Michelle's History at worlds

Recap:
1994-8th
1995-4th
1996-1st
1997-2nd
1998-1st
1999-2nd
2000-1st
2001-1st
2002-2nd
2003-1st

That is a pretty good consistant record of 1st or 2nd place finishes in the last 8 years. Some reflections...

The lows:
1997:
She fell out of her combo in the short and landed in 4th going into the long. But she skated the best Taj in the long(including 3/3). I love that program. Even though she needed Irina to place 2nd to get the gold, Michelle had already won a victory for her self by skating as well as she did. Still 2nd after her "on a roll" season of '96 had to be somewhat of a let down.

1999:
Of all the years 1999, to many Kwan fans was the one that got away. She was heavly favored to win, so much so Peggy Fleming said "Michelle would have to leave the rink in order for her to lose" Quite simply the girl was Sick. She had taken antibiotics and had a fevor. Still she fell on her 2 axle in the short and placed 4th. There was no way she was gonna beat Maria Butriskaya who skated the best long program of her career with 7 triple jumps in the long. Michelle Did not skate well in the long untill she did the 2nd 3lutz after that she at least had some fire but still, she fell out of her 1st 3lutz, Singled her 2 axle, and stuggeled with her 3salchow.



the Highs:

2000:
I consider 2000 to be her most exciting world title because it was so unexpected. Irina Slutskaya was comming on STRONG! Michelle looked weak in her National Title defence Irina just recently won the 2000 Grand Prix Final With a rip-roaring rendition of Don Qxotie, including 2 3/3's(lutz-loop, sal-loop) Maria Bute. skated a wonderful short program and was in 1st after the short. With Maria and Irina going 1-2 after the short the odds were against Kwan winning. She need to do the 3/3 that she didn't do since 1999 skate America. Plus she skated Frist..eekk!!
Michelle calmly took the ice for her long program to the Red Violin. She did her 3/3, on her way to landing 7 flawless triples. Ending with Charlotte Sprial along the length of the rink, Michelle threw down the gauntlet. For this worlds it was not the Win, rather it WAS how Michelle skated. The quility of her free skate, when there was so much pressure on her to be perfect and do the 3/3.



1996:
1996 will be remembered as one of the best head-to-head showdowns at the world championships in the ladies event. 1995 World Champ. Lu Chen skated the most beautiful, outer-worldly, precise, soft program. With 2 strong pure lutzs might I add. Lu Chen recieved 2 6.0 Marks for Presention.
Michelle Kwan knew she had to be perfect to have any chance of upsetting Lu Chen. And perfect she was, skating to "Salome"(both the opera and the movie version) Michelle BECAME Salome mixing performance moxie and maturity well beyond her 15 years to give a performance worthy of John the Baptist's Head on a silver platter. Michelle also recived 2 6.0 Marks for presentation on her way to win her 1st world title.


2003:
This was just special from start to finish. The tape from DC worlds will be show as one of those "Special skates" a skater not just give to that audience at the arena but to the skating world for generations to come, Much like Katerina Witt's West Side Story, Peggy Flemings Ave Maria and Torvell and Dean's Borelo...Michelle Kwan's Aranjuez *BIG SIGH*


Honorable mention to 1995:
I know she did not medal but she did skate like a Champion!



Which year do you think was MK's best worlds, which was her worst??

Nice post. My favorite Michelle worlds? I liked her 2003. Maybe her '01 and '02 too.
can you do that for Sarah too? I dont have any skating tapes to watch.

That was great Kwanisqueen81. I love 1996 and 2003 wins.

1996 because it was so new and I just love the Salome program. I really wish she will bring that back. Maybe for 2006.

2003 because I was there in person. I had never seen her skate at a competitons in person. The crowd the music all was great. I was a volunteer for she short program and had tickets for the long. I had the honor of patching the ice before she skate her short program to The Feeling Begins. I was able to throw her flowers at the end of the long to Aranjuez from my seat which was great.

2000 and 2001 were my favorites.

2000, because I honestly thought she wasn't going to pull it off, then when all the placements were in, it was like, Wow! She did it!

2001, because I was there in person. Years from now, I can be able to say that I was there when one of the all-time greats won #4 (and, incidentally, succesfully defended the title for the first, and -- so far -- only, time)

95 and 96 were pretty impressive, too, tho. 95 because she just skated so incredibly well, and 96 because it was a case of "2 6s, huh? Well, right back at ya!!"

I'm not sure what the point of this thread was but I found the stats interesting.

Joe

Hey Joe, I think the point was to choose your favorite Michelle moment at Worlds. This might be fun to do with other skaters as well, especially Irina Slutskaya.

It is too difficult to choose just one, but I do have to mention these two (even though they aren't personal performance faves):

1998 Worlds: Okay, she made mistakes. But, Rach was solid and beautiful and so was Lyra (even with the fall)! For me, the real victory here was that she showed up a month after her most crushing defeat and still had that great attitude. I probably still would have been in the fetal position in the Nagano locker room! I was very proud of her and became a much bigger fan.

2002 Worlds: Once again she entered Worlds with shattered Olympic dreams. She gave "Schez" a lot of energy and did the best she could with it, and for that I give her loads of respect. She didn't back away or let the disappointment consume her. Great role model material, even if it does suck for Michelle that she had to miss two Olympics Golds to cement that! Oh well, I have feeling this time could be different, but we'll see I suppose.

Performance Faves:

2003: Blah, blah....she's old....she recycles programs and is horribly unoriginal and boring.....BAM! That inner strength isn't just for concealing Olympic podium disappointment....it is also is for racking up World titles and proving all of her doubters wrong for the 87th time. I loved all of it! The freedom of movement...the light, airy quality that was back in her skating!


95, 96, 00 and 01 as well!

Thank you for the recap!!! There are so many MK performances/programs that I love--she is amazing

I think that you cannot mention MK's great worlds moments without mentioning Vancouver '01. This was the Worlds where her boot came apart in the QR, she went off and fixed it, and skated one of her best LPs to win the QR. After a gorgeous SP (if she needs a programme to recycle, it should be EOE, omg), she led going into the FP and skated a 7 triple programme (probably the cleanest she ever got that Black Swan programme) with a triple-triple against a perfectly healthy Slutskaya and an oncoming Sarah Hughes.

If that's not worth mentioning, I don't know what is!

she led going into the FP and skated a 7 triple programme (probably the cleanest she ever got that Black Swan programme) with a triple-triple against a perfectly healthy Slutskaya and an oncoming Sarah Hughes.

Click to expand...

Maybe my memory failed me. Was she 2nd to Irina after the SP going into the LP? And yes, the EOE was one of the best SP from her.

I think this speaks of Michelle's consitency and determination.

Always fun reading about the highlights of Michelle's career. To me, all her Worlds victories have been so exciting. Her record at Worlds is amazing--I don't think anyone else in the modern era comes close in terms of number of medals won.