Michelle Kwan

kalle · Dec 5, 2006

What do you think about her future chances to compete again?
I think she would very much give competetive skating another season if she could get injury free and back in shape.
What kind of program would you like to see her do and what about jumps,can she win with 5-6 jumping passes and no triple/triple?I know Arakawa did it at Olympics but all her other elements were very good.
Her 2005/2006 Totenantz short program looked COP friendly even though we never saw it with all the elements due to her injury..Could it be a program to use again?What about her "older" glorious 6.0 programs,could any of them worked well under COP?
I am always going to be sentimental with Kwan but she is such a great skater and I would really like to see her give us a last chance to enjoy her joy and emotion

gio · Dec 5, 2006

She is my all time fav skater, but she belongs to other times, other generations! She's the skater of the 90s! IMO, also for Michelle it will be difficult to win against the various Asadas and Kims who can do the 3axels and two 3/3s by program. Michelle's health isn't that good. I don't wanna watch a Michelle meltdown, I'll be very sad. Rather, I hope that she can do great pro-skating.

nymkfan51 · Dec 5, 2006

While I certainly wouldn't say it's likely Michelle will compete again, I would never count her out either.
If the surgery was successful and she recovers completely, there is no reason, IMO, that she couldn't come back for a least one more season ... assuming she wants to. Watching the other ladies this season, I don't see the big tricks being landed all that often, and very few programs without mistakes in them. With the quality of Michelle's skating, there is no reason she couldn't compete with the best of them.
More than that though, I have it in my mind that she probably hates the idea of her career ending the way it did, and given the opportunity, she would rather go out on her own terms. That's just my opinion though.
I would agree that it's probably highly unlikely that she would last till 2010 and another Olympics ... but hey, with MK all things are possible!!! :bow:

Kwanford Wife · Dec 5, 2006

Its hard to say because Michelle Kwan is simply an awesome skater & the Greatest of All Time :bow:

... and if healthy, I think she could compete against anybody. Having said that, I think we Kwaniacs need to come to terms with the fact that it might not matter if she can compete vs. if she wants to compete. She appears to have moved on to bigger & better things... Plus, what's the incentive for her to continue? 2010 is lifetime away and there isn't any award, goal or medal she doesn't already have... At some point it's Been There, Done That

She's got new challenges, responsibilities and opportunities. That's just life.

Having said above however, believe you me - if she changes her mind & decides to give it one last go, I'd be in that arena so fast, they'd think I was the Zamboni driver... :yes:

gio · Dec 5, 2006

Kwanford Wife said:
2010 is lifetime away and there isn't any award, goal or medal she doesn't already have... At some point it's Been There, Done That

Yes, also because I think that even without the Olympic gold medal, IMO she's one of the best skaters of all times!

SeaniBu · Dec 5, 2006

gio said:
Yes, also because I think that even without the Olympic gold medal, IMO she's one of the best skaters of all times!

:agree:

I think in some ways she is still out there, via influence on the now up and coming skaters. There is a piece of her in every competition just like Sonia, Peggy, Dorothy, Yuka, Midori, etc...I can't help but think of my fave as influenced by MK, I am positive her legacy will live long past the the time she left the comp rink.

"Long live the Kween." - it all makes sense.

Joesitz (RIP) · Dec 5, 2006

I do think she had been, and probably still is as a legend, the greatest of all female skaters. She was never 'ballet like', never 'little girl' like, never tech crazy like. She just figure skated and she did it better than all the others.

However, I am still perplexed about that whole pre-season 2002 Olympics and I just can not reconcile myselft to letting it go unaswered, and I don't care to hear anymore speculations.

She is a lovely, personable, class act kind of gal and whatever she does I am sure it will be in the best of taste and successful. She is Jackie Kennedy like.

I have not seen her replacement.

Joe

SeaniBu · Dec 5, 2006

Joesitz said:
She is a lovely, personable, class act kind of gal and whatever she does I am sure it will be in the best of taste and successful. She is Jackie Kennedy like.

Joe

I was telling myself, "don't post again Sean, just agree, give others their say." But I couldn't help it. I think that is a GREAT comparison Joe. :clap:

And the whole post for that matter too.:agree:

Kwanford Wife · Dec 5, 2006

Joesitz said:
I do think she had been, and probably still is as a legend, the greatest of all female skaters. She was never 'ballet like', never 'little girl' like, never tech crazy like. She just figure skated and she did it better than all the others.

