Any news from Michelle Kwan these days?

[brightphoton]

It would be one thing if Michelle:

A) wasn't that active on social media, then we could excuse that and look to other avenues for getting publicity

and/or

B) she and her team won some political campaigns

For (A), we do see she is active on social media, so it is a way for her to reach people. However, her priorities are
- her co-workers and volunteers
- various celebrities
- her Lyra Angelica program at the 1998 Olympics
- exercise poses that look like figure skating poses
- her dog
- Karen Kwan's daughters gymnastics
- her shoes

If she can post about the celebrities she meets, she can post about the Asian Americans or Special athletes she meets.

We shouldn't have to dig up tweets from 2011 to find evidence of that one time she met the athletes from so and so.

As for B, she herself hasn't run for office herself. But she has chosen to attach herself to certain campaigns. Those political decisions were ... ehhhh.

Hillary Clinton: it's possible that this recent preoccupation with celebrities is the result of working with the Clinton campaign. I've noticed that the people on the Clinton campaign put ***a lot*** of effort into getting endorsements from so-and-so from the celebrity A-list. In hindsight, not the best strategy. Do people really care who Lady Gaga thinks they should vote for?

Clay Pell: I still can't fathom why her husband even ran for Rhode Island governor. One of the main criticisms of his campaign was that he only lived in the state for a few months prior to running for office. He wasn't born there, didn't grow up there, didn't go to uni there, didn't work there. Sometimes he vacationed there??? Even now, I don't know why he chose Rhode Island, other than that the current governor was retiring and hey, why not apply for his position.
Why does that state matter to him? I don't know, and I don't think the Rhode Island voters know either.

 

[brightphoton]

Well I too said she is not common folk anymore. She is an elite skater, a millionaire and works at prestigious posts. I don't think she nor her husband are political material. But I wish she would go back to skating some shows. She said on T V while commentating at 2009 worlds maybe she had all her triples back so how bad was injury????

She knew she could not compete against Mao, Yuna Joannie. But I recall her saying that wearing a gown and talking about Yunas three wow factors. Sasha attempted the comeback. Still Even if she can only do a double axel and a triple loop she likely can do the leaps, the spread eagles spirals and spins. She looks pretty fit.

I think it would be good for her to maybe do a one-off exhibition at Nationals, or Stars on Ice. Or perhaps next Nationals because that's a Olympic year. She still has a triple toe, her signature spiral, and a deep inner and outer spread eagle.

I'd rather see professional or retired skaters do delayed single jumps or double. There's something very pretty and effortless about it, and you never see it in competition. Dorothy Hamill does a nice one ~0:45.

https://youtu.be/vzD6iRGYuN0

 

[ice coverage]

... We shouldn't have to dig up tweets from 2011 to find evidence of that one time she met the athletes from so and so. ...

And we did not have to.
The Special Olympics World Games are held every two years.
The most recent Special Olympics World Games were in summer 2015, and those of us who actually have been paying attention saw photos and videos of MK with athletes at the 2015 Games :yes:.
The next Special Olympics World Games will be in winter 2017. And I look forward to seeing photos and videos of MK with athletes at the 2017 Games .

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

And we did not have to.
The Special Olympics World Games are held every two years.
The most recent Special Olympics World Games were in summer 2015, and those of us who actually have been paying attention saw photos and videos of MK with athletes at the 2015 Games :yes:.
The next Special Olympics World Games will be in winter 2017. And I look forward to seeing photos and videos of MK with athletes at the 2017 Games .

I'm glad you're resilient, but going by past posts, you really shouldn't bother. There are only so many half-truths, non-truths, and bad conclusions driven more by irrational dislike/hatred rather than logic and facts one can try to address in a reasonable discussion/debate before it drives you crazy.

 

[Skater Boy]

I think it would be good for her to maybe do a one-off exhibition at Nationals, or Stars on Ice. Or perhaps next Nationals because that's a Olympic year. She still has a triple toe, her signature spiral, and a deep inner and outer spread eagle.

I'd rather see professional or retired skaters do delayed single jumps or double. There's something very pretty and effortless about it, and you never see it in competition. Dorothy Hamill does a nice one ~0:45.

https://youtu.be/vzD6iRGYuN0

I think she said she hadn't realluy been skating so a double axel would be a problem most likely. And I don't think she wants to skate just stag jumps.

