[ken5050]

Have they posted the order of skating for the ladies?

and a few questions for the cognoscenti, if you please.

1. Is it impossible for HUghes, #4..to win the gold?..would all three ahead of her have to fall?

2. Within the top three, is their an advantage to skating first or last, or does it depend on how well the previous skaters did?....

[Catspaw]

Any of the top four, including Hughes, can win a gold. And I think it's better to skate last. But--and I'm going out on a limb--I think it's going to be Kwan, the Russian (whose name escapes me at the moment) and Cohen, with Hughes in 4th.

[alisasny]

On Thursday, Kwan skates next-to-last, followed by Slutskaya.

This is all I could find so far. I will bump ya when I do get the list.

[TontoKowalski]

Ken, Hughes can still win gold. Here's how:

The top three finishers in the short program have control over their own destiny in the long. If they win the long, then they win the gold.

The skater in 4th after the short needs some help to win. If Hughes, in 4th after short, wins the long, and Kwan, in first, finishes second in the long, then Kwan still wins the gold. Interestingly enough, one of Kwan's world championships was won with this scenario. She was in 4th after the short, won the long, and the leader after the short finished third in the long.

The bottom line to you question: If Hughes finishes first in the long, and Kwan finishes third, then Hughes wins the gold.

Technically, a skater in even lower standings after the short can win the gold, but the results of the long have to break his or her way, and I wouldn't look for that to happen tonight.

[staytrue]

1. Is it impossible for HUghes, #4..to win the gold?..would all three ahead of her have to fall?

For all practical purposes, Hughes can not win gold. Kwan must finish 3rd or lower and Hughes must finish 1st in the free skate. This is very unlikely. However, silver and bronze are within reach.