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Kwan outlasts kids, disappointments

She hasn't won Olympic gold, but analysts say Michelle Kwan has a legacy like no other.

By DAVE SCHEIBER
Published March 13, 2005

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	[Getty Images]
	1993: Michelle Kwan bursts on the scene at the U.S. Nationals.
	[AP photo]
	1995: Michelle Kwan tied the U.S. record two months ago with her ninth national figure skating title.

They have come and they have gone in the past decade, a sequined swirl of female figure skaters who illuminated and then faded from the world stage: names like Kerrigan, Lipinski, Bobek and Hughes.

But amid all the changing faces and new challenges in a sport that has seen its share of upheaval, Michelle Kwan glides on.

At 24, she is an old veteran who has retained a youthful passion for competition and tunnel-vision determination to succeed. The once skinny little 12-year-old who made her first appearance in the nationals in 1993 is today a 5-foot-2, 106-pound dynasty.

"You cannot overstate the incredible longevity of Michelle Kwan; I call her a cross between Cal Ripken and Michael Jordan," says Christine Brennan, author of the best-selling Inside Edge: A Revealing Look into the Secret World of Figure Skating.

In case you missed it, just two months ago in Portland, Ore., the most decorated American figure skater ever earned her landmark ninth women's title in 10 years at the U.S. Championships. That tied her with legendary Maribel Vinson Owen, who captured nine titles from 1928-37. Kwan accomplished the feat in astounding fashion - setting a record with eight straight U.S. crowns at the senior level, setting a mark for most consecutive U.S. medals with 12, and scoring seven perfect 6.0s to increase her career total at nationals to 42. To put that in perspective, the skater with the next closest total is 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano with nine.

In one sense, however, Kwan's tour de force in Portland was the end of an era. It was her final spin with the century-old judging system under which she has thrived with her artistry, creativity and grace.

At the World Championships in Moscow, Monday through March 20, Kwan will compete for the first time under the Code of Points - a more technical, computer-assisted method of scoring born out of the judging scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Kwan has carved her place in history at the World Championships, winning five titles to tie Dick Button and Carol Heiss for most gold medals by an American. But in 2004, she settled for a bronze while Sasha Cohen took silver.

So now, Kwan finds herself at something of a crossroads in her long and distinguished career.

She sets out to reassert her dominance on the international scene, facing the uncertainty of new judging guidelines - and a looming decision:

Whether to chase, one more time, the only prize that has eluded her, first in 1998, then 2002.

An Olympic gold medal.

In a recent conference call, Kwan was asked about the 2006 Games in Italy, about her longevity, about how she would know when it's enough.

"I guess that's a hard question for me to answer because I always thought after 2002 that I'd hang up my skates and turn professional and just go on tour and do shows," she remarked. "But I don't know when it is enough. I mean, I still enjoy it. I'm the luckiest girl alive that I get to perform in front of thousands of people, do what I love doing ... "

And the Olympics?

"Yes, I have thought about (them). How could I not, skating every day, and skating under banners of Olympic rings and flags and everything? It's just a magical competition, but yet, that's not what I'm striving for. It's not the only thing that I'm in the sport for, because it's just an everyday process, being on the ice every day.

"I do think about the Olympics, but I'm also taking one thing at a time."

What better time to take a look at where Kwan has been, what she has achieved, and what might lie ahead. So we asked the analysts.

* * *

Brennan, who writes about the sport for USA Today and is at the World Championships for ESPN, describes Kwan as "the most dominant skater ever at the most turbulent time in the history of the sport." And she attributes Kwan's long run at the top to a number of factors.

"What makes her last is her ability to control her body and not push it," Brennan says. "We've all seen in figure skating when the little jumping beans come and go, and Michelle was a jumping bean. But so many of those little kids burn themselves out quickly by either overdoing it, getting injured, whatever. Michelle has been brilliant at managing her body; understanding how much pounding it can take."

The force with which jumps are landed on the ice can cause damage when growth plates are still developing in young skaters.

"So Tara Lipinski, for example, has had major hip surgery already, not hip replacement, but hip surgery that a 75-year-old grandmother would have," Brennan says. "And Tara had that when she was just 18. Michelle's worst injury is a broken toe that occurred going into the '98 Olympics."

