ONE MORE CHANCE FOR KWAN.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

The U.S. has its linchpin for the Winter Olympics now, its star and main story line.

Michelle Kwan is going to Turin.

That sudden national gust felt Friday afternoon was NBC releasing a sigh of relief over the news its star attraction would not be left at home in Southern California watching waves lap while a largely unfamiliar cast of U.S. Olympians invade Italy.

If her entrance was not through the back door, it was at least the side door, which mattered not one bit to advertisers and the network.

Figure skating rules at the Winter Games - particularly women's - and the U.S. again had its biggest and most identifiable star.

But it's one thing for America's 'Ice Princess' to return to the Olympics, and quite another for her to finally leave as 'Queen of the Games'.

Twice before, Kwan has packed for the Olympics as the favorite, only to return with luggage lacking the expected gold.

Now at age 25, a veritable senior citizen by figure skating standards, Kwan was deemed healthy enough Friday by a special five-member panel to be given a pass onto the U.S. team.

``It is truly the opinion of this monitoring team that Michelle could win the Olympics,'' said Bob Horen, chairman of U.S. Figure Skating international committee. ``We really believe that, and she skated that way.''

If she's able to pull off gold, it would be the story of the Winter Olympics.

The veteran Kwan, finally able to overcome the kids, finally able to add the one glaring omission to her otherwise sterling resume.

It would be an endearing story. Kwan has been our darling of the ice for over a decade. She is sweet and unassuming, unpretentious, extremely likable and has somehow maintained her girlishness while fully embracing womanhood.

Yet the painful truth for Kwan supporters is that she is unlikely to find a late fairy-tale ending to her storied career.

She went to Nagano as the heavy favorite, skated tentatively and was upset by teammate Tara Lipinski. She went to Salt Lake City the favorite, skated conservatively and was upset by teammate Sarah Hughes.

Kwan is an elegant skater. A glorious waltz on the ice. Her spirals take breaths away.

But in Nagano and Salt Lake City, she was not only outskated by more energetic youngsters, she was plain outjumped.

Now in the comparative twilight of her career, she is supposed to add the kinds of jumps needed to claim gold?

``One of the reasons why I put in the petition is that I do have a shot,'' Kwan said. ``I can't tell you the percentage. I will take advantage of that shot and do my best. As of now, I'm right on schedule.''

No doubt she has a shot, but truth is, a fairly unlikely one.

Elite female skaters wow judges and score serious points with triple-triple combinations. Lipinski and Hughes both hit triple-triples in winning gold. Kwan did not try one in Nagano and did not land one in Salt Lake City.

Neither did she attempt one Friday on her home rink in Artesia before a friendly five-member U.S. panel. It will be different in Turin, where teammate Sasha Cohen, Russia's Irina Slutskaya and others will be attempting triple combinations before international judges.

Kwan fell Friday while attempting a double-axel, the same jump she said caused the groin injury that kept her out of the U.S. championships in St. Louis two weeks ago.

Kwan is smooth as a fine French cognac, but the necessary athleticism - never her primary strength anyway - now seems beyond her, and that is something her younger competitors possess.

She is trying to overcome groin and hip injuries. She is still fighting expectations. She is burdened by five world championships, nine U.S. championships and no Olympic gold.

The injuries have largely kept her out of recent sight. The only major competition she's participated in under the new scoring rules was the World Championships last March, when she came in fourth.

Some are upset she's been allowed to make the Turin Olympic team after failing to earn a spot at the St. Louis competition.

Yet it's happened this way in skating before - Todd Eldridge in '92 and Nancy Kerrigan in '94 (the year she bumped off a 13-year-old Kwan). The petition was fairly playing by the rules.

Kwan's extraordinary career earned her special treatment, and the less- than-international-caliber performances of Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes in St. Louis made it all that much easier for the special committee.

She has been the U.S. face of figure skating for almost 12 years, and she's going to Turin. NBC can relax. It has its great saga, a ready-made and familiar story line.

Kwan has her swan song, and one final attempt at elusive gold.

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Photo:

The 2006 Turin Games probably will be the last shot for Michelle Kwan to win that elusive prize - an Olympic gold metal.

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images