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After winning four of the past five World Figure Skating Championships, Michelle Kwan won the bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. She's heading to Salt Lake City with a new coach and a new routine but has no plans on changing her skating superstitions.
Like in every other competition, Michelle Kwan wears a gold dragon necklace which her Grandma gave her many years ago. Michelle grew up in Corsatta, California. She became interested in figure skating when she was five, after watching her older brother, Ron, play hockey. When Michelle Kwan was six, she entered her first skating competition and finished first. Michelle skated at the World Championships for the first time in 1994, when she was just 13 years old. She finished eighth and let the world know that there were more great things to come. Michelle Kwan would finish fourth in 1995 and won her first world title in 1996. She would go on to win world titles again in '98, '00 and '01. Even though Michelle Kwan won in 2001, she hasn't been skating her best since then. She finished second to Irina Slutskaya at the Goodwill Games and had a weak performance at Skate America in October 2001 - her first competition since firing long time coach, Frank Carroll. Michelle will still be a favorite at Salt Lake City and her rivalry with Irina Slutskaya of Russia should be one of the most watched matchups of the Games. What will Michelle Kwan do after figure skating? Well, there's a good bet she'll spend a lot of time driving and shopping. Michelle loves to shop and she now has three cars - a new Lexus, a Jeep and a Chevrolet. |
