Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski have battled each other the last two seasons. In 1997, Lipinski upset Kwan to win the U.S. and world titles. This year, Kwan won her U.S. title back with two performances that earned her 15 perfect scores of 6.0. After securing the top two places Wednesday in the opening short program, their rivalry now reaches a new level - with an Olympic gold medal at stake in Friday's free skate. Five U.S. women have won Olympic gold: Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss Jenkins, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and Kristi Yamaguchi. ''We'd love to welcome another member to our club,'' Heiss Jenkins said. Not since the 1956 Olympics has one nation captured the top two spots in women's skating. That year it was also two Americans: gold medalist Albright and silver medalist Heiss Jenkins.

Michelle Kwan has a chance to duplicate what Ilia Kulik did last week - win the Olympic gold medal while going first in the final group. Kwan, who won the short program Wednesday, drew the opening spot in the premier group for Friday's program. Kulik also won the men's short, then went first and was superb in the free skate, worth two-thirds of the total score. Tara Lipinski, second in the short program and Kwan's main rival for two years, will skate next-to-last of the 24 skaters. The only one who will go after Lipinski is third-place Maria Butyrskaya of Russia. Nicole Bobek, the other American, missed all of her jumps in the short program and wound up 17th after the short program. She's in the second group for the free skate, skating 10th overall.

Michelle Kwan floated majestically through her short program Wednesday, taking the lead over American rival Tara Lipinski. Kwan, who posted seven 6.0s at the U.S. championships in her short program, didn't get any perfect marks this time. She did get a sweep of 5.9s for artistry, though, and finished first with eight of the nine judges. Lipinski nailed her triple lutz-double loop combination and did a very nice triple flip and double axel. Her scores ranged from 5.6 to 5.8, with one 5.9 for presentation. Maria Butyrskaya of Russia was third. The third American, Nicole Bobek, fell once, stepped out of another jump and cut short a third. She cried while awaiting her marks, never looking up. Her 17th-place finish knocks her far out of medal contention. The free skating competition is Friday.

: Michelle Kwan floats on the ice, Tara Lipinski soars above it. Either way, they are skating in their own world. Soon that world should be adorned with Olympic gold and silver. There will be no bronze, or anything like it, for Nicole Bobek. Only tears. ''Before I started, I heard people cheering and I thought, 'I'm in heaven,''' Kwan said after she edged Lipinski in Wednesday's short program, worth one-third of the total score. ''People clapping, billions of people watching on TV and I'm skating. It's just me and the ice. ''When I'm on the ice, I don't think anybody can stop me.''

It would take a colossal collapse by the American teen-agers to prevent the first 1-2 finish by any nation in Olympic women's figure skating since 1956. The second and final part of the competition, the free skate, will be Friday night. Both Kwan and Lipinski expressed joy with their surroundings through their skating and their celebrations. And both seem to know they are performing in another realm, far beyond where third-place Maria Butyrskaya of Russia or the other contenders can reach. ''I don't think it is comparable to any other competition, just the feeling, the excitement, seeing the American flag wave around, the Olympics rings in the middle of the ice,'' Kwan said after placing first with eight of the nine judges - only the French judge chose Lipinski. ''It was really exciting to be there.''

Kwan, 17, skated majestically through her routine to piano music by Rachmaninoff. As she spiraled across the ice, a smile lit up her face. She'd already lit up the White Ring arena with her grace. The jumps - superb but not as spectacular as Lipinski's - are almost like an afterthought with the two-time American champion. She does them so effortlessly that you only notice when she misses. Kwan didn't miss anything.

: Neither did Lipinski. The 15-year-old defending world champion looked nervous when she took the ice, but she quickly turned into a beaming ballerina. By the time she'd finished her jumps, with 45 seconds left in the program to music from the film ''Anastasia,'' she was smiling from ear to ear. ''It was the best program I thought I've done, ever,'' Lipinski said. ''This is the first time I felt like I wanted to cry. This is not the most happy, but ... I can't even describe the feeling. ''It's that feeling it seems so hard at the moment, and when you do it, it's like a miracle.'' HEAD-TO-HEAD: Miracles on ice seem commonplace for Kwan and Lipinski. Kwan won the world championship in 1996, then lost it to Lipinski last year. Same thing at nationals. But this year, Kwan has dominated the meetings between the cordial but not particularly close rivals. She punctuated her return to the top with 15 perfect marks at the U.S. championships, including seven in the short program. There were no 6.0s here, but a sweep of 5.9s for artistry. ''I didn't see anyone skate,'' said Kwan, of Torrance, Calif., who seems fully recovered from a stress fracture in her left foot that kept her out of competition for two months last fall. ''I thought, 'I'm here for my own. It's an individual sport, focus on yourself. I kind of knocked some sense into myself.'' And she knocked out the competition, except for Lipinski.

