LOS ANGELES — Michelle Kwan smiled, gave a small salute and then stepped onto the ice.

After four years, her Olympic hopes had come to this. A session in her home rink, in front of judges who would decide whether she was healthy enough — good enough — to go to the Turin Olympics.

The answer was a resounding yes.

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

Kwan sealed her spot on the Olympic team Friday, showing a five-person monitoring committee with jumps, spins and those majestic spirals what she said two weeks ago: She'll be healthy enough to make another run at that elusive gold medal in Turin.

She performed both her long and short programs in less than 12 minutes, a quick practice session, and did every one of her jumps except the triple loop. She even did two of those pesky double axels, the jump on which she pulled her groin last month.

"One of the reasons why I put in the petition is that I do have a shot," the five-time world and nine-time U.S. champion 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."

In Turin, she'll join Sasha Cohen, who won her first national title earlier this month, and 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner on the U.S. team. Emily Hughes, younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes and bronze medalist at nationals, will be the alternate in case one of the three is injured before the competition begins Feb. 19.

Kwan has been the face of figure skating for a decade. But there's one huge hole in her impressive resume: the Olympic gold medal.

She went to Nagano and Salt Lake City as the favorite, only to be beaten by fellow Americans who skated with the joy and abandon that used to be her trademark. Kwan won the silver in 1998 and the bronze in 2002.

Now 25, she stuck around four more years to seek gold one more time.

I have a lot to work on," she said, "and I'm going to try my very best to skate from the heart."

First, though, she had to prove she deserved to go.

Dressed in a black sweat shirt and warmup pants, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, Kwan was all business when she stepped onto the ice at 11:02 a.m.

"I was thinking this is not a normal practice session," she said.

Not with the monitoring committee — Horen, technical controller Charlie Cyr; world judge Paula Naughton; international judge Lorrie Parker; and athlete representative Brittney Bottoms — standing behind the boards where the hockey benches would be. And a handful of U.S. Figure Skating and U.S. Olympic Committee officials on the other side of the rink with two pool reporters.

After leisurely skating for about eight minutes and warming up with some double and triple jumps, Kwan started her long program, Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C Sharp Minor."

She skipped the first element, probably a double axel, but looked solid the rest of the way. She didn't have her usual theatrical flair, appearing to focus more on technique and execution than performance.

"Today wasn't the Olympics, so I thought, `Hey, go through my jumps, do everything step by step,'" she said.

She did three triple jumps — a salchow, flip and a lutz — before doing a double-double combination and a spin. Then she did a triple toe loop-double toe loop-double toe loop combination that earned applause from coach Rafael Arutunian. After the spirals that have become her trademark, she finished the program with a double lutz.

She showed little reaction when she finished, and looked serious as the monitors discussed their notes. After four minutes, she was back at center ice.

"I said, `What are you doing Michelle?'" Horen said. "She was ready to do her short program."

That's a quick turnaround for a skater, especially one who is still healing. She fell on a double axel, a jump she just resumed doing Thursday, but got right back up and quickly landed a triple lutz-double toe combination. She wore a big smile and a look of relief when she finished the second program.

And as the committee looked over its notes, Kwan tried the double axel and did it perfectly. Then she did it perfectly again.

"I'm pushing myself every day and trying to be the best skater I can be," she said. "Whether people think I'm the favorite, underdog, it doesn't matter because you know in your heart you tried your best."

After spending a few minutes analyzing the elements of her short program with the committee, the group took about a 45-minute break. When they returned, she and the monitors evaluated the elements in her long program. The focus was on her footwork, spins and spirals, which have specific difficulty levels under figure skating's new judging system.

There was plenty of give and take between Kwan and the committee. Cyr was the one giving most of the suggestions, and Kwan would listen intently. Then she'd go onto the ice and work on what had just been discussed.

She ended the day with work on her spins, spending most of the time on a flying camel. When she tried the spin for a fourth time, changing the angle of her body and her arm position, Cyr clapped and said, "That's it."

The session ended shortly after, and Kwan curtsied to the committee. She then went home to await the decision.

"Nothing is ever certain," she said. "You finish skating, that is all you can do, and you wait and see."

She needn't have worried. Though the committee met for about an hour, Horen said its decision was unanimous.

"Thinking gold is good," Kwan said. "I'm staying positive, feeling good. I'm injury free. So right now, it's just going for it."