Olympic Champion Peggy Fleming Gives Michelle Kwan a Replica of her Gold Ice Skating Medal

MSNBC ^ | February 22, 2002 | Lester Holt

[Utah Girl]

Did anyone else notice how Kwan pointed at the gold medal podium directing Hughes to the right spot? As if Hughes needed directing....

I thought Michelle last night was gracious in showing Sarah how to get up on the stand. Sarah didn't have any idea how to get up there on the highest part of the platform. Was Michelle just supposed to stand there and let Sarah figure it out?

[codebreaker]

Cohen needed the quad to medal, she will be tough to handle the next 4 years.

[Cold Heat]

I vagely remember something about Browning? The point is that coaches are a necessary evil. You need them to improve yourself. (even with simple exercises) They piss you off and make you do better than you thought you could. Her firing of her coach last year and not replacing him was stupid, and it showed in competition.

[codebreaker]

And Sarah hadn't won anything before! That was great...Michelle graciously helping out

[Tazlo]

I usually like Vera Wang creations, but not that one.

[codebreaker]

I think Michelle's dad always wanted it this way too, to be 'the man'/ coach when her daughter gets the gold.

[Redleg Duke]

No. I am sure her "fired coach" has a lot more class than you.

From what I have seen and read, Miss Kwan lost, Miss Hughes won, and both deserved what they earned. I didn't read anything about any of the skaters, except the Russian Wench, complaigning. Miss Kwan admitted being off. Miss Hughes skated for the shear joy of it, letting her inner beauty out. She skated for the crowd with imagination and sheer abandon. The Russian skater went through the motions, apparently under the mistaken impression that her bloodline was worth more than another's ability.

Stop the Kwan bashing. What is it with this damned population? Have each and everyone of you bought into this, "kick anyone who succeeds" crap? What are you, DNC robots?

Blame the media if you will. Their treatment of this skating was as reprehensible and biased as their treatment of the Superbowl. In each case, the one who deserved to win won. In each case, the media ended up eating crow, and not liking it.

[codebreaker]

$20,000 a costume!

[Utah Girl]

It was Sasha that kept bumping into Kwan in the ice-skating rink. She has a reputation for being a b****.

Bob Costas kept trying to stir up controversy with Cohen buzzing Kwan during the warmups. Michelle would just smile and be very gracious about it. I really like Cohen's skating, but I think she is pretty stubborn and spoiled. Sasha has great potential, hope she can listen and learn from last night.

[jimt]

Wonder if Kwan would have had so much media support if she weren't Asian?

That's funny. I was just wondering if some on Free Republic would be showing so much animosity towards her is she weren't Asian.

Puhleeze, let's not get silly. The animosity is directed towards her attitude versus her level of performance. She was gifted the win in the ladies short program. She bobbled a jump and then had the gall to do a thumbs-down gesture when she didn't get perfect technical score marks. Her pouty, sullen and nasty behavior when she justly lost at Nagano was repellent. What kind of a narcissist is her own coach? No one is more likely to overlook one's mistakes than the person who committed them. Of course, the NBC announcers gushing "greatest skater of her time" was also extremely nauseating.

NONE of this has anything to do with her ethnicity. I LIKE that she's not white anglo-saxon - it shows the true diversity of America. There is, and should be, equal opportunity for all, and she proves that "asians" can rise to the top in American figure skating. Why not? America is a mongrel society, and like most mutts, is stronger, more hardy and more intelligent than thin-blooded purebreds. What matters in America should be performance, not paternity.

I just can't stand her personality. That has indeed biased me against her. Not her skin or hair color or asian features.

[Boxsford]

dang, no, I missed seeing that.

[Sword_of_Gideon]

Let me make it perfectly clear, since I am evidently being misunderstood, I am in nowise deriding or attacking Kwan or her person. I have no personal sentiment for her one way or the other. I watch many sports of which I have no knowlege for the sheer enjoyment of the sport. I choose (whether rightly or wrongly you be the judge) who I root for by various means (sometimes by hype, sometimes by perceived personallities, sometimes by talent, etc). Tomorrow I will have forgotten all about this incident. To me it's just a game, a sport, an amusment, an an escape.... entertainment. By nature, when I hear someone being overly praised I am naturally going to root for their opponent. And if the person or team that I choose to root for wins, I am going to be happy for awhile. If the lose, I'll be sad for awhile.

What I am advocating is that just as you have the right to state your beliefs & opinions, so do others of opposing view points. Those people may choose to be mean spirited or nasty or whatever, but they still have that right. I may not agree with them, I may be hurt by their comments, they may even make me mad, however their speech, or rather the thoughts & ideas behind their speech, is still protected. Anything less than allowing them their say (within certain reason such as slander which is a difficult thing to quantify or prove, or advocating violence or revolution, etc)is simply censorship.

[codebreaker]

Just playing Devil's advocate here...Michelle gave the 'thumbs down' to the judges after the short program-a bratty move and something Kristi Yamaguichi would never do to chance losing the gold.

It is the Super Bowl of womens sports and for better or worse there will be criticism

[chris_in_nj]

How can you hope she didn't get a medal when the press and announcers - not Kwan - were doing all the talking. Get real.

[Slyfox]

What Michelle ought to do is retire from amateur ice skating, go to college, get a bachelor's, get married and then enter professional skating. People love to see her skate and if she could put some distance between her and the gold medal she might be better off.

[Redleg Duke]

"Pride goeth before a fall." I didn't see that and I agree, it isn't a smart thing to do. It gives the judges an impression that you are an Empress and not a competitor.

Be that as it may, she was gracious in defeat. Something Clinton and Gore could learn from.

[Sword_of_Gideon]

I think we agree in principle then. While I don't condone name calling or negative attacks, I see the opposite (censorship) as a far greater danger.

[codebreaker]

Did you notice how Costas didn't mention the fact that Kwan was 'stalking' Cohen in warmups after Sascha hit her at U.S. Nationals?

I kinda liked Michelle's Rodman-esque move...

[codebreaker]

What I think she WILL do is get a degree from UCLA then come back in two years. (possibly after worlds next month)