Ice skaters Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes both earned diplomas this past weekend. Kwan received a ” bachelor’s degree in international studies with a minor in political science from the University of Denver” and Hughes “collected a bachelor’s degree in American studies with a concentration in U.S. politics and communities from Yale University.”

Are you impressed? I sure am! Smart young women who understand what it really means to be a role model? That rocks.
Kwan said, “I’ve always known you can only skate for so many years and then you have to rely on your education to …read more

Former Olympic Figure Skater, Michelle Kwan has been chosen to be a part of the United States delegation for the closing ceremonies in Beijing. Also attending are Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice; Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Michael O. Leavitt; US Ambassador to China, Clark T. Randt; US Olympic Committee President, Peter Ueberroth; and Karen Hughes, former Undersecretary of State and Global Vice Chair of Burson-Marsteller.
Kwan, who is of Chinese heritage, was nine-time US Champion and five-time World Champion. She won the Silver Medal at Nagano (1998) and the Bronze Medal in Salt Lake …read more

According to the article I came across today, it seems that the current US Figure Skating Champion Sasha Cohen isn’t decided whether she’s going to defend her title in the US Figure Skating Championships, which is just two months away.
“I’ve been keeping my options open and been training to stay in shape,” Cohen said. “But I have not made any new programs.” — The Seattle Times
However.
It’s been said that the 22-year old plans to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics and in the 2009 World Championships.
Cohen has competed in six US Championships, placed second to Michelle Kwan four times before …read more

I thought long and hard about responding to my colleague’s (Aaron) post, Figure Skating is not a sport! On the one hard, it’s hard enough to follow the games and blog in a timely manner (not to mention that I have the ‘Technocrat Soapbox‘ to worry about as well), on the other, I feel quite strongly about what Aaron said.
I love Figure Skating, especially Women’s Figure Skating. I like Gymanstics too, exclusively Women’s Gymnastics. I also like Women’s Tennis, and only Women’s Tennis (but I never watch the Williams sisters play).

Michelle Kwan on ice (Source: MSN)

The difference among …read more

From the article:
Michelle Kwan dropped out of the Olympics on Sunday morning, one day after she cut short a practice because of a recurring groin injury.
The U.S. figure skater said Saturday she didn’t want to drop out, but would have to “listen to my body.” She missed last month’s U.S. nationals with a groin injury, and needed a medical bye onto the Turin team…
…The U.S. Olympic Committee submitted a request to replace Kwan with Emily Hughes, the third-place finisher at last month’s nationals. An answer is expected later this week, and Hughes was expected to travel to Turin on Sunday. …read more