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

MSNBC ^ | February 22, 2002 | Lester Holt

[codebreaker]

MSNBC showed footage of a press conference and Michelle had two medals on her neck the bronze and the one given to her by Peggy Fleming.

She looked liked she was about to lose it..

[Utah Girl]

True. It would be pretty hard to be subjective though as a father. Which is why coaches are so important.

[ArGee]

I know what you mean. I was watching last night & it was sickening the way they kept hyping up the Kwahn girl. Give me a break. I guess I always root for the underdog. The way they were praising her & hyping her up I was hoping she didn't get any medal at all!

I thought Michelle was a pretty class act. She really loved the crowd and seemed to be performing more for them than the medal. It's just an impression from TV, of course, but I don't think she deserves any negative - just the bronze medal she won.

Shalom.

[jimt]

Wow, it is a case of "The Queen is dead, long live the Queen."

I think some of us are saying she never WAS the queen. More a case of "a legend in her own mind".

[It's me]

You are odd. Why does it matter so much to you?

[LaDivaLoca]

Actually, at the K&C I was surprised about the "flippin bird" too. However, a few of those who were there said that she was kidding around. She is known among her peers to be a kidder. I wasn't there so who knows if she was or was not joking around. I know she is not Ms. Perfect and whatever the reason she did that, I'll cut her some slack.

I don't believe that caused her the gold. She made mistakes and that is what caused her the gold. As for the US judge, I think his name is Jan Hoffman or something like that. He actually loves her skating style and he is always fair. Had Kwan performed at SLC the way she did at '98 Nationals, he would have given her 6.0s like he did that time. He said he rarely gives them out but that time Kwan deserved it. He is a classical musician too by the way. There was a write up about him I think in the USA website or MSNBC. If I find it I'll post it here. He said something to the effect that he gives out the scores accordingly (not whether he likes the skater or not) because if he doesn't he will not be able to live with himself.

[It's me]

What a goof ball. It is just my observation.

[wardaddy]

Sweet analogy Illbay...well done. LOL.

[Utah Girl]

Yah, six national US national champions and three (or is it four?) world championships??? I think the hype was over the top from the media about Michelle Kwan, but she has been classy and gracious in both defeat and victory. She's been consistently the best US woman skater in the past eight years.

[Utah Girl]

I don't see how a thumbs down by Michelle has been translated on this thread as her flipping the bird to the judges. (comment not directed at you, but to the others.)

[codebreaker]

That is good 'spin' in the Carville sense about the bird flipping incident.

Somehow if you are comparing yourself to Michael Jordan and you haven't even won your biggest event in your own sport-one can see how we might not take it at face value.

[psycho-sis]

Like it or not she is a superstar in the figure skating world. I interpreted the thumbs down as Michelle being more disappointed in herself than in the judges. It was almost like she was embarrassed for herself and that was her nervous way of reacting to those feelings. To get that far in sport (or arts) you need to be a perfectionist and to say "it doesn't matter what colour the medal is" is crap. It matters alot to her don't you think?

[codebreaker]

My main point is that Danny as a dad should know that a coach, maybe not Frank Carroll... any coach would remember tell Michelle before the short-'Dont offend the judges, no matter what happens'

If the French Judge starts taking bribes during the skate so be it, we can deal with it later .

[codebreaker]

Do you think the Russian judges might have taken the self-critcism the wrong way?

This is why a coach earns his money, to keep this from happening.

[Gamecock]

This is why I love FR, there are smart people on any subject!

Thanks!

[Utah Girl]

It mattered a great deal to Michelle Kwan last night, and you could see that as soon as she stepped on the ice and started her long program. She kept saying that not winning a gold medal wouldn't ruin her life, and I don't think it will. I think it mattered to her a lot more than she was letting on though. Which is only human.

[Utah Girl]

Well, I did just copy that directly from MSNBC. I can't explain the judging marks in my own words at all. Thanks!

[psycho-sis]

I don't understand what you mean. I didn't mention coaches. Perhaps a good sports therapist can help an athlete cover-up her emotions. If a Russian judge takes it the wrong way well theres nothing you can do, I just meant that with her generally positive reputation she made a gesture out of disappointment in herself. I didn't hear her slam the judges afterward so I don't see evidence of a tiff with the judging. She knew she skated poorly last night and expressed it. Whats the big deal?

[codebreaker]

When Linda Fratianne's mom died, (also denied controversial gold) Coach Frank Carroll was given a replica gold medal just like Michelle's that was founf the bottom of her treasured jewelry box.

She never let go, let Michelle try again -I hope this is a learning process for her.

[psycho-sis]

Yeah. She'll get over it. I'm just glad that someone on this site has some compassion and understanding. It seems like everyone wants to rip her apart. Why do some people find pleasure in another person's failure?