Naomi Nari Nam

Miscellany Naomi Nari Nam, the 13-year-old from Irvine who recently finished second at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, and 14-year-old Sasha Cohen of Laguna Niguel, who finished second in the junior competition at nationals, are both reaping benefits from their performances in Salt Lake City last month. Nari Nam has been invited to join the Champions On Ice tour for its California swing in June.

Unable to completely regain her stamina and sharpness after a hip injury kept her off the ice for six weeks, Naomi Nari Nam on Tuesday withdrew from the U.S. figure skating championships. That added to the string of disappointments that the 15-year-old Irvine resident has faced since her attention-grabbing second-place finish at the 1999 championships. She hasn't competed since she finished eighth at last year's U.S. championships in Cleveland.

When you have come from nowhere, when you are a 13-year-old pixie with nerves of steel and a head forged of the same material--How else did you keep skating after you fell so hard that your head bounced on the ice?--when you have finished, despite that horrifying fall, second in your first U.S.

John Nicks could hide behind his dark glasses. The figure skating coach could hide his joy from teary-eyed Naomi Nari Nam and he could hide is sadness from ecstatic Sasha Cohen. It is not easy to coach two tiny girls who both want to win Olympic gold medals, who both expect to win Olympic gold medals, who both yearn to be the best figure skater in the world.

The setting was snowcapped Utah, the competition was open to all 50 states, but truth be told, this was the Los Angeles Invitational masquerading as the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Saturday at the Delta Center, medals were presented to the six best male and female solo skaters in the country. A partial roll call: Michelle Kwan of Torrance and Lake Arrowhead, women's national champion for a second consecutive year.

She got up. Naomi Nari Nam smashed to the ice Thursday night at the Delta Center and her head bounced up and down as if it were a basketball. And then she got up. Nari Nam, a 13-year-old from Irvine who is competing in her first U.S. Figure Skating Championships in the senior division, was knocked woozy for a second. Her bubbly music, a selection from "Cirque du Soleil," kept on playing. Nari Nam just tried to figure out where she was.

Unable to completely regain her stamina and sharpness after a hip injury kept her off the ice for six weeks, Naomi Nari Nam on Tuesday withdrew from the U.S. figure skating championships. That added to the string of disappointments that the 15-year-old Irvine resident has faced since her attention-grabbing second-place finish at the 1999 championships. She hasn't competed since she finished eighth at last year's U.S. championships in Cleveland.

The future couldn't be brighter for Naomi Nari Nam. Or more uncertain either. Figure skating's newest star was born Saturday night at the Delta Center. Nari Nam, daughter of an Irvine avionics engineer, oldest of three and a child so stubborn that her coach, John Nicks, said he couldn't talk his prodigy out of using music that Michelle Kwan had made famous last year, lit up the arena brighter than a skyrocket on the Fourth of July.

The buzz has started to surround Naomi Nari Nam at the 1999 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The 13-year-old from Irvine, a 4-foot-10 bundle of energy and joy, is getting phone calls in her hotel room from USA Today and ABC. When Nari Nam scampers onto the ice for a practice session, where several hundred people have paid $5 each to watch, there is sudden silence and whispers. "She's the little girl with the spins." "She's the little girl who might win a medal."

John Nicks could hide behind his dark glasses. The figure skating coach could hide his joy from teary-eyed Naomi Nari Nam and he could hide is sadness from ecstatic Sasha Cohen. It is not easy to coach two tiny girls who both want to win Olympic gold medals, who both expect to win Olympic gold medals, who both yearn to be the best figure skater in the world.

Naomi Nari Nam fell on her first jump, barely landed her second, stumbled out of her third. This was Nam's first chance to practice her long program in front of the fans at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Wednesday. Hundreds of them were pressed around the boards of the rink in suburban Lakewood, eager to see the little girl who had caused such a big sensation last year.

When you have come from nowhere, when you are a 13-year-old pixie with nerves of steel and a head forged of the same material--How else did you keep skating after you fell so hard that your head bounced on the ice?--when you have finished, despite that horrifying fall, second in your first U.S.

Miscellany Naomi Nari Nam, the 13-year-old from Irvine who recently finished second at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, and 14-year-old Sasha Cohen of Laguna Niguel, who finished second in the junior competition at nationals, are both reaping benefits from their performances in Salt Lake City last month. Nari Nam has been invited to join the Champions On Ice tour for its California swing in June.

The setting was snowcapped Utah, the competition was open to all 50 states, but truth be told, this was the Los Angeles Invitational masquerading as the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Saturday at the Delta Center, medals were presented to the six best male and female solo skaters in the country. A partial roll call: Michelle Kwan of Torrance and Lake Arrowhead, women's national champion for a second consecutive year.

The future couldn't be brighter for Naomi Nari Nam. Or more uncertain either. Figure skating's newest star was born Saturday night at the Delta Center. Nari Nam, daughter of an Irvine avionics engineer, oldest of three and a child so stubborn that her coach, John Nicks, said he couldn't talk his prodigy out of using music that Michelle Kwan had made famous last year, lit up the arena brighter than a skyrocket on the Fourth of July.

She got up. Naomi Nari Nam smashed to the ice Thursday night at the Delta Center and her head bounced up and down as if it were a basketball. And then she got up. Nari Nam, a 13-year-old from Irvine who is competing in her first U.S. Figure Skating Championships in the senior division, was knocked woozy for a second. Her bubbly music, a selection from "Cirque du Soleil," kept on playing. Nari Nam just tried to figure out where she was.

Naomi Nari Nam fell on her first jump, barely landed her second, stumbled out of her third. This was Nam's first chance to practice her long program in front of the fans at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Wednesday. Hundreds of them were pressed around the boards of the rink in suburban Lakewood, eager to see the little girl who had caused such a big sensation last year.

Naomi Nari Nam was first taken to an ice-skating rink by her grandfather. It was an innocent trip, just a treat by a grandpa to his teeny, darling granddaughter. No one expected that eight years later, 13-year-old Naomi would boldly introduce herself--"Hi, I'm Naomi, how are you?"--and say with a steely seriousness unexpected from one so tiny and so young that she absolutely hopes to participate in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as a member of the U.S. women's figure skating team.

The buzz has started to surround Naomi Nari Nam at the 1999 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The 13-year-old from Irvine, a 4-foot-10 bundle of energy and joy, is getting phone calls in her hotel room from USA Today and ABC. When Nari Nam scampers onto the ice for a practice session, where several hundred people have paid $5 each to watch, there is sudden silence and whispers. "She's the little girl with the spins." "She's the little girl who might win a medal."

Naomi Nari Nam was first taken to an ice-skating rink by her grandfather. It was an innocent trip, just a treat by a grandpa to his teeny, darling granddaughter. No one expected that eight years later, 13-year-old Naomi would boldly introduce herself--"Hi, I'm Naomi, how are you?"--and say with a steely seriousness unexpected from one so tiny and so young that she absolutely hopes to participate in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as a member of the U.S. women's figure skating team.