard to imagine that a 5-foot-2 frame could accommodate it, Cohen has been the closest thing to a pure diva in figure skating. Yet never before has everyone else in a competition seemed like just a warmup act for Alexandra Pauline Cohen, known by the Russian diminutive of her first name, so well known that the nickname alone identifies her. From 1996 through 2006, Michelle Kwan's commanding presence diminished that of everyone else in the sport.

Akari Nakahara wakes up at 4:30 a.m. six days a week. While most people are asleep, she races through breakfast before rushing off with her mother to an ice skating rink. Once there, Akari will spend two hours stretching, spinning and soaring through the air like a ballerina on ice. Only 7, Akari is one of a growing number of young Asian Americans who have fallen in love with figure skating and dream of becoming the next Michelle Kwan or Kristi Yamaguchi. "She loves to skate," said Akari's mother, Kaori Nakahara, a piano teacher from Japan who recently began driving her daughter from their home in Santa Clarita to the Pasadena Ice Skating Center to train with her favorite coach.

Three forces of nature blew into the area late last week. Rain, snow and Mirai Nagasu. The weather wiped out the entire first weekend of alpine skiing at Whistler, forcing postponements of the men's downhill and women's super combined. Nagasu filled some of the entertainment gap with the mix of witticisms, wisdom, wacky observations about herself and her experiences, and the often self-critical honesty that already have made her a one-woman media show. Saturday, at a news conference for the two U.S. entrants in women's figure skating, the 16-year-old Nagasu once again left her audience to marvel at her no-words-barred approach.

For someone who insisted all last week that the Olympics in which she hoped to skate were four years away, Mirai Nagasu sure knew a lot about the spoils she had earned for making the U.S. Olympic team that will compete at the Vancouver Winter Games next month. Nagasu said she wanted to attend many Olympic events since "we get the best seats because we're athletes. "And," she added, "I'm really excited about all the free stuff we'll get. I hope a medal will come too." The free tickets, clothing from underwear to fancy hats, luggage and other swag from sponsors are guaranteed.

In the end, despite all the intriguing story lines, the decision came down to a familiar scenario in figure skating, whether the judges preferred the accomplished athlete or the dazzling artist. But it wasn't the skater everyone would have singled out as the artist before the U.S. championships began. And it was no surprise, given the mathematical emphasis of the sport's new judging system, that the winner was an athlete who knew how to play the numbers exceptionally well.

Sasha Cohen took the ice a few minutes after the other five skaters in her practice group Friday afternoon, and why not? Doesn't the star always come on last? From the moment she finished second in her senior national debut at age 15 a decade ago, with a persona already so outsized it was hard to imagine that a 5-foot-2 frame could accommodate it, Cohen has been the closest thing to a pure diva in figure skating. Yet never before has everyone else in a competition seemed like just a warmup act for Alexandra Pauline Cohen, known by the Russian diminutive of her first name, so well known that the nickname alone identifies her. From 1996 through 2006, Michelle Kwan's commanding presence diminished that of everyone else in the sport.

Sasha Cohen was the headliner. And she put on a brilliant show. Yet Mirai Nagasu upstaged Cohen on the judges' scorecards, which provided an accurate reflection of Thursday's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Nagasu "must have been pretty good to beat that performance," said Cohen's coach, John Nicks. Nagasu was, winning the short program with 70.06 points. Cohen was second at 69.63 and Rachael Flatt third at 69.35, leaving all in strong position to earn one of the two spots on the Olympic team.

Akari Nakahara wakes up at 4:30 a.m. six days a week. While most people are asleep, she races through breakfast before rushing off with her mother to an ice skating rink. Once there, Akari will spend two hours stretching, spinning and soaring through the air like a ballerina on ice. Only 7, Akari is one of a growing number of young Asian Americans who have fallen in love with figure skating and dream of becoming the next Michelle Kwan or Kristi Yamaguchi. "She loves to skate," said Akari's mother, Kaori Nakahara, a piano teacher from Japan who recently began driving her daughter from their home in Santa Clarita to the Pasadena Ice Skating Center to train with her favorite coach.

Rachael Flatt is a young woman in a hurry. Flatt finishes her second on-ice training session of the day at the Ice Hall of the Colorado Springs World Arena -- half her usual number of sessions because she had to take a standardized statewide achievement test at school. In less than five minutes, she takes off her skates, pulls on a sweater and drags a suitcase, briefcase, oversized quilted bag and a purse outside the building, where she waits for her mother to drive her to a two-hour physical training session at the Olympic Training Center.

She has talked about needing to overcome her evil side, described herself as neither smart nor pretty, let her face be a mirror for every emotion she feels. Mirai Nagasu is not easy on herself, even if she swears most of what she says is not meant in a "self-deprecatory way" but comes from a sarcastic sense of humor that leaves her words open to misinterpretation. For all that, her answers remain blunt. Asked to describe herself, Nagasu replied, "Talented but lazy." It is the tension between those characteristics that Nagasu feels has kept her from building on the promise she showed two years ago, winning the senior women's national figure skating title at age 14. "Everything was so easy for me," she said, eating lunch during the break between recent late morning and early afternoon practices at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo.

The ice is so big and figure skater Mirai Nagasu always looks so small, even after a growth spurt that allows the Arcadia resident to proudly proclaim she's nearly 5 feet 3. She may seem a solitary figure when she takes to the ice at Quicken Loans Arena today for the first phase of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but she will not be out there alone as she pursues her second consecutive national title.