Bobek's performance was a disaster. The third American in the competition, who had also been touted as a medal contender, didn't complete any required jumps and left the ice in tears, refusing to speak to anyone. She was ranked 17th out of 28 skaters. ''It's hard to see a skater who works really hard at home come here and have a disappointment,'' said Kwan, who trains in the same rink at Lake Arrowhead, Calif., as Bobek. ''I know she will be strong enough to make it to the free program and skate well.

Maria Butyrskaya of Russia was first up, an unenviable position. She was somewhat listless and two-footed her triple lutz in combination. But the judges were kind to the European champion, placing her ahead of China's elegant Lu Chen, back on the international scene after a series of ankle injuries and illnesses, plus a feud with the Chinese federation. ''Last year was not very good and everybody wants to see me,'' said Chen, the bronze medalist at Lillehammer and 1995 world champion. ''I just want to have a performance for everyone and tell them I'm back.'' Irina Slutskaya, having a poor season after rising to the top of Russian skating, was fifth. France's Vanessa Gusmeroli, the surprise world bronze medalist last year, was eighth. Surya Bonaly, the French veteran who was third in the world from 1993-95, received the strangest range of marks - from 4.9 for artistry from the Australian judge to 5.7 for both technical merit and artistry from France. She ended up sixth and frustrated with the panel. ''Because I am French and they prefer the other ones?'' she said when asked why she got such inconsistent marks, despite doing a triple toe-triple toe combination. ''After 10 years, I am used to it. I am tired of crying and crying and crying.'' KEEPING IN TOUCH: The Michelle Kwan (Torrance, Calif.) camp is communicating this week via walkie-talkie. Kwan's agent, Shep Goldberg, bought three of them before he left for Japan. He has one, as does Kwan's coach, Frank Carroll, and Kwan's father, Danny. They are in constant communication. Carroll has been constantly interrupted this week while talking to journalists by Danny Kwan, who contacts him to tell him a car is ready to take them all back. There are no walkie-talkiers for the Tara Lipinski (Sugar Land, Texas) group, who rely onold-fashioned cell phones. STOJKO MAY STAY: Canada's Elvis Stojko, who suffered a groin injury during his silver medal performance Saturday, says he might stay in the sport four more years. "There is a chance,'' said Stojko, 25, a three-time world champion who also won figure skating's silver medal in the 1994 Lillehammer Games. "Some people might laugh, but I believe its mind over matter. Stojko broke down in tears Monday when he talked about the support he has received.

Both Lipinski, who is in 10th grade, and Michelle Kwan, a senior, brought homework to the Olympics. Lipinski brought a book, The Water is Wide, by Pat Conroy. Kwan also brought movies from home to see in her hotel room. Of the 197 U.S. Olympians, only two are not staying in the Olympic Village: Kwan and Nicole Bobek. Kwan's coach Frank Carroll said she is not going stir crazy in the hotel. She practices twice a day and exercises off-ice.

Michelle Kwan flips through the pile of CDs, tossing one after another aside. Too fast. Too slow. Too much like everybody else. Too, too, too ... well, whatever, it just doesn't work. The two-time national champion may make it look easy when she's on the ice. But finding the music to do her programs to is a completely different story. Coach Frank Carroll spends thousands of dollars on compact discs. He and choreographer Lori Nichol brainstorm for hours, trying to find something Kwan will like. Sometimes she likes what they pick. Many times she doesn't. And when she doesn't, don't even bother trying to change her mind.

champion Michelle Kwan has been named the female recipient of the 19th Annual Dial Award, recognizing America's top high school athletes and considered America's most prestigious award for high school seniors. The male recipient is football standout Ronald Curry of Hampton, Va.. In honor of Kwan and Curry, Dial will present a $5,000 grant to each of the award winners' high schools. Kwan maintains a 3.4 grade point average, and her long-range goals include attending Harvard University and studying law.

Tara Lipinski, Michelle Kwan and Nicole Bobek are skating into Campbell Soup Co. history as the first women ever to appear on the famous red-and-white soup label. The company is dubbing the trio its "Dream Team.'' The skaters will be featured on 140 million Campbell Soup can labels that will appear on store shelves later this month. It marks only the third time Campbell has placed a person on its soup label. The company rarely alters the label for the soup can that was made a pop art icon by Andy Warhol. The skaters will be featured separately on five varieties in the red-and-white and Healthy Request lines, said spokeswoman Ronni Heyman. Campbell said it also plans to use the labels in a national advertising campaign. Campbell, the sixth-largest U.S. food company, provides financial assistance to the U.S. Figure Skating Team.