In the March 24, 2003 issue of Newsweek is an article that contains a Q&A with Michelle. With the article is a picture of Michelle from the Finding Families exhibit opening. DFWAsian let me know that the article is on page 67. (Thanks DFWAsian!)

Michelle was in the Sunday, February 23, 2003 issue of Parade magazine, a weekly magazine included in your local Sunday newspaper. Michelle was in a question asked in Walter Scott's Personality Parade section, where readers ask questions about their favorite celebrities. Here is the question and answer in the magazine:

Q: Michelle Kwan often skates to a beautiful song called "Fields of Gold." Who is the fantastic singer? --Jeff Eagleton, Topeka, Kan.

A: Eva Cassidy, who died of melanoma at age 33 in 1996, before she was widely appreciated. Fortunately, her work was promoted by Chris Biondo, a former boyfriend who produeced her earliest recordings, and Bill Straw of Blix Street Records thought enough of her talent to release the CD Songbird in 1998. It went gold and yielded her version of Sting's song "Fields of Gold." Michelle was also a Q&A in Parade magazine on August 18, 2002 and January 12, 2003.
graciesfriend posted on the MK Forum that there is a small mention about Michelle's Nationals win in the March 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids. The mention is on page 15 in the Warmup section, and says, "Michelle Kwan, age 22, won her sixth straight U.S. women's figure skating championship on January 18. Gretchen Merril was the last person to win the women's title six times in a row (1943 though 1949). Kwan has now won the title a total of seven times." Included is a small headshot of Michelle with her medal at Nationals. (Thanks graciesfriend!)
Jennis posted on the MK Forum that an article about Michelle's Nationals win is in the January 31, 2003 issue of the Time for Kids, with a picture of a layback from Aranjuez at Nationals. (Thanks Jennis!)
In the January 24, 2003 edition of the USA Today paper, Michelle was one of several celebrities to answer questions about the Super Bowl. Check out the article Big names give their take on the Big Game. Here are the questions and answers with Michelle.

Q: If you could play any position in football, what would it be?
A: Wide receiver. It's a position that requires speed, jumping ability and footwork, the same things that make figure skating so much fun.

Q: What's your favorite Super Bowl commercial?
A: One of the "Whasssup" Budweiser commercials. The husband and wife are watching figure skating on TV when his buddies call. He tells them he is watching "the game," drinking a Bud. His friends question the "game" he is watching when his wife starts screaming in the background about the figure skater's performance.

Q: The Super Bowl or the World Series?
A: I've been to the World Series, and the electricity and excitement there was like nothing I've ever experienced. I've never been to a Super Bowl, so I would have to pick the World Series.

Q: Who will win and why?
A: I'm going with Oakland purely because they used to be my home team when they were in L.A. Raiders 20-17.
WingIt98 posted the following on the MK Forum about a small Michelle mention in the Feb. 3, 2003 issue of ESPN Magazine. (Thanks WingIt98!)

I just got the new ESPN Magazine and while there's not actually an article on Nationals, they always post their top 10 moments of the week and what also received votes. Under "also receiving votes" was simply "Kwan!" Just like that, exclamation point and all. I thought that was cute.
attyfan posted the following Michelle mention on the MK Forum (Thanks attyfan!)

According to the L.A. Times, Venus Williams was "a class act in defeat ... right out of the Michelle Kwan Olympic playbook."
There's an article about Nationals in the January 27, 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated. The article is on page 36 and is titled, "Three times a lady." Maybe the magazine's website will put the article online soon. The article contains 2 Michelle pictures from Nationals. One of a spiral during Aranjuez, and one of the ladies podium.
mkrules posted the following on the MK Forum about Michelle being mentioned in the January 2003 issue of Elle magazine: (Thanks mkrules!)

I don't know if anyone has posted this already, but on pg. 85 of Elle magazine there is a Michelle mention under, "How to ask a man out on a date."

"#2 Practice: Ask men any damn thing. [Do they think Michelle Kwan should join the National Hockey League?] This edifying little adventure will immediately demonstrate to you that men really like to be asked for their opinion. Then work up to inviting your eighty-two-year-old neighbor, Dr. Wayland, out for a coconut custard pie."
The January 15, 2002 edition of the LA Times has an article about Michelle in preparation for Nationals, titled "A Relaxed Kwan Is Living for the Moment." Not too much new information, except the article says, "Kwan said she isn't planning any triple-triples in her own programs. She has practiced a triple lutz-hop-triple toe combination but isn't sure enough of it to bring it out this week. Asked if Kwan could win without a triple-triple, Williams quickly responded affirmatively. 'What she brings is such a well balanced program and well balanced skating,' he said." Michelle also says in the article, "Being a pro hasn't crossed my mind. I haven't thought about it at all. I'd probably be doing the same things, even if I turned pro."
I received the January 2003 issue of Skating Magazine in the mail today. Here are the mentions of Michelle in the magazine. (This magazine is only available by subscription.)

