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Meet Michelle Kwan |
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| "Ever since I was in the seventh or eighth grade, I've had tutors. I really didn't meet any other students, get the normal school life. I wanted to go all out [at college], be in the dorms, meet other people, be like another student on campus. It might be a little hectic because I have to leave early in the morning to go skate and probably go to bed early. I want the whole experience that I missed out on in high school." - Michelle Kwan |
 © Photo by J. Barry Mittan |
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Michelle Kwan is the youngest of three children in a very close knit, Chinese-American family. Michelle was only 5 years old when she and her sister Karen started taking ice skating lessons. They were inspired by their brother Ronald, who played hockey. Both girls showed early promise, and their parents made many sacrifices so that they could have the best training possible. Michelle won the Junior World Championships in 1994, when she was 13 years old. Michelle practices and works very hard on her ice skating elements—the jumps, spins, and footwork. But Michelle really stands out because of her artistry—the way she puts all the elements together to create her own unique style. She is able to make the story of the music come alive with emotion and meaning through her movements and expressions. "I want to be a legend," Michelle says. "I want to be remembered in a thousand years when skating is weird and people are doing quintuple jumps." |
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Michelle will definitely be remembered for a long time—she has won the U.S. National Championships four times, the World Championships two times, and she is the 1998 Olympic silver medalist. At the 1998 U.S. National Championships, Michelle competed by skating the "short program," which is judged on technical ability, and then the "long program," which is judged on artistry. In the short program, Michelle became the first female figure skater at the Nationals to get a perfect score of 6.0. In fact, seven judges gave her a perfect 6.0 score! Two days later, for her long program, eight judges gave Michelle perfect 6.0 marks for artistry! At least one judge admitted that her skating was so beautiful, it made him cry. Michelle said, "It was the performance of my life. I've never seen them give a 6.0. And for me to have eight of them, I don't know what to think." Michelle got her wish to go to college, and has been enrolled at UCLA since September 1999. She is taking several classes and is going to find out what she likes the best before deciding on her major course of study. Meanwhile, Michelle is balancing her new college life with her figure skating life—she is still competing at the International level, and is doing very well. This is what Michelle says about her silver medal at the 1999 World Championships and Maria Butyrskaya, who won the gold medal: |
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