 

[brightphoton]

And we did not have to.
The Special Olympics World Games are held every two years.
The most recent Special Olympics World Games were in summer 2015, and those of us who actually have been paying attention saw photos and videos of MK with athletes at the 2015 Games :yes:.
The next Special Olympics World Games will be in winter 2017. And I look forward to seeing photos and videos of MK with athletes at the 2017 Games .

I too will look forward to all 4 photos of the 2017 Special Olympic games.

In the meantime, I guess we'll only have Michelle's shoes and not-Asian-and-Pacific-Islander famous friends.

 

[Mathman]

** Never mind. **

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I too will look forward to all 4 photos of the 2017 Special Olympic games.

In the meantime, I guess we'll only have Michelle's shoes and not-Asian-and-Pacific-Islander famous friends.

x 1000000. Mathman said it best.

 

[lyndichee]

She's been a millionaire since teenager days. They are not common anymore. She does love to be photographed looking glam. I'm surprised there are no kids. Maybe now. Richgirlmarries rich guy. Michelle has been in a bubble for20 years. She has money and most likely has no common friends.

All I see is extreme judgment and speculation about things that are none of your business. She has her own life and freedom of choice for what she does. She really doesn't owe anyone a performance.

I too will look forward to all 4 photos of the 2017 Special Olympic games.

In the meantime, I guess we'll only have Michelle's shoes and not-Asian-and-Pacific-Islander famous friends.

Why do you think Michelle Kwan has an obligation to constantly promote Asian-and-Pacific Islanders? You seem be insinuating in your posts that Michelle does not care about her heritage and prefers to associate with others races. You also seem to love to judge her for her social media choices. Let's all remember that social media are just highlights of a person's life and such assumptions/baseless speculation is not really productive.

 

[composer]

I consider myself "common" and I for one would hate to appear in anyone's Instagram feed, particularly a politician/celebrity's.

Maybe I'm just paranoid about privacy, but I try never to post pictures of strangers - and avoid posting pictures of children altogether. Doesn't mean I'm not around kids a lot.

I definitely wouldn't consider Instagram to be a complete representation of anyone's character.

 

[skateluvr]

All I see is extreme judgment and speculation about things that are none of your business. She has her own life and freedom of choice for what she does. She really doesn't owe anyone a performance.



Why do you think Michelle Kwan has an obligation to constantly promote Asian-and-Pacific Islanders? You seem be insinuating in your posts that Michelle does not care about her heritage and prefers to associate with others races. You also seem to love to judge her for her social media choices. Let's all remember that social media are just highlights of a person's life and such assumptions/baseless speculation is not really productive.

And you are just lumping me in with bright photon. I am not criticizing her politics or special Olympics participation but do wonder why she never participates in any of the many skating fundraisers over the years. No she is not obligated but she doesn't seem to care about her fans nor giving back to the sport that made her a multi millionaire.

Perhaps photon is correct. I started thread wanting news and wondering what there was out there and not much. So I personally feel she benefitted enormously from Nancy's whack and de big money and competed as along as she wanted.

Interestingly Yunas fans feel shafted a bit also because she doesn't skate at all. I think Kwan should do these fundraisers and she was asked to do many and turned them down. They never expected much I am sure, just show up in a pretty dress and do the spiral. I'm surprised how little we see of the hard work. I don't know - it seems Michelle forgot those who made her rich the day she walked off the ice at Torino. Yuna at least is mentoring the upandcomers but I bet her fans really miss her too. But maybe they only want the Yuna of triple lutx triple toe. But I suspect Yuna does way more for charity and shows up to a lot of fundraising.

 

[lyndichee]

And you are just lumping me in with bright photon. I am not criticizing her politics or special Olympics participation but do wonder why she never participates in any of the many skating fundraisers over the years. No she is not obligated but she doesn't seem to care about her fans nor giving back to the sport that made her a multi millionaire.

Perhaps photon is correct. I started thread wanting news and wondering what there was out there and not much. So I personally feel she benefitted enormously from Nancy's whack and de big money and competed as along as she wanted.

Interestingly Yunas fans feel shafted a bit also because she doesn't skate at all. I think Kwan should do these fundraisers and she was asked to do many and turned them down. They never expected much I am sure, just show up in a pretty dress and do the spiral. I'm surprised how little we see of the hard work. I don't know - it seems Michelle forgot those who made her rich the day she walked off the ice at Torino. Yuna at least is mentoring the upandcomers but I bet her fans really miss her too. But maybe they only want the Yuna of triple lutx triple toe. But I suspect Yuna does way more for charity and shows up to a lot of fundraising.

