Michelle Kwan discusses her career, Part II

Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune recently conducted a lengthy interview with former figure skating star Michelle Kwan. Below is an except of the interview, Part 2 of which you can read here.

Q: What is the funniest thing that happened to you as a skater?

Michell Kwan: It was probably the world championships in Germany (2004) when I was warming up before the long program, and a guy came on the ice in a tutu.  He could have picked a lot of skaters to get on the ice and do that with, and he picked me, which seemed kind of cool at first.

I remember people yelling and I was like, “What’s going on?"  Then I saw him on the ice, and I thought about what happens if he has a gun.  For a second, I thought I better get off the ice and run for my life.  Then seeing him stagger around  the ice, I realized if he had a gun he couldn’t aim it, or if he had a knife, he couldn’t get to me with it.

Looking back at the tapes and stuff, it’s not like football where (security) rushes the field.  It was like, “How many security guards does it take to tackle somebody on the ice?”

It was the only time in history that happened in skating, right?

 (NOTE:  The intruder, wearing skates and ski goggles, jumped the rink boards and stripped to the waist to reveal the name of an Internet casino painted on his back and chest. He pulled a tutu over his tights and began to do a clown-like routine as Kwan briefly continued to warm up before it turned serious in her mind.  More than a minute passed before anyone in the security force reacted at all to the intruder's presence on the ice. It eventually took five men in street shoes 40 seconds to herd him off.  Kwan declined the offer of an ice resurface and competed after some minor debris had been removed.  She said after finishing her heart began thumping wildly while she waited for security to apprehend the intruder. Kwan composed herself to skate flawlessly until doubling a final planned triple jump, a performance good enough for a bronze medal, her last of a U.S. record nine world medals.)

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Michelle Kwan discusses Michelle Kwan

Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune recently conducted a lengthy interview with former figure skating star Michelle Kwan. Below is an except of the interview, Part 1 of which you can read here.

1. What is your favorite performance?

Michelle Kwan: On so many levels, it would have to be 1998 nationals.  I had a stress fracture, and I was struggling during Christmas with my foot in a cast.  I remember being really, really sad.  I was thinking, “I have to be at nationals in two weeks.  How is this going to happen?”  I had two choices – one was give up, and the other was to go out there and skate and enjoy it.

I knew the pain was not going to go away.  It was just dealing with it and still being able to enjoy what I was doing.  I think that is very hard to do.   But I thought, “I have to be able to put myself in the frame of mind of having fun.”

That nationals went so well because I went out there with a lightness and freedom and loving what I do.  I tried to do that for the rest of my career.

There was also just being able to experience it and put it in perspective.  Of course, I was also trying to make that Olympic team.  I went beyond my expectations.

(NOTE:  Many consider Kwan’s brilliant skating at the 1998 U.S. Championships the highlight of her career.  Seven of the nine judges gave her perfect 6.0 scores for presentation in the short program – the first 6.0s ever for a woman in the short program at nationals.  Eight judges gave her perfect presentation scores in the free skate.)

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Michelle Kwan to co-chair International Olympic Committee conference in L.A.

The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games announced Thursday that figure skater Michelle Kwan, a five-time world champion, nine-time U.S. champion and twice an Olympic medalist, and movie producer Frank Marshall, a five-time Oscar nominee, will be co-chairs of the fifth International Olympic Committee Women and Sport 2012 Conference, to be held early next year in Los Angeles.

The event will take place Feb. 16-18 at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live.

The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, which promotes Olympic ideals and organizes bids to hold the Games here, will organize and stage the event in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“It’s an honor to co-chair and participate in such an important international event,” Kwan, a U.S. public diplomacy envoy, said in a news release. "Historically, this conference has played a meaningful role in identifying ways to improve and increase participation of women in the world of sport around the globe. Women athletes are making progress; for the very first time, the 2012 Olympic Games in London will showcase women competing in every sport on the program. I look forward to this conference and to the continued advancement of women in sports.” 

Kim Yuna finds 'calm, collected' coach in Peter Oppegard

Kim Yuna was in her fourth year of elementary school when she first met Peter Oppegard.

She was with a group of South Korean figure skaters who had been sent to the Ice Castle rink in Lake Arrowhead for a summer session. Oppegard, who had teamed with Jill Watson to win a pairs bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics and three U.S. titles, was building what has become a successful coaching career.

Flash forward to this year. Kim, so graceful and powerful in winning the gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics, split with her coach, Brian Orser, over the summer and moved to Los Angeles to decide her next move. When considering coaches who might guide her to the next phase of her career she remembered Oppegard, now coaching at East West Ice Palace in Artesia.

After skating there for a few weeks Kim asked him to collaborate with her, and they announced their agreement Tuesday in a news conference at the rink. The arrangement will be reviewed each season.
 “I noticed he had a very calm, collected manner that would match my style very well,” Kim said through a translator. “He has a very unique style of leading students and his skaters are very happy.”

Oppegard, 51, has coached pairs and singles skaters to 10 national titles. He’s married to Karen Kwan, sister of Michelle Kwan, the five-time world champion, nine-time U.S. champion and two-time Olympic medalist. The Kwan family owns and operates the Artesia facility.