magine having the third-place skater in the Grand Prix Final, Yukari Nakano, who landed a triple axel this season, not on the squad. Or Yoshie Onda, who beat teen sensation Asada in free skating at the Japanese nationals with a clean seven triples, also failing to qualify for Turin.
Yukina Ota, injured recently, but the winner of the 2004 Four Continents title, also won't be at the Olympics.
Nor will Asada, who did not reach her 15th birthday by the International Skating Union's age cutoff for the Olympics and is ineligible.
Instead, on their way to Turin are Fumie Suguri, Shizuka Arakawa and Miki Ando. All three have placed in the top 10 at the world championships in the last two years.
Not even skating powerhouses such as the United States or Russia can claim such a wealth of skilled women.
"We are all so different. I hope we can show the world that Japan has unique skaters and the high level that Japanese figure skating has reached," Ando said after being chosen for the Olympic team.
Instead, it is Asada, with her two triple axels, who will have to wait four years. But who knows? At the 2010 Vancouver Games, there could be another strong crop of Japanese skaters, and Asada might not even make the team.
