Some interesting sightings in newspapers (though I can't find the articles online). In Tuesday's edition of USA Today, there was an article in the Sports section on the Top 98 of '98 (they do this every year.) Michelle is #30. The only other skater on the list is Tara (#13) The listing on Michelle says:

30. Michelle Kwan: Class of Olympic skating also graduates from high school with honors.

In my local paper (part of the Gannett news service, so it may be in your local paper, too), there was an article titled 1998 'Twas a very big year. The article is actually a calendar, with important events listed on the day it happened. The first day I looked at was January 10 (the day of the ladies long at Nationals, a day I will never forget!) To my surprise, it was there! Under January, here is what was listed:
10 Michelle Kwan wins U.S. skating prize
Only the day the Olympics opened were listed (Feb 7). The results of the Olympics weren't mentioned at all. No other skating events were listed. I was very happy that they listed Michelle winning Nationals!!

I got the magazine today. The picture of Michelle working out was in the November 17, 1997 issue of People magazine with the article Belle on the Ball. The actual picture is not online, though.

The caption reads "In L.A., ice princess Michelle Kwan shows how she keeps her figure." Michelle's picture is right in the middle of pictures of Brad Pitt (on ice skates!), Oprah, Sharon Stone, and other A class celebs!

4. Michelle Kwan of Torrance skates to a silver medal in the Nagano Olympics, then wins gold in the World Championships.

I bought this magazine today. In the picture, Michelle is wearing her 2nd Desdemona/1st Carmen costume. They list her name, age, title ("Ice Princess"), and her rank last year (unranked.) There's a nice little article about her with one mistake (they wrote that the USOC named her the Sportswoman of the year, but they didn't...she is the USOC figure skating sportswoman of the year.) It says the sportsmanship she displayed has made her "number one in the hearts of skating fans." Also, interesting to us Internet visitors, "Kwan currently boasts more than twice the number of Web fan pages than Lipinksi." It writes about everything she has won since the Olympics, and her endorsement deals.

Later in the magazine, they have a section called "Editors' picks: The best of 1998." On page 69, they list Sports in review, and they name Michelle as the best athlete! They also have a picture of Michelle at the Olympics (at the beginning of Lyra Angelica.)

Another magazine Michelle is in... In a magazine titled The National Sports Review, there are a lot of figure skating references. The magazine says it should be on the stands until May. There is a small pic of Tara on the cover. On page 9, there is a picture of Michelle doing a layback (and also one of Tara). They also list the top 100 newsmakers of 1998, and, on page 22, they list Michelle as #57. There is a section on important numbers, and, on page 116, there is a picture of Michelle at Nationals with the caption, "In Philadelphia, Michelle Kwan earns 15 perfect 6.0's, the most ever at a US national figure skating championship." On page 122, they list Michelle winning Nationals as a moment. Finally, there's a section titled Divas, and they have pictures of both Michelle and Tara on page 157. The caption under Michelle's picture says, "Michelle Kwan has matured into one of the reigning godesses of popular culture. Seen here at the Winter Olympic games, she is both the all-American girl and a stunning ice queen, favorably recalling the great beauties of earlier eras." There is also several references and pictures of Ilia in the magazine.

"It's the hottest show in town when the world's best skaters--among them Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, Michael Weiss, Ilia Kulik, and Philippe Candeloro--take a break from competing to spend three months on the road with the John Hancock Champions on Ice tour. Teen people met up with them in Chicago for an exclusive look behind the glittering scenes. Parking-lot soccer games, backstage Ping-Ping, shopping sprees and death-defying triple lutzes were all part of the long day's work."

Check the following list for links to the pictures. The first picture I scanned in, and the other 3 are from Jenny's page (thanks Jenny!)

The Michelle items in the article:

• A picture of Michelle doing a spiral in her Mulan costume...page 108 and 109
• This quote from Michelle "On tour, we all help each other out because our coaches aren't there with us. I'm more loose and relaxed on the ice, but I still skate the best I can."...page 108
• Picture of Michelle and Philippe at the wrap party with this caption: "after hours: Michelle (everyone calls her Chelle) and France's Philippe Candeloro take a time out at the tour's Ritz-Carlton wrap party. The next day, Michelle admitted, "I'm a little tired. It went on pretty late."...page 109
• Picture of Michelle signing autographs with the caption: "after glow: On her way to the bus, Michelle spends half an hour signing autographs. "Only a year ago, I was that person in line," she says of fans."...page 112
• Picture of Michelle running with the caption: "on the run: Michelle stays in shape out on the road with regular workouts."...page 115

"Hair Lines
Michelle Kwan - Perhaps inspired by her role in a recent Disney skate-tacular, the Olympian has Mulanized from ice queen to warrior princess. GRADE: B"

They have 5 people including Michelle - comparing before and after pictures. (Thanks Arsenette!)