I did not lump you with brightphoton. I addressed your post as exactly what it was. Why do you think it is within your right to determine what she owes the public? She never asked for the attention from figure skating. People willingly gave their attention to someone who was not only a fierce competitor, but an artist on ice. She competed as long as her body and mind allowed her; that is her own choice and not your decision to make for her. Just because she earned a lot of money from people, doesn't mean she stole anything or signed a contract to dedicate her life to the public. In fact, her life is dedicated to the public in other ways that could have a larger impact on people than figure skating.

The disdain in your post for Michelle Kwan shows a very petty side of you. As a Yuna fan, I do feel a little bummed I don't get to see her skate anymore but there's nothing I want more for her than to be happy and if not skating for the public makes her happy, then I am all for it. I didn't not watch Yuna because of 1 stunning combination; I watched her performances because she moved me in ways a lot of skaters did not. Plus, Yuna doesn't perform with a 3Lz-3T anyways, her exhibitions had 2As and 3S. You don't know even know how often either Michelle or Yuna shows up to charities or fundraisers, why do you think you are informed enough to judge their characters based off small snippets of their public life?

There seems to be a lot of negativity on figure skating forums but at least people talking about Evgenia/scoring controversies are using critical thinking skills to analyze and discuss, even when arguments get heated. This is straight up nonsense and entitlement.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

There seems to be a lot of negativity on figure skating forums but at least people talking about Evgenia/scoring controversies are using critical thinking skills to analyze and discuss, even when arguments get heated. This is straight up nonsense and entitlement.

Not to mention ignorant. Just going by social media posts, which again does not tell the entire story, she attended Nationals and Worlds and did some press promoting the events and has attended the past few Figure Skating in Harlem events. Even if she didn't, I don't get the moralistic high ground being expressed in this thread. As a figure skating fan who enjoys the sport what have YOU done to help it and promote it? Easy to sit behind a screen in the comfort of one's home and critique others for not doing anything or not doing enough when they have done work to promote causes and events that interest them. It's also not as if US Figure Skating didn't benefit from all of those years Kwan was dominating the sport, but it doesn't matter as some think she doesn't measure up to some weird individual standard they feel she should meet to show gratitude to the sport.

 

[skateluvr]

What I have learned from this thread is some skaters do a lot more than others and do feel they should give back because they made millions in the90s. Just because you disagree with my opinion on that does not make my observation petty.

I think brightphoton makes valid points I did not see because I don't do social media and won't join to follow anybody. I did not know it was dogs and shoes and family dogs. One assumes it would be all about Hillary. But I guess not.

I am disappointed at what I have seen. I guess we should not expect her to ever skate publicly again.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

 

[demarinis5]

What I have learned from this thread is some skaters do a lot more than others and do feel they should give back because they made millions in the90s. Just because you disagree with my opinion on that does not make my observation petty.

I think brightphoton makes valid points I did not see because I don't do social media and won't join to follow anybody. I did not know it was dogs and shoes and family dogs. One assumes it would be all about Hillary. But I guess not.

I am disappointed at what I have seen. I guess we should not expect her to ever skate publicly again.

I thought you knew better than to listen to a troll.

Sorry brightphoton imo that is what you are doing in this thread. Did Michelle kick your puppy today? .

 

[lyndichee]

What I have learned from this thread is some skaters do a lot more than others and do feel they should give back because they made millions in the90s.

Pretty sure skaters do it because they love the sport, not because the millions they EARNED (fair and square, with the fans/companies willingly giving them the money) carries a stipulation that they are required to do a certain amount of public relations for the sport.

Just because you disagree with my opinion on that does not make my observation petty.

Did you even read any posts? Your opinion was entitled, ill-informed and ignorant. You cannot write this off as a disagreement when you have clearly expressed some sort of moralistic high ground and judged Michelle's personal life which is none of your business.

I think brightphoton makes valid points I did not see because I don't do social media and won't join to follow anybody. I did not know it was dogs and shoes and family dogs. One assumes it would be all about Hillary. But I guess not.

You just admitted that you are being ignorant in your judgment. You don't need to join social media to see her profiles; they are public. You can google and take a peak for yourself. You form an opinion based off of hearsay and a person who clearly has expressed some sort of moral bias against her career choices. There is something in the professional world called due diligence. We constantly ask this of international figure skating judges, what we are telling you is that before you form an opinion, you should do your due diligence to research.

I am disappointed at what I have seen. I guess we should not expect her to ever skate publicly again.