However, I am still perplexed about that whole pre-season 2002 Olympics and I just can not reconcile myselft to letting it go unaswered, and I don't care to hear anymore speculations.

She is a lovely, personable, class act kind of gal and whatever she does I am sure it will be in the best of taste and successful. She is Jackie Kennedy like.

I have not seen her replacement.

Joe

Great post Joe... Michelle, like your post, is simply awesome (and I too am waiting for the final story on the '02 season)

kittyjake5 · Dec 5, 2006

I for one would love to see the Kween back for one more season, but alas I have reconciled myself to the fact that it is probably not going to happen. For me it is an end of an era. If circumstances were different and MK had competed in Turin I feel she would have called it a day and retired after that. It would have been a great way to end her career. I feel that she has moved on with her life. I would be happy just to see her skate whether it be in competitions, exhibitions or just stroking across the ice. She will be missed.

nymkfan51 · Dec 5, 2006

Thank you for that post Joe!!! :clap:

:thumbsup: :yes:

And just to add ... I have definitely come to grips with the likelihood of what the future holds, but I won't give up totally until she says "it's over."

Piel · Dec 5, 2006

Joe you said it perfectly :bow:

!

Skate Sandee · Dec 5, 2006

Joesitz said:
However, I am still perplexed about that whole pre-season 2002 Olympics and I just can not reconcile myselft to letting it go unaswered, and I don't care to hear anymore speculations.

Joe

And what honestly perplexes me is why the story that was provided by both MK and Frank Carroll isn't believed as the whole truth and nothin but the truth. I fear you and the other conspiracy theorists may be forever stymied with no resolution, simply because there is no unanswered question. As Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".

heyang · Dec 5, 2006

I would like to see her at US Nationals at least once more for a real farewell. Doesn't even matter if she wins, but that 10th title at Nationals would be another for the record books.

Also, I'd really like to see her perform the 2 routines that had been created for the Olympics and they were rumored to be COP friendly.

However, I wish her well whatever she does. She's already got Legend status IMO.

As for her being competitive against the younger girls, you forget that things like the 3A don't have a high % of success in competition for the ladies. Only a handful even attempt it. Lastly, Michele has landed 3-3's in competition and may have left them out due to her injuries. So, I would say that she has a shot at being competitive if she's healthy and I don't think she'd compete again unless she is.

jennylovskt · Dec 5, 2006

gio said:
She is my all time fav skater, but she belongs to other times, other generations! She's the skater of the 90s! IMO, also for Michelle it will be difficult to win against the various Asadas and Kims who can do the 3axels and two 3/3s by program. Michelle's health isn't that good. I don't wanna watch a Michelle meltdown, I'll be very sad. Rather, I hope that she can do great pro-skating.

Totally agree!

Joesitz (RIP) · Dec 6, 2006

Skate Sandee said:
And what honestly perplexes me is why the story that was provided by both MK and Frank Carroll isn't believed as the whole truth and nothin but the truth. I fear you and the other conspiracy theorists may be forever stymied with no resolution, simply because there is no unanswered question. As Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".

I don't think 'conspiracy theory' is a dirty phrase as it is made out to be. And quite frankly I don't have a theory of the split between MK and Frank and furthermore, I resent the implication. Also I do not suck up everything I am told.

I do remember posts at the time proclaiming that the split between MK and Frank was amicable. I've read about many divorces with that same word. I can't believe that when it was weeks before the Olys and then the firing of Lori Nichols. I have no conspiracy with anyone or anything with these facts.

As Gertrude Stein said, A rose is a rose is a rose.

Joe

Skate Sandee · Dec 6, 2006

Joesitz said:
I don't think 'conspiracy theory' is a dirty phrase as it is made out to be. And quite frankly I don't have a theory of the split between MK and Frank and furthermore, I resent the implication. Also I do not suck up everything I am told.

I do remember posts at the time proclaiming that the split between MK and Frank was amicable. I've read about many divorces with that same word. I can't believe that when it was weeks before the Olys and then the firing of Lori Nichols. I have no conspiracy with anyone or anything with these facts.

As Gertrude Stein said, A rose is a rose is a rose.

Joe

I resent the implication that I ever made "conspiracy theory" sound like a dirty phrase. I don't view the term in a derogatory way.

Let me restate: You clearly wrote that you believe that there are unanswered questions to Kwan's pre-2002 split with Frank. Therefore one must conclude that you believe the answers that were provided by the parties involved are either 1) not truthful or 2) truthful but not the full story, hence an unknown secret.

