Michelle KWAN
Michelle KWAN |
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Single |
Date of birth / Születési idõ |
7 July 1980 |
Place of birth / Születés helye |
Torrance, CA |
Height / Magasság |
158 cm |
Weight / Súly |
45 kg (1998) |
Home town /Lakóhely |
Torrance, CA |
Profession / Foglalkozás |
Student |
Hobbies / Hobbi |
swimming, biking |
Start skating / Korcsolyázás kezdete |
1985 |
Club |
Los Angeles FSC |
Coach / Edzõ |
Rafael Arutunian |
Choreographer / Koreográfus |
Nikolai Morozov |
Former choreographer / Régebbi koreográfus |
Lori Nichol |
Former coach / Régebbi edzõ |
Frank Carroll, Scott Williams |
Practice low season / Gyakorlás holtszezonban (h/week) |
at Los Angeles |
Practice high season / Gyakorlás fõszezonban (h/week) |
at Los Angeles |
Music Short Program as of 2000/2001 season |
East of Eden |
Music Free Skating as of 2000/2001 season |
Song of the Black Swan by H. Villa Lobos |
Music Short Program as of 2003/2004 season |
The Feeling Begins by Peter Gabriel |
Music Free Skating as of 2003/2004 season |
Tosca by Giacomo Puccini |
Music Short Program as of 2004/2005 season |
Adagio from Spartacus by Aram Katchaturian |
Music Free Skating as of 2004/2005 season |
Bolero by Maurice Ravel |
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Olympic Games |
World Champs |
World Junior |
National Champs |
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Personal Best Total Score |
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Personal Best Score Short Program |
61.22 |
18.03.2005 |
World Championships 2005 |
Personal Best Score Free Skating |
113.98 |
19.03.2005 |
World Championships 2005 |
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ISU World Standings:
28 Jan. 2006: 35. - 1820 point
World Professional Championships
1 |
Salt Lake update
Michelle Kwan won the bronze medal in the ladies' figure skating competition at the Salt Lake Games. Kwan led after the short program, but slipped to third after falling during her free skate. Fellow American Sarah Hughes won the gold and Russia's Irina Slutskaya won the silver. It was the second Olympic medal of Kwan's career; she won the silver at the 1998 Nagano Games.
Top of the sport
Kwan has been America's top ladies figure skater over the past six years, winning four world titles, five national titles and an Olympic silver medal. She had another outstanding season in 2000-2001, claiming her fourth world title and fifth U.S. title in the past six seasons. By winning the 2001 World Championships in Vancouver, Kwan became the first back-to-back ladies winner since Kristi Yamaguchi in 1991 and 1992. Kwan also became the first woman to win four world titles since East Germany's Katarina Witt won in 1984-1985 and 1987-1988. Kwan's six world medals tie her with Carol Heiss for the most by an American woman. She also became the first U.S. woman to win four world titles since Heiss claimed five consecutive titles from 1956-1960. Kwan's streak of six consecutive world medals is the longest run by a woman since Heiss claimed six (five gold, one silver).
Heading into Nagano
At the 1998 U.S. nationals - contested a month prior to the Nagano Games - Kwan handily beat Tara Lipinski, captivating the crowd and judges with a virtually flawless long program that was skated to the violin strains of Lyra Angelika. The performance was widely regarded as the finest in the event's history. One judge even cried at the end of Kwan's skate, saying: "I was mesmerized."
1998 Games
Based on her performance at the 1998 nationals, the then-17-year-old Kwan secured her place as the gold medal favorite for the1998 Nagano Games, at least in the eyes of the American audience. The international community, however, viewed Lipinski - the reigning world champion based on her victory over Kwan at the 1997 worlds - as the favorite. In Nagano, Kwan skated cautiously and took the silver medal behind 15-year-old Lipinski. Kwan led after the short program and was the first to skate in the final group of six in the free skate (long program). Again skating to Lyra Angelica, her performance included seven triple jumps - one with a shaky landing. It was a solid skate, but Kwan admits something might have been missing. "It seemed like I was in my own world," she says. "I didn't open up and let myself go." By winning gold and silver, Lipinski and Kwan gave the U.S. its first 1-2 Olympic finish since 1956, when Tenley Albright (gold) and the aforementioned Heiss (silver) swept the top spots in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy.
Post-Nagano
Kwan has won three of her four world titles after Nagano. Kwan also enrolled at UCLA for the 1999-2000 academic year - an attempt, she says, to become a normal person of her age. She lived in the dorms at UCLA her freshman year and admits she was no stranger to all-night cram sessions. Rather than going on the professional circuit, Kwan has chosen to make a run at another Olympic medal.
Parting ways
Citing a difference in philosophies, Kwan parted ways with Frank Carroll on October 23, 2001. Carroll had been her coach since 1992. Kwan previously dumped longtime choreographer Lori Nichol and signed on Sarah Kawahara for her long program. Carroll and Kwan met through Virginia Fratianne, the mother of 1980 Olympic silver medalist Linda Fratianne. Carroll's star pupils included the younger Fratianne for 18 years and Christopher Bowman for 11 years.
Pre-Nagano
Kwan won her first national and world titles in 1996 at age 15. A year later, however, Kwan was unable to defend those titles, finishing as the runner-up to Lipinski in both events. Kwan fell twice in the free skate at the 1997 U.S. nationals and also touched the ice with her hand on another element. Three weeks later, at the 1997 worlds, Kwan was undone by a stumble in the short program and could not recover despite a good performance in the free skate, which she won. Kwan was the U.S. Olympic alternate during the 1994 Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan showdown in Lillehammer, which Oksana Baiul ultimately won. Kwan, her father and Carroll were flown to Lillehammer, Norway, where she received tickets in lieu of a credential. Kwan was the world junior champion in 1994.
Official Olympic Site 2002
