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.