A woman for all seasons
Figure skater Michelle Kwan, who competed in two Winter Olympics and withdrew from the Turin Games because of an injury, will go to the upcoming Summer Olympics -- but not as a competitor.
Kwan, 28, will attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Games as part of an official delegation sent by President Bush, the White House announced today in a statement.
Kwan, a Torrance native who still lives in Southern California -- and whose family operates the East West Ice Palace in Artesia -- has made several trips overseas as a public diplomacy envoy. She will join Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Olympic Commitee President Peter Ueberroth, among others, at the Beijing finale on Aug. 24.
-- Helene Elliott
Photo: In 2006, Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan talked about her role as a public diplomacy envoy, appointed to the post by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Now Kwan is headed to Beijing. Credit: Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times