If that's what an adult like Michelle Kwan wants, then that is how it will be.

I want to be very clear: It is okay to want to see Michelle Kwan skate again. It is not okay to impose some sort of fictitious duty upon her to skate for your own pleasure and enjoyment.

 

[skateluvr]

Calm down lyndichee are you Danny Kwan. Giant bold sentences about what people can and cannot opine. So Brightphoton is perhaps not a Michelle Fan. Maybe he preferred Tara and Sarah. I started the thread to ask folks what they heard especially after the election which was devastating for so many people. I don't have a problem with someone who is not a fan of any skater I liked- why is he a troll? Because he is critical of her and doesn't worship her? That is ok.

If we all agreed it would be very dull. Sometimes users get upset at what they read but maybe it is a relative. Anyway I don't usually respond tit for tat. But I think the skaters I respect the most have really done a lot of free shows for so many causes and I kind of expect that from the most rich successful lucky skaters out there. That is how I think.

So bp is quite critical and looks at all the social media expecting maybe something more? I don't think we should attack each other because Micheelle Kwan is a public person. Sports stars celebrities and politicians put themselves out there and she is all three of those. I have never understood this uber mentality and sometimes wonder if the poster is a skater or their family. Not in this thread is that apparent but I have seen people register and post very vitriolic defenses when skater x is criticized in some way. Ah the anonymity of the Internet is good and bad.

I really wonder how many skaters, coaches, judges etc read here regularly. Not to mention family. Anyway when someone is a sports celebrity working high up in a political campaign- that is a public person. I truly doubt Michelle cares either way how she is perceived here- though I WOULD BET MONEY A CURRENT SKATER - Gracie Gold knows all about what we say about her. She is not a tough girl. Anyway Michelle is a long way away from caring about skating fans opinions of her. That much is clear. But I think people should be able to say what they think unless it is fake news, false gossip or really breaching the rules. I have never called anyone a troll. I think that is pretty mean to a fellow poster even if you hate what they think.

 

[concorde]

At least 5 years ago, she was occassionally skating on some freestyle morning sessions. We missed her but a couple of my daughters' friends did skate with her (and have the pictures to prove it).

 

[Mathman]

I too will look forward to all 4 photos of the 2017 Special Olympic games.

If you want to see a bunch from the 2013 Special Olympic Games in Peongchang, just do a Google image search of "Michelle Kwan Special Olympics. :yes: Here is a sample from the first page:

Michelle coaching Special Olympian roller blader at the 2010 games in Athens.

https://projectunifyblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/michelle-kwan-rollerskating.jpg

Michelle visiting a care facility in China in her role as Public Policy Envoy in the George Bush administration:

http://www.espn.com/photo/2012/0125/olympics_g_kwan25_mb_576.jpg

Michelle and Yuna perform at the closing gala for the Pyongchang, South Korea winter games. (They reprised their famous “Hero” routine, performed at the All That Skate show in LA in 2010, but with a twist. In 2010, Yuna was saying that Michelle was her hero. In 2013, both Yuna and Michelle were saying that the special athletes were their heros.

http://imgnews.naver.net/image/073/2013/02/05/2013020501000226800010291_59_20130205204718.jpg

Here they are leading the Special Olympian ice skaters to a rousing Gangnam Style:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...CusuUX831lidOipzZBWvOhTHZHoS0B1WXdh49eHLm796A

Here is Michelle congratulating her Special Olympian badminton doubles partner, after a match against Yuna and Yuna’s partner. (I believe that a short clip of this match is still available on You Tube. Michelle’s special needs partner was really good, making both Michelle and Yuna look like amateurs.)

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/...aOFdoOnPUAB9t65MDhz4-f0A76OP_8-p49PszwTMbtBZg

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/img_dir/2015/07/29/2015072901264_0.jpg

Michelle gives out medals:

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...ejbMg6pMgVG9MiRdrtIBkm2RakFoflDUHIc_LNzCCfTmw

OK, you got me with this one. This is Michelle and famous person Vice President Joe Biden hosting the opening ceremonies at the meet in Boise (2009):

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/.a/6a00d8341c60fd53ef011278ff615728a4-800wi

Michelle runs with the torch at the cross country dash to the 2015 Los Angeles summer Special Olympic games. By 2015 the organization was pushing a “united team” effort, where athletes with and without intellectual disabilities compete together. Michelle was active in organizational work for this program.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVSbftFKc...1600/581014_10151282151252538_448588290_n.jpg