Skater of the Decade - Michelle Kwan

I saw a credit card commercial around the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics that showed clips of great American Olympic Champions from both the Summer and Winter Games. The commercials showed a figure skater spinning and receiving a medal. Interestingly, the skater in the clips was neither the 2002 champ, Sarah Hughes, or the 1998 champ, Tara Lipinski. The skater stood next to them on the podium in those Games and the medal shown in the clip was bronze. The skater was Michelle Kwan.

She won nine Nationals titles, 5 World titles, and two Olympic medals. Three of her World titles and six of the Nationals titles came this past decade. Perhaps this is why she was the skater in the showcase of great American Olympic champions. She's the skater most associated with success and championships. She's the most decorated American skater.

Despite her record of success and golden moments, she often entered competitions written off while the media was hyping one of Dick Button's "baby ballerinas" or a mighty jumper from Russia. She shifted some of her focus to college at the dawn of the decade. She quit competing in the fall during the Grand Prix Series. Yet, she loved being the underdog and she relished being able to put those prematurely writing her retirement to shame. She took the time off from competion in the fall to seriously train while she pursued her education goals and come to the competitions that matter healthy and hungry.

She never quite mastered the shift in scoring to IJS by missing the Grand Prix events. She received the last 6.0 ever at the 2004 Worlds, but she didn't immediately set record scores under IJS.

There were coaching shifts for her as well, most controversial before the 2002 Salt Lake City Games when she left Frank Carroll. She worked with Scott Williams and then Rafael Artunian to ramp up her technical content. By 2005, she won her ninth US Championship. She tied Maribel Vinson Owen's record of titles, the legend who had coached Frank Carroll in a bit of cosmic connection in the small world of figure skating.

Despite the changes in skating, coaches and life, Michelle entered 2006 season as an Olympic medal favorite for the third time. As usual she missed the GP events but this time there were reports of a hip injury. Then came an abdominal injury that pushed her out of Nationals and filing a petition to receive a medical waiver. She was named to the Olympic team and set off for Torino after successful monitoring session from US Figure Skating. She walked in the Opening Ceremonies and then went to practice on the Olympic ice the next day... and skating into a new injury, this time a pulled groin. She graciously withdrew instead of hiding her pain or fighting on. She know she wouldn't skate well and allowed another skater to take her place.

She continued school, earning a degree at the University of Denver and then acceptance to Tufts University's, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She even became an American Public Diplomacy Envoy during the Bush Administration. Even though the public hadn't seen her skate since 2005, as she completed her undergraduate degree there was buzz she would be coming back ala Cohen, Plushenko, and Lambiel. NBC invited her to provide color commentary during the 2009 Worlds in which she seriously scoped out the competition. The USFSA kept a spot open for her at Skate America. Once again, she graciously stepped aside so others could focus on their training and goals.

Always graceful. Always a champion. Michelle Kwan, a skater of the decade.