There is some luck involved, but Brennan says Kwan is meticulous about controlling what she can, like eating right ("she scopes out sushi restaurants in each city overseas") and keeping her focus. "She's avoided the pitfalls that so many other young skaters were not able to," Brennan says.

But there's something else at work, too.

"I think because they're in sequins and wearing makeup and there's music, we assume that they're not strong athletes," she says. "That's a huge mistake to make. Michelle is one of the toughest competitors I have seen in all of the sports I've covered."

Kwan came along at an opportune moment. She was a young Olympic alternate when figure skating soared into America's consciousness 11 years ago. It happened with the infamous assault on Olympic gold hopeful Nancy Kerrigan after a practice in Detroit. Kwan was just coming off the ice when a hitman slammed Kerrigan's knee with a baton.

The attempt to injure Kerrigan was connected to Jeff Gillooly, the live-in ex-husband of Kerrigan's teammate, Tonya Harding. The Kerrigan-Harding Olympic showdown on Feb. 23, 1994 at Lillehammer, Norway, still ranks as the sixth highest-watched TV program of all-time. The controversy triggered a major surge of interest in figure skating around the country. Then CBS, which lost its NFL contract to Fox in 1993, filled much of its Sunday airtime with figure skating in the fall of '94.

"And who is this little thing coming up through the ranks in '94? Michelle Kwan," says Brennan. "So she's by far the most visible skater ever. I mean, (three-time Olympic gold medalist) Sonja Henie was in shows and movies, but in terms of pure television and households, there's been no figure skater watched more over a career than Michelle Kwan."

Kwan has earned millions, easily the highest-paid athlete in the Olympic world today. Movie stars want to meet her. She often stays away from skaters' hotels at events, because she's often mobbed by younger skaters who grew up loving her. She even has her own video game.

Still, there is that hole in her resume. Kwan was twice favored to win Olympic gold, twice led going into the free skate, but wound up with silver in Nagano in '98 and bronze in Salt Lake City. Each time she lost to younger skaters who turned in the performance of a lifetime: Lipinski, then 15, and Sarah Hughes, then 16.

"People say, "If she's so great, what about the Olympics?' " Brennan says. "That's a valid question. But my answer is that she ran into two kids who, for a total of eight minutes, had the performances of their lives. Michelle was great. In '98, she would have won the gold head-to-head with anyone in history except the one she was facing that night. Don't get me wrong, Lipinski and Hughes were terrific. But they never skated like that again."

Brennan doesn't believe Kwan is motivated by the disappointment of those two Olympics. "As much as Michelle loves to compete, she has always said, "Hey, I don't just skate for four minutes on the ice,' " she says. "She has a great sense of perspective within herself. So while many people assume it's all about the Olympics, I think she looks at the long haul. And I think she's very content."

* * *

Dick Button knows a little about championship skating and durability. In addition to his five World and seven U.S. titles, the longtime ABC analyst won Olympic gold medals in 1948 and 1952.

Why does he think Kwan is still going strong?

"No. 1, she has very solid technique," Button says. "No. 2, she has a very good head on her shoulders and I think she has found the means of controlling herself and measuring her activity. For instance, she's elected not to go into the Grand Prix series, and understands the difficulties of that and the pressure that causes."

Button says her place in skating history is secure.

"She's right at the top," he says. "You cannot deny her any credit. It would be nice if she could win the Olympic (gold) as a fitting climax to her career. But I mean, listen, she's plowed right ahead, even when she hasn't done well. And I think part of her popularity is that she hasn't let any of that affect her."

She's certainly popular with Button. When he was hospitalized several years ago after a serious fall, Kwan took time during a post championship interview to send her best wishes to him.

"It was just very thoughtful to do that when it was her moment, not mine," he says. "I nearly fell out of my hospital bed. She's very sensitive, generous and down to earth. You can't help but like her."

* * *

Tom Collins has made Champions On Ice an annual touring fixture since the 1980s. He remembers seeing Kwan skate for the first time in 1993 in San Antonio, while scouting the location for an upcoming tour show.

