Michelle Kwan named to Official U.S. Delegation to Beijing Olympics | Golden Skate

Michelle Kwan named to Official U.S. Delegation to Beijing Olympics

visaliakid

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Jan 23, 2004
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Michelle Kwan will be representing the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China as part of the U.S. Presidential seven-member delegation.

Joining President Bush will be Secretary of State Rice, Kwan, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao; Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt; Clark T. Randt, Jr, the U.S. ambassador to China; U.S. Olympic committee president Peter Ueberroth; and Karen Hughes, global vice chair of Burson-Marsteller.

Article here! :clap:
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Go Michelle! We were just talking about this on another thread, speculating whether Michelle would be attending officially.

Hey, Visalia Kid, you need to change your signature to "The new Michelle Kwan era is just beginning!" :rock: :laugh:

Edited to add: Anyone who wants to talk about the politics of this announcement is welcome to join me in the Politics folder (thread with the same title). :biggrin:
 
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Pikachuusb

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Sep 27, 2005
What wonderful news!! I am quite happy for her and know she will represent the States wonderfully:love::rock::clap::biggrin:
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
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Jan 23, 2004
Thank you for the article. Michelle will be a great representative for the US.
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
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Dec 28, 2006
I was kinda wondering if something like this would happen to Michelle! She is a Chinese-American and a 2-time olympian. It sounds very exciting for her.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
so excited for Michelle!! does she speak chinese fluently?
I believe that her familty speaks Cantonese. Michelle speaks some Mandarin (with a Cantonese-California accent :) ), but is not fluent.
 
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lcd

Match Penalty
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Mar 11, 2007
I recall that Michele visited China after her initial World title in '96 - and clips of her being interviewed by the media were always in English.

Her being part of the delegation is wonderful, and no question she is an ambassor to be proud of.

Does anybody know whether her "role" will survive a change of administration? What happens especially in the event Obama wins? Is her appointment term tied to the current administration? I hope not...
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Does anybody know whether her "role" will survive a change of administration? What happens especially in the event Obama wins? Is her appointment term tied to the current administration? I hope not...
I believe what happened was that Michelle struck up an instant friendship with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when Michelle was invited to a luncheon at the White House in honor of Chinese President Hu Jingtao. Rice was a former figure skater as a teenager -- not too bad, I understand.

The week before, Kristi Yamaguchi was invited to dinner at the White House with then-Prime Minister Abe Shiuzo. Note that the leader of Japan got a dinner, plus a visit to the ranch, but China only got a lunch. This was carefully orchestrated by the Bush administration to show that Japan was a valued ally but China wasn't doing it's share to keep North Korea and Iran in line. China was duly insulted and expressed displeasure through diplomatic channels. Not displeased about Michelle versus Kristi, I don't mean, but the informal lunch versus a state dinner. I love international politics! :laugh:

Anyway, Michelle got to sit at the head table between Hu and Bush, and at the end of the dinner she said to Secretary Rice, "If there is ever anything I can do for my country, please call on me." So a couple of weeks later, Ms. Rice called, saying, "how would you like to be a roving good will ambassador? And by the way, you ought to enroll at Denver University, my old alma mater, and study politics and international relations like I did." (And the rest is history. ;) )

So Michelle's fortunes are definitely connected to Rice and the Bush adminstration.

However...that's where we come in! Some idiot named Mathman over on the Michelle Kwan forum is trying to get a letter writing campaign together to bombard the new President, whoever he may be, with a million letters urging him to keep Michelle. Power to the People! :rock:
 
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Joined
Jun 21, 2003
PS. I think President Bush has a warm spot in his heart for figure skaters anyway. Remember when he made a point of sitting with Sasha Cohen at the Salt Lake City Olympics and chatting on the phone with Sasha's Mom?

"Hey Mom, guess who's sitting right beside me? No, really!" :)
 
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attyfan

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Mar 1, 2004
...
However...that's where we come in! Some idiot named Mathman over on the Michelle Kwan forum is trying to get a letter writing campaign together to bombard the new President, whoever he may be, with a million letters urging him to keep Michelle. The people rule! :rock:

Great idea! (The nature of Michelle's job is temporary -- at the pleasure of the current administration -- but since MK is smart enough to keep her mouth shut on policy issues, there is absolutely nothing that would prevent the next Pres from keeping her on.)
 

rtureck

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Jul 26, 2003
USA is well represented by Michelle. I remember Hilary Clinton (when she was first lady) had great admiration for MK. During the Clinton admin, MK was invited to the White House for a state dinner honoring the president (or some big shot) of China.
 

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
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Dec 16, 2006
PS. I think President Bush has a warm spot in his heart for figure skaters anyway. Remember when he made a point of sitting with Sasha Cohen at the Salt Lake City Olympics and chatting on the phone with Sasha's Mom?

"Hey Mom, guess who's sitting right beside me? No, really!" :)

Didn't he and Mrs. Bush serve as co-hosts of the 2003 World Championships in DC?

At any rate, if Michelle Kwan runs for public office in the future, I wonder how far she will go.
 

gocaroline

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
happy for MK

I always respect MK not only because of her figure skating achievements but also her good image. She is definitely a great role model. If she ever decide to run for position in administration, she sure will have my full support:clap:
 
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