  • Cover
  • Same pictures from cover on the TOC page...page 3
  • Small article about Michelle being named a CosmoGirl of the Year, with a sentence about her other awards from last year (Sullivan, Teen Choice, and Kids Choice awards.) Includes this picture of Michelle...page 6
  • Article about Michelle and Sasha qualifying for the Grand Prix Final...page 8
  • Cover article about the 25 year anniversary of Champions on Ice, which has many quotes about and from Michelle. Includes the same picture of Michlle skating to Mulan as on the cover...pages 12-15
    At one point, the article talks about the different skaters and types of programs on tour, and how he's "into variety." The article says, "Still, Collins is a figure skater at heart. As much as he enjoys the fun-loving programs, performances by Kwan, Boitano, and Hamill are on the top of his list of all-time favorite tour routines." Collins then talks about a Brian Boitano number, and then says, "Then last year seeing Michelle Kwan in her 'Fields of Gold' routine...you could hear a pin drop every night."

    Later in the article, it says "One of Kwan's most memorable birthdays was spent on tour. When she turned 18, Collins hosted a surprise party for her at the Phoenician Hotel, a fancy resort in Phoenix. 'We had two days off and the second day was my birthday,' Kwan recalled. 'I kept asking people what they were doing and everyone said they were busy. I figured that everyone forgot. It turns out that Tommy had gotten a ballroom for a party for me. It was amazing. There were games and everything. It was one of my favorite birthdays.' For her birthday this past summer, Collins reserved KWan a suite at the hotel and had flowers in the room for her when she arrived."

    The article later talks about how the skaters develop a bond with each other, and how odd it is to tour with your competitors. Michelle talks about how hard it was to adjust when she first joined the tour at age 13, "I felt like an oddball. I was very scared to speak to anyone. I didn't know if they would be nice to me or not." She says that she was more nervous to skating in front of her heroes, especially Brian, than she was to perform in front of thousands of fans. "When a new person joins the tour, everyone in the tour always watches. It's nerve-wracking. When I first skated on tour, everyone I looked up to for years was watching me."
  • Ad for Worlds. Includes a picture of Michelle doing a spiral at 2000 Skate America...page 16
  • Kids Questions with Paul Wylie, where he is asked what he is doing now. His answer is "I am working at the Walt Disney Studios as Director of Marketing and Synergy. I have a very special project right now, working on the Disney Company's corporate spokesperson deal with Michelle Kwan."...pages 78-80
Michelle was in the Sunday, January 12, 2003 issue of Parade magazine, a weekly magazine included in your local Sunday newspaper. Michelle was in a question asked in Walter Scott's Personality Parade section, where readers ask questions about their favorite celebrities. Along with the question and answer is a picture of Michelle from Rachmaninoff at the Olympics. Above the picture is the caption "Kwan: She's keeping dreams of Olympic gold fresh on ice." Here is the question and answer in the magazine:

Q: Is Michelle Kwan hanging up her skates after two attempts to capture Olympic gold? --Diane Hayes, Tacoma, Wash.

A: No. "I'm only 21, and I still love competing," says Kwan, who has won bronze (2002) and silver (1998) Olympic medals. For her try at gold in 2006, Kwan has hired a new coach, Scott Williams, to reshape her strategy. To see if it's working, tune in to this week's State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Kwan will skate on Friday (on ESPN2) and Saturday (on ABC). Michelle was also a Q&A in Parade magazine on August 18, 2002.
I received my January/February 2003 issue of International Figure Skating in the mail the other day. Here are the mentions of Michelle in the magazine (not many):

  • Ad for book "Frozen Assets" has this picture lightly in the background, with this quote from Michelle, "My parents always told me never to live with regret, and I think I have done a pretty good job so far."...page 18
  • Article about new judging system being tested on the grand prix circuit this season. Titled "Judging Faces the Jury," it contains this quote from Michelle: "Today when I got my marks, I didn’t look. It doesn’t make any sense to me." The article also includes a picture of Michelle skating to Aranjuez..pages 24-25
  • Ad for the company that published the magazine, Ashton International Media. The ad has covers of all the magazines it publishes. Then in the background, there are pictures of the different classes of magazines they publish, such as a teddy bear for their collectible magazines. Anyway, at the top it has this picture lightly in the background under "Sports"...page 60
feelingbegins03 posted the following magazine mention on the MK Forum: (Thanks feelingbegins03!)

MK mention in American Girl Mag On page 41 of American Girl Magazine, in the Who's That Girl section, there are pictures of some famous women from the past ten years. There is a picture of Michelle wearing a Santa wig with a word bubble that says "I keep my cool." Then on page 42 there is a picture of Michelle in her Schez costume with a caption that talks about her winning the favorite female athlete at the teen choice awards.

Several forum members later posted that the issue is the January/February 2003 issue of American Girl.

Last updated November 23, 2003

Back to News / Past News on Michelle
Photo © Jay Adeff