U.S. champion Nicole Bobek fell down twice, hung her head at the end of her routine and left the ice in tears. Still, she was good enough to win the bronze medal Saturday at the World Figure Skating Championships.
Bobek, the 17-year-old problem child-turned-ice princess, had an improbable gold within her grasp after winning Friday's short program. Instead, she was overtaken by an smooth and stylish performance from Chen Lu, who became the first Chinese skater ever to win a world title.Having blown a chance for the gold, Bobek then had to sweat it out through the last four skaters. Then came the joy of realizing she'd hung on for a place on the podium.
Moments after Bobek skated, her American teammate Michelle Kwan also was crying at the end of her program. But these were tears of joy for a spotless performance that lifted Kwan to fourth and signaled that the 14-year-old skater would, like Bobek, be a title contender for years to come.
Surya Bonaly was second.