The most decorated female figure skater in the world, Michelle Kwan, skated a spectacular long program Saturday night 1/18/03 in Dallas Texas to win her 7 TH National Title complete with a Gold medal, and her 28th 6.0 at Nationals, more than any other US figure skater in US history. Her short program, "The Feeling Begins," is stirring...heart racing...beautiful. Her Long, skated to "Aranjuez" was perfect and absolutely brilliant
The music, along with Michelle's awesome interpretation of it, draws you in and captivates your soul. Here are some wonderful quotes about her program from those who were there.
Short Program
"Michelle Kwan continued her domination of the U.S. Figure Skating championships Thursday, winning the women's short program to move a step closer to a sixth consecutive crown."
"Kwan skated a trademark polished and artistic routine for an appreciative audience earning first place marks from all nine judges to take the lead ahead of Sasha Cohen."
"Even after a dozen years, none of this gets old for Michelle Kwan.
Not the jitters and the nerves, that sickening feeling of her heart being in her throat. And certainly not that wonderful joy that washes over her when her program is finished and the audience is cheering yet another masterful performance."
" The most dominant skater of her generation, Michelle Kwan added yet another memorable performance to her magnificent career Thursday when she beat a loaded field in the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
In edging Sasha Cohen, the most successful skater of this season, and Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes, Kwan silenced those who wondered why, at age 22, she still is doing this. And doing it as well as at any time in the past decade when she won six national championships — the last five in succession."
"I would pay to watch Michelle Kwan skate.
You can have Sarah Hughes and her Olympic gold medal. Take Sasha Cohen and Jennifer Kirk and the latest generation of teeny teens, too. Together, they put on a great show, probably worth the price of admission if you're into figure skating. But they're just MasterCard. I want Michelle. Only Michelle. Kwan is Kwan. There is only one, and I'd pay to watch her. You bet your sweet spiral, I would." (Kirk Wessler)
DALLAS - "At the end of a long week of spills and chills, of failed lutzes and often-empty seats, the queen of American figure skating showed Saturday night why this sport can be so special.
Long live the queen. Even if she hasn't yet been anointed with an Olympic gold medal." By Gil Lebreton Star-Telegram Staff Writer
" Tears flooded her eyes as she stood at center ice at the American Airlines Center and drank in the love of 11,000 people, wishing she could skate all night to savor the feeling.
Michelle Kwan will remember her seventh U.S. figure skating championship not merely because she's now second in the record books to Maribel Vinson Owen's nine titles, or because she became the first skater to win six consecutive U.S. titles since Gretchen Merrill in 1943-48.She will remember it because it reaffirmed in her mind, after a second disappointing Olympic experience, that her decision to continue competing was right for her. Not because she won, but because she relished the process." Mercury News Wire Services
"It was only the second time that a woman had won that many US titles (Maribel Vinson claimed nine) and the first time since Gretchen Merrill (1943-48) that anyone had won six in a row. None of her rivals - not Olympic champion Sarah Hughes, not Sasha Cohen, the world's best skater all season - had won even one. And last night, nobody was close to the 22-year-old Kwan, who won all nine judges with a sparkling performance, just as she had in Thursday's short program." By John Powers, Globe Staff, 1/19/2003
DOWNLOAD video clips of Michelles short, long and exhibition programs at the 2003 National Championships to your computer for free! You'll also find many other video's of memorable performances by Michelle at this website.
Please note: At the top of the video page, it says "All videos (except those noted) are in Real Player format and are for DSL or Cable connections." These are the connections you will need to watch the video's right from the internet. But if you have a dial - up connection like me, you can right click on the video link, click on save target or save and download it to your computer. I download them to my desktop, so that I can just click on the icon for the video and have instant Michelle!
Many thanks to Cruella de Kwan for hosting the video's on her site!
This was in the Des Moines Register January 20. It was written by Kevin Blackistone from the Dallas Morning News.
KWAN NOW BELONGS IN TIGER, M.J. TERRITORY
U.S. skating champ may be sports' most dominate athlete.
Dallas, Texas-Sarah Hughes spoke the other day of Michelle like you would expect to hear some youngster in the NBA talk of Michael Jordan. " I've admired her since I was 10," Hughes said of Kwan. Wow. When Hughes was 10, Kwan was all of 15. Kwan was also a U.S. champion for the first time then. Hughes came to Dallas last week for these U.S. Figure Skating Championships as a seasoned 17-year old. She won gold in Salt Lake and seemed poised to win her first national title. Still, she was staring up at Kwan, who arrived in town as a 22-year old, six-time national champion. And when the old lady of the ice wobbled off the American Airlines Center surface Saturday night, she departed as a seven-time winner. The youngsters, Hughes and Sasha Cohen, couldn't keep up.
Kwan's feat was remarkable, given that her sport is dominated by teenagers. The last time someone so aged won these ladies' championships was in 1993, when a 23-year old Nancy Kerrigan took the crown. Since then, it's been all kids, or mostly all Kwan as a kid. Tara Lipinski became the youngest champion as a 14-year old the year after Kwan won as a 15-year old. It's been Kwan every year since.
"I really felt at ease," Kwan said after she iced her seventh title with what the experts said was a flawless free skate. She looked it, despite skating first. She wouldn't get to see what she would have to beat. Kwan even put a veteran move on the youngsters. She altered the end of her program rather than risk disaster. That last triple jump she was supposed to do? It never happened. Savvy. She even earned a perfect 6 from one judge for presentation. It was the 28th perfect score of her career. She's that good.
"The crowd was so loud," she said. "I had to take a few minutes after they announced my name just to calm myself down and gather my thoughts. I would think after so many years of competing, I would be used to it out there." You would think that after winning six in a row, she wouldn't admit to any stage fright. What, anyway, would she have to be nervous about?
Kwan very well could be the most dominant thing or person in sports. What she has done is 1920s Yankees-like, 1960s Celtics-like, Michael Jordan's Bulls-like. Six titles in a row and seven in eight years. That's amazing. Tiger Woods probably won't win so many Masters in a row, or in a span of so few years.
Break up Michelle Kwan! She is within two crowns of the record nine won by Maribel Vinson between 1928 and 1937. Peggy Fleming won just five. Kwan should be retired to those touring skating exhibitions by now. Or making commercials. Or trying to nudge Fleming out of her analysis gig on television. At the Salt Lake Games, she skated quite horribly in the long program and fell into third place overall. Then she was second at the World Championships, which she'd won four times. Her dominance was waning. Then she went on the 4 1/2 month-long Champions on Ice tour. Afterward, she took a well-deserved break. Had Hughes not suffered an injury that forced her withdrawal from Skate America, Kwan may have sat out the fall season, too. But she subbed for Hughes, won the whole thing and decided she wasn't ready to stop competing. "What is life without competition?" she explained recently. "It is hard, it is something I love, and it interests me. So as long as I can keep that drive, why not?"
Why not, indeed? Who can beat her? Certainly not any of these kids.
Amazon.com has 25 books about Michelle Kwan - Check them out !