I got the magazine and scanned in the picture. Check it out! The caption above the picture reads, "Michelle Kwan. Kwan (below, in '97, and bottom, in September) says she "felt naked" when she first got her spiky do."

"74 Michelle Kwan. She may have lost the gold at the Olympics, but she has brought back grace and style to ice skating."

Also, this picture is in the magazine. (Thanks to Arsenette and Andy for this info!)

The other article is titled "Kwan snips high-maintenance hair." The article states that, "the biggest news from the Grand Slam of Figure Skating might not have been the debut of open competition among amateur and professional skaters, but Michelle Kwan's hair...She's sporting a spiky, sophisticated cut by Los Angeles stylist Laurent D, the man who cuts Sharon Stone's hair." Also, Michelle said that she's been thinking of cutting her hair for years. "It took me two years to chop it off. I was tired of my mom having to work on my hair. My arms would get tired fixing it. I couldn't use bobby pins because I was afraid they'd fall out and somebody would get hurt." Finally, the article says that, after clipping 20 pictures out of magazines, Michelle found the "perfect cut" in the pages of People magazine.

Also, in Thursday's "Olympic Glory" section of the paper (a section published the first Thursday of every month), there will be an article about Michelle's makeover.

"About 2 months ago, I wrote them a letter and e-mailed them about putting her in there [Teen People magazine]. I guess it worked she's been in there a lot recently!=) Can you mention on your site about that, and tell people to write the magazine to put more on her? Who knows, maybe one day she will end up on the cover of the mag! I wrote them and received a post card. Here's the address:"

TEEN PEOPLE/Write On
P.O. Box 999
Radio City Station
New YORK, ny 10101-0999

or e-mail them

She was ushered into a top secret screening of Mulan just before Worlds in March (the movie opened June 19.) About the secret screening, Michelle said that, "No one could know about it. It was hard because it was such a great secret and I didn't want to keep it." In May, Sarah Kawahara started to choreograph the special. She said it was hard because there was so few time to preproduce, rehearse, and film the special because the skaters were on COI. Michael Weiss said that the filming was strange because it felt like the skaters were on a movie set, "It's something kind of foreign to figure skaters. We went out there, and it almost felt like we were shooting a movie because there were a lot of props and a lot of cameras."

The article states that Michelle has a new respect for actors. "I used to think that it's all glamorous and it's so easy. They just say a few lines. But, it's not. It's really hard work. I give them more credit. Even the crew. There's a lot of people behind the production." She also "got to express her new-found appreciation for thier craft" when Ming-Na Wen and B.D. Wong, the voices for Mulan and Shang, visited the set. Michelle was in shock when Ming-Na Wen asked for her autograph (she even brought her skates for Michelle to sign!) Michelle says that when she met B.D. wong, "It was very emotional. It was nice because I can't believe that people would react in such a way just to meet me."

The article also says that it was special for the Kwan family because Karen was in it as well. Karen wasn't used being told to smile by the director. It was also special for the Kuchiki family...the parents and their two daughters were in the special (that 5th picture that does not includ Michelle is a picture of them.)

The article also states that "although the ratings for the televised special were less than hoped for, Disney executives feel the special was a great success." Paul Villadolid, Disney's senior vice presient for specials and nonfiction programming said, "One of the promises we made to Michelle was that as a skater and as an artist, we were going to try to put her in the best vehicles that we could...I think that we really succeeded in showcasing a side of Michelle's personality that people who are accustomed to watching her in competition may not be familiar with. I think we allowed her to stretch. She does some performing, she does some acting. And she comes off wonderfully"

Several other Michelle items in this issue of the magazine:

• Cover picture
• Picture of Michelle from Mulan...page 8
• In the "from the publisher" section, they say that Michelle's debut as an actress in her Mulan special was "met with critical acclaim. The next generation of skaters is here, and Kwan is creating the mold."...page 8
• Picture of Michelle, Todd Eldredge, and