http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...9,1,1494647.story?coll=cs-international-print
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Michelle Kwan, who has neither skated before an audience nor spoken to the media since spring, emerges for an ersatz competition with an "American Idol" format Sunday in Boston.
Kwan, who this fall pulled out of two Grand Prix events and an invitational because of a hip injury, has a news conference scheduled for Saturday.
Two weeks ago, Kwan seemed unlikely to go to Boston for the U.S. Figure Skating Challenge because the event, (noon, Ch. 7), offers no measure of where she stands in terms of future success at the January nationals and the February Winter Olympics.
Here is the scenario that undoubtedly made Kwan, the nine-time U.S. champion, think twice about flying 6,000 miles for a meaningless event:
Tired from the trip (predicted snow for Boston could make it a marathon), Kwan re-injures the hip and cannot compete at the nationals, generally considered the Olympic trials. As bad as that seems, it still would not prevent Kwan from making the 2006 Olympic team.
Could Kwan be going to Boston because the same USFSA officials whom she might need to ask for an injury petition are frustrated by her non-participation in Grand Prix events over the last three seasons?
Or is she simply so tired of nothing but practice she simply wants to satisfy her urge to compete, no matter how silly the competition?