Michelle Kwan - Started Skating With Sister, Chronology, Unexpected Trip To 1994 Olympics, Awards And Accomplishments, Related Biography: Skating Coach Frank Carroll - SELECTED WRITINGS BY KWAN:
american sport championship world
1980-
American figure skater
Michelle Kwan
The most decorated American figure skater in the sport's history, Michelle Kwan became one of the most respected and admired athletes of her generation for her grace on and off the ice. First making headlines in 1994 when she was named an alternate to the American team at the Lillehammer Olympics during the Tonya Harding scandal, Kwan was a national silver medalist at the age of thirteen. At fifteen, she claimed her first U.S. and World Championship titles and at the 1998 National Championship delivered performances in the short and long programs that received the highest-ever marks in the modern history of the sport. Already something of a legend when she competed at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games, Kwan finished second in a surprising upset to Tara Lipinski, who performed two triple-jump combinations to take the gold medal. Ironically, the loss served to increase Kwan's popularity for her gracious comments and philosophical outlook after the event. Reigning as U.S. Champion from 1998 to 2002, Kwan also picked up gold medals at the World Championship in 1998, 2000, and 2001. As in 1998, Kwan was disappointed at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games, where she finished third after a fall in the free skate. Once again Kwan won the public's sympathy and respect through her disappointment, which did little to diminish her impact on the sport and her status as one of the most popular athletes in North America.
SELECTED WRITINGS BY KWAN:
(With Laura James) Heart of a Champion: An Autobiography. New York: Scholastic, 1997.
Additional Topics
The third and youngest child of Danny and Estella (Wing) Kwan, Michelle Kwan was born on July 7, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. Her father had been born in China and grew up in Hong Kong, where he met her mother when they attended the same grade school. The two met again at a school reunion and after marrying moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Danny Kwan worked for the phone company while …
Kwan was not perfect in her first USFSA National Championship appearance in 1993, but her performance was good enough to land her in sixth place. She had a much better showing at that year's U.S. Olympic Festival, where she won the gold medal. Already earning predictions of future greatness based on her jumping ability, Kwan was slowly incorporating the artistry into her program that would …
Until their partnership ended in 2001, Michelle Kwan and coach Frank Carroll had one of the most productive relationships in figure skating. Born in Massachusetts in the late 1930s, Carroll grew up skating at a Worcester rink and in the 1950s trained with former U.S. Champion Maribel Vinson Owen. Although he became one of the top U.S. skaters of the late 1950s, Carroll put aside his amateur career…
Kerrigan recovered in time to compete at the 1994 Olympics, where she took the silver medal. Harding delivered two disastrous performances at the Games and was later banned for life from the amateur ranks by the USFSA for her knowledge of the plot against Kerrigan. Kwan went on the represent the U.S. at the 1994 International Skating Union's (ISU) World Championship, where she placed eighth…
Kwan's reign as U.S. and World Champion lasted just one year. Hampered by new skates and a lack of self-confidence, Kwan stumbled badly in her free skate at the Nationals and finished second to Tara Lipinski. With another mistake in the short program at the 1997 World Championship, Kwan placed second to Lipinski again, even though her free skate was the best at the competition. With a stres…
In first place after her short program at the Nagano Games, Kwan seemed to be fulfilling the expectations that had grown out of her astounding victory at the 1998 Nationals. Despite the pressure, Kwan delivered another clean program in her free skate, although some of her moves were a bit slower than they had been in her prior competitions. Kwan was also at a disadvantage by skating first in the f…
In the meantime, Kwan racked up a string of medal-winning performances. Repeating as National Champion in 1999, Kwan struggled with a bad cold at that year' World Championship and placed second. She won the 2000 national title and made a surprising comeback in the World Championship to claim another gold medal with a program skated to haunting music from the soundtrack to The Red Violin. Wi…
Many observers were stunned when Kwan announced that she was leaving her longtime coach in October 2001. She had no plans to hire another coach and intended to train and compete on her own, a move that few other skaters had ever attempted. After a stunning performance in the long program at the 2002 U.S. Nationals to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sheherazade," however, Kwan enter…
Brennan, Christine. Edge of Glory: The Inside Story of the Quest for Figure Skating's Olympic Gold Medals. New York: Scribner, 1998. Brennan, Christine. Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating. New York: Scribner, 1996. Kwan, Michelle, with Laura James. Heart of a Champion: An Autobiography. New York: Scholastic, 1997. U.S. Figure Skating Association. The Of…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments
3 months ago
baju bayi murah toko online murah
i see you got really very useful topics Thanks a lot for sharing this with all people you actually recognise what you're speaking about! Bookmarked.