Posted on 02/12/2006 12:35:38 AM PST by blondee123
Thank you for finding that article. It brought back many memories of Michelle's life at the Olympics. I remember when Lipinsky was picked to skate last in the long program.
She did a happy little number and because of her small stature, her jumps hardly lifted her off the ice, but she got through them. Yet there was no real artistry in her skating - just a tiny puppet doing the moves on the ice.
Kwan had been first in the lineup and had an excellent skate too she rarely skated without feeling and her programs always told a story - but she was forgotten by the surprise the judges felt seeing Lipinsky. I'll never forget Scottie Hamilton saying off camera: "If Kwan had skated last, she would have won the gold." She skated a gold program - but Lipinsky had the last memory of the judges.
I also remember her first Olympics too waiting for a stroke of fate - ready to skate if she was called - she is always ready to skate.
I remember when she finally came on the ice with makeup on!
Her first lipstick and a new hairdo.... and eye makeup. She still looked like a little girl - but she was lovely and looking so pleased with herself...eager to share her love of skating with the audience, eager to try new things.
I'll never forget her. In the world of skating divas and pretty little girls who have their noses fixed before they have finished growing up....Kwan has shown a lasting beauty which needs no artifice - what you see is what you get - a very special woman.
And Sarah Hughes is not skating in Torino. So your point is?
The question really comes down to who gets the third spot -other than Sasha Cohen and Kimmie Messinger, whose spot on the squad were never in question, who is the third best skater / medal hope for the U.S. team in Torino? Given the track record of competition over the last couple of years leading up to the selection of this year's squad, a healthy Kwan was / is a better skater / medal prospect than Emily Hughes.
"...I confiscated the poster featuring Michelle Kwan for my department. It still proudly hangs here today..."
Good for you!
Peter Uberroth the Olympic Committee Chairman made a statement on NBC regarding Kwan - it is towards the end of the article.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11308215/site/newsweek/from/RS.2/
I agree. I think we will be seeing Michelle Kwan in other more commercial ventures. She's charming, modest and intelligent and will not disappear like some of her predecessors. Some people here are extremely cynical and that upsets me. It's so hard to make it to the top on your talents alone. Personally, I don't think anyone out there was really pushing for a girl of Asian background to be a World champion. She did it all on her own. Kudos to Michelle from someone else from a totally different background who works very hard to succeed (and has fallen a couple of times) --
You have got it perfectly correct. I agree.
This news is hughes!!
I'm sure that you're right. She seems like a really nice person, so it makes me feel horrible that the breaks didn't go her way. She'll have a long career in figure skating as a commentator, choreographer, and coach.
She's doing some acting and skating. She grew up quite nicely.
Agreed. She's a terrific skater, but she has wasted precious time when her own chances weren't that good with such a injury.
GO EMILY GO!
That's something we so seldom see...someone doing something for the good of their team.
You are a Michelle fan. I admire her, but the Hughes sisters are my faves on the ice.
Thanks, I always thought Tara had her head on straight.
Ok, I wasn't going to post on this thread because the Olympics aren't cool except for bobsled, snowboarding, and hockey.
Michelle Kwan... sigh (and not the good kind). Gonna make some people mad, but when has that ever stopped me?
Ok, first off, figure skating isn't a sport. Sure, they are athletes, much more athletic than I ever was, am, or will be, but it's not a sport. Someone is judging who wins or loses. That's called a pageant.
And as far as Kwan herself, she shouldn't have even been there. Does no one remember that she didn't even go through the qualifying? That she had to be voted onto the team? Also, don't forget, she's not even in the best skater in the US this year. Far from it. She got on the team as a sentimental story for NBC to report on, and someone else got screwed out of spot because of it.
For some reason, every media member and Olympic fan is going orgasmic on Michelle Kwan. PUH-lease!!!
Heck with the Olympics. Give me NASCAR.
What we need is more Tonya Harding wedding night videos!
We were discussing this loudly at the pub last night while I made the guys watch "Pairs Figure Skating".
PS... I'm at a sports bar/english pub and made them put the Olympics on the BIG SCREEN.
The guys had a BLAST - a bunch of really drunk ones were making comments like... after a skater was thrown into the air and twirled around three times and her partner caught her easily.....I did that to my wife last night.
It was hilarious!
Nothing better than discussing the fact that figure skating isn't a sport in front of a bunch of liberal women.
Hair, furr, claws, gnashing of teeth... it's almost a biblical disaster waiting to happen.
I love doing stuff like that.
I loathe figure skating. Especially the commentators who criticize everything the other skaters do on the ice. Get your old fat @ss out there and do it better then, or STFU!
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