"There was this little competition and I saw this little, scrawny thing with toothpick legs," he says. "I told the building people, "Excuse me, I have to watch this young lady.' She was only 12, but I was so taken by her. I found her coach, Frank Carroll, and said, "This little girl, you've got a champion.' "

Collins noticed something special in her jumps, her style. "I've been in the business a long time and no other skater affected me like that," he says.

Kwan, scheduled to perform in a different event March 29 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, has participated in many tours for Collins and he has gotten to know her well. He has always been impressed with her discipline and dedication to training as hard off the ice as on it. "That's why she's stayed away from those injuries," he says.

But what has made an even greater impact on him is how gracefully she has handled the hard moments.

"People love Michelle and if you ask people what it is, they'll say they've watched her when she lost and how she handled herself so beautifully," he says. "Other people would completely break down. She just says, "Well, I still won a medal and maybe I'll do better the next time.' She has a tremendous attitude."

* * *

Carroll might know Kwan as well as anybody. The Hall of Fame coach began guiding her career in 1992 when she was a promising skater in pigtails from Torrance, Calif.

Kwan parted with Carroll only months before the 2002 Olympics, choosing to go it alone in the 2002 Games. But a permanent bond remains between them, heightened by their connection to Vinson Owen. Carroll studied with the legend; his former star pupil has now tied her record.

"What's remarkable about Michelle is she is truly a great champion," Carroll says. "What I mean is that time after time, she's been able to stand out there against all the odds and prove herself. In Peggy Fleming's words, you never count Michelle out."

Carroll remembers first seeing Kwan. She was the third child of Chinese immigrant parents (born Kwan Wing Shan) and had begun skating at 5, inspired by watching her older brother play hockey. Her father moved his family to Lake Arrowhead, Calif., in 1991 so she could be coached by Carroll.

"She had rare jumping talent, remarkable spring in her legs, and obviously a lot of talent," he says. "What she didn't have was any concept of how to go about the sport, what the training ritual was all about, how to be able to compete consistently with good endurance, how to look like a million dollars."

Working with Carroll, she learned quickly. One thing he noticed early on was the way Kwan embraced the tension that came with competitions.

"Instead of shrinking away and thinking this is torture, she thinks, "Wow, this is exciting,' " he says. "Kids get very nervous and sometimes fall apart. Michelle always could turn the butterflies around."

For Kwan, the stimulation, the adrenaline rush, the challenge of competition drives her perhaps as much as the medals. She hinted at that recently when asked about the Olympics, explaining that she would likely have remained eligible for '06 even if she won the gold in '98 or '02: "It's the competition atmosphere that I really enjoy so much, the intensity. I love being nervous and I love pushing myself to the max."

Sounds like a person aiming at another Olympics. But Carroll says Kwan has no more to prove.

"She's a legend, a rock star in our country," he says. "As far as I'm concerned, she has proven herself again and again and can rest on her laurels. But what she'll do, what really is in her heart, no one knows. Maybe not even Michelle."

THE KWAN FILE

AGE: 24 (born July 7, 1980) BIRTHPLACE/RESIDENCE: Torrance, Calif.; Manhattan Beach, Calif.

NOTABLE:

Five-time world champion (1996, '98, 2000, '01, '03)

Only woman to reclaim world title three times ('98, '00, '03)

Her 15 perfect 6.0s (out of 18) for artistry in winning the short program and free skate in the '98 U.S. Championships are the most by a U.S. skater.

Named one of People's most beautiful people in the world in 2000.

Her given Chinese name: Kwan Wing Shan

Older sister Karen finished fifth at U.S. Championships in '96.

Wears a Chinese good luck charm given to her by her grandmother.

Named USOC athlete of the month in January, the 14th time she has been honored (was also 2003 USOC SportsWoman of the Year).

She had a pet squirrel with a big, bushy tail when she was younger.

Her favorite actors are Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Performs March 29 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa with other skaters in the Marshalls U.S. Challenge. For tickets, go to www.ticketmaster.com or call box office, 813 301-2500. Source: usolympicteam.com, U.S. Figure Skating and kidzworld.com

[Last modified March 13, 2005, 00:23:15]

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