The Japanese figure skater defeated Kwan in the women's long program at the world championships on Saturday, ending the latter's bid for a second straight title. Kwan finished third in Dortmund, Germany, while fellow American Cohen, who led after Friday's short program, was second.
Fourth entering the final, Kwan was bidding for her sixth career world title. The 23-year-old would have become the second-most successful women's skater in the history of the world championships behind Norway's Sonje Henie.
Shizuka Arakawa is overwhelmed by the results of her free-skate on Saturday. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
- RELATED:
- Full coverage: world figure skating championships
- Robinson retires from figure skating
- Plushenko defends men's skating title
Canadian Joannie Rochette of Ile-Dupas, Que., placed eighth overall. Jennifer Robinson of Windsor, Ont., finished 14th and subsequently announced her retirement.
"I'm extremely happy to skate such a strong performance," said Robinson. "I am officially retired."
A Canadian women hasn't won a medal in the event since Ottawa's Elizabeth Manley earned silver in 1988 in Budapest.
Rochette made a big jump up from 17th in her debut last year.
"It's over my expectations," she said of being eighth. "I never thought doing a top 10 here. When people asked me what my goal was, I said just higher than 17."
Arakawa is the third Japanese woman to win a world title, following Midori Ito and Yuka Sato. She won $55,000 US for this week's performance.
Skating a technically bold program, Arakawa won by executing seven triple jumps, including a combination none of her rivals attempted. She garnered a rare perfect mark for technical merit, and her artistry marks also were very high, between 5.8 and 5.9.
Cohen, who has struggled with her consistency, failed to land one of her triple jumps on Saturday but managed her highest placement ever in a world championship. Cohen had a wobbly landing on an opening triple Lutz and later in her four minutes on the ice she stumbled in over-rotating a triple Salchow.
"I don't know why I missed the takeoff on the triple Salchow," she said. "I was focused and ready to go for it.
"But being for the first time on the podium at worlds in the first step to bigger things."
Cohen, 19, rode four perfect 6.0s for presentation from the judges in Friday's program.
She dominated the skating circut this season, winning three events and finishing second at the Grand Prix final. She also finished second to Kwan at the U.S. nationals.
Kwan had to kill four minutes after being introduced on Saturday while she waited for arena staff to remove a man in a small top hat, sunglasses, a skirt and a casino website address on his bare chest who somehow got onto the ice on skates and glided around mimicking a figure skater. Organizers identified him as Ron Bensimhon, 30, of Montreal, and said he was briefly detained and then released..
The distraction didn't ruin her day. With a new point-based judging system doing away with the 6.0 standard expected to be in place next year, everyone was wondering who would get the last perfect mark. It was Kwan. She got six 6.0s skating third from last.
Kwan said she was surprised when the uninvited skater appeared. She said her first instinct was to "look for a weapon."
"I thought safety first and got off the ice. Who cares about the long program if somebody is shooting at you," she said. "It's the kind of nightmares you have. Thank God he wasn't that crazy."
Kwan returned to the ice and put the distraction behind her. Other than doubling a planned triple Lutz late in her program, she was terrific.
"I made one mistake but, overall, the performance, I felt, was brilliant because I felt good," said Kwan, who won a world medal for the ninth consecutive year. "That's all that matters."
with files from Canadian Press