I don't believe everything I'm told either. But I also don't find anything in the explanation that was not believable. So it perplexes me that others hear the same information and believe there's more to the story. What if there isn't more to the story? Then I am correct that you will forever be left without a resolution, simply because there isn't anything more to know.

emma · Dec 6, 2006

There's a part of me that is saying DON"T post -- urgh. I guess I do just want to say that I think I understand what Joe is saying. I'm not implying any nefarious or sinister meanings, but when someone with the stature of Kwan leaves a coach/choreograph during the Olympic season AND doesn't have a replacement its, well, unusual. So it really does raise the question of why and from what I got from the vague interviews was something like Kwan was facing some sort of identity change/issue - maybe searching for the meaning in her skating or the direction it would take. But the timing just begs more explanation given the intensity of an Olympic build up in which Kwan was an important front runner for the gold.

Maybe there really aren't deeper answers - but again, given how the Kwan family works together, it just seems like there must be more to this story. Is Kwan obliged to tell us, NO. But that doesn't mean I just switch my curiosity to 'off' either.

Also, even without a coach, she actually really had good programs and could have won without the fall. These were not my favorite Kwan pieces, but they were solid and so was she -- this just raises another aspect of the question: was Kwan's statement that you are on the ice alone, and she wanted to take responsibility for that (and thus, leave coach) actually true? or again, was there more to it????

About the future: Of course I wish Kwan well (can I wish she weren't involved with such a right winger too???? ok, I'll drop this). My biggest fan wish is to see her healthy and competitive one more time - a kind of formal goodbye to skating where she leaves the sport kicking butt and ON the podium as she was for almost her entire career. I just think that would be very moving. And my second biggest fan wish is to see the programs she was working on for the Olympics - just pure curiosity, but I wish to see them.

Skate Sandee · Dec 6, 2006

I guess my POV is based on my personal experience. Although the stakes were not as high or public as the Olympics, I too made what appeared to my friends and family a baffling life-changing move. I mean MAJOR - to the point that I pushed my circle away, and uprooted every aspect of my life. My only explanation that I gave was that I knew it was the right thing for me to do. There was nothing more to it than that.

Many years later, my gut proved to be right and it was a good decision. I never questioned whether my family/friends still wonder about it. They've never asked. But now I suspect, having read the posts here, if my decision had not resulted in the completely positive outcome that it did, they likely would have kept the subject at the forefront and pressed me for more details. Ironically, there were no details I could have given them. It was an emotional decision, although I did work through the practicalities as well, that made perfect sense to me.

As for MK's future, while I can't agree with the label of a 90's skater (6 of her 9 National titles and 3 of her 5 World titles occurred post-1999), I think her best competitive days are behind her. Surgery isn't magic. I have a hard time imagining that she could get herself to a place physically where she could be competitive with the current crop of ladies. I don't accept the myth in some circles that she was incapable of competing well under COP. Arakawa was perfect proof that you could be 9th one year and an OGM the next. Unfortunately for Kwan, COP came at point when her injuries were taking their greatest toll. I wish we could have seen her really skate healthly under COP. At the very least, I hope that we someday see the LP that Tarasova created for her.

Joesitz (RIP) · Dec 7, 2006

Skate Sandee said:
I Let me restate: You clearly wrote that you believe that there are unanswered questions to Kwan's pre-2002 split with Frank. Therefore one must conclude that you believe the answers that were provided by the parties involved are either 1) not truthful or 2) truthful but not the full story, hence an unknown secret.

You seem to know something that I do not. What exactly were those answers provided? btw. You seem to imply that I'm talking about truth which is untrue.

I don't believe everything I'm told either. But I also don't find anything in the explanation that was not believable. So it perplexes me that others hear the same information and believe there's more to the story. What if there isn't more to the story? Then I am correct that you will forever be left without a resolution, simply because there isn't anything more to know.

You are correct that I believe I will never know the true story. Maybe if you explain what you know that I do not it would help. What exactly were those explanations that you believed were sufficient for determining and maybe justifying the split? I think there are other fans interested in them also.

Joe

Michelle Kwan

kalle

gio

nymkfan51

Kwanford Wife

gio

SeaniBu

Joesitz (RIP)

SeaniBu

Kwanford Wife

kittyjake5

nymkfan51

Piel

On Edge

Skate Sandee

heyang

jennylovskt

Joesitz (RIP)

Skate Sandee

emma

Skate Sandee

Joesitz (RIP)

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