Monday, February 13, 2006

Michelle Kwan's withdrawal from 2006 Olympics


Salute to a Champion

She won nine United States Figure Skating National Championships. Five World Championships. A silver medal in 1998. A Bronze medal in 2002. Michelle Kwan is one of the most decorated athletes in the history of sport. she came into the spotlight amidst the drama of Harding/Kerrigan and stayed above the fray. She re-introduced a level of artistry to ladies figure skating that had begun evaporating. Her spirals and spins were the stuff legends are made of. Her ability to interpret any style of music made her stand-out. But more than that, she has always comported herself with grace and dignity. A better representative of figure skating could not have found.

I have a picture of her taped to my cubicle wall, in it she is executing a variation on the lay-back spin, a spin she had learned to modify cause her traditional lay-back wasn't so spectacular. That step eptiomes much of what I loved about watching her compete, she was always strove for perfection and almost always got it. She brought back the grace of spirals to ladies competition. Her skating always moves me, I still tear up at her, "Fields of Gold" exhibition program that she performed at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, so smooth and graceful, like a pretty snowflake falling to the earth. The etheral beauty of Kwan has yet to be duplicated by anyone.

Despite withdrawing from the Olympics Sunday morning and thereby effectively eliminating any chance of ever winning a gold medal, for figure skating fans like myself, Michelle Kwan is a true champion no matter the color of medal she does or doesn't have.

10 Comments:

Blogger Brenda said...

I was so sad when I heard she had withdrawn due to an injury. She's a star in my book too!

9:28 AM  
Blogger Molly Malone said...

I almost cried when I heard she'd decided to withdraw. The best figure skater to never with the Olympic Gold. How sad is that? :(

9:32 AM  
Blogger Merci said...

When I think of the best in US women's figure skating I think of Michelle Kwan and Kristi Yamaguchi. I think she did the right thing in withdrawing, and she showed class and delicacy in doing it.

12:44 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

You can tell she really cares about the sport. She was truly classy in withdrawing instead of pressing on and doing what could have been a very tragic routine.

Bless her.

7:37 PM  
Blogger Virginia Gal said...

Brenda - she's a star in my book also!
Molly - she is actually in a deep league of fantastic skaters who have never won a gold, Kurt Browning, Todd Elderidge, Nancy Kerrigan, Elvis Stokjo, Maya Usova and Alexander Zhulin to name a few...still it is sad that she is such a great skater and never won a gold. Unfair.
Merci - I agree she withdrew with class. No doubt she will always be in the forefront when mentioning American ladies skating.
Tony - oh yes I think figure skating is her life and it was very classy of her to withdraw rather than drawing it out (plus she must have known that her chances to win were slim), give someone else a chance.

7:46 AM  
Blogger Virginia Gal said...

Thanks Laurie - I hope Michelle hears these sentiments from her legions of fans.
Katarina Witt is in a class of her own (I love her skating also! She is the only skater I know who can be truly sultry on the ice).

1:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Michelle's a trrue, graceful skater, her mature skating evokes the true and deep meaning of the music, her elegance is like that of no other. Emily, Tara, Sasha, Sara, Mao, Irina, Shizuka and Oksana are jumping beans, no true interpretation.

3:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Enjoyed a lot! » »

6:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a great site Price comparison adipex Modafinil and head trauma church accounting Aviation wedding invitations Dream pharmaceuticals online acyclovir Is j.j. redick gay Bookkeeping qld

9:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a great web log. I spend hours on the net reading blogs, about tons of various subjects. I have to first of all give praise to whoever created your theme and second of all to you for writing what i can only describe as an fabulous article. I honestly believe there is a skill to writing articles that only very few posses and honestly you got it. The combining of demonstrative and upper-class content is by all odds super rare with the astronomic amount of blogs on the cyberspace.

12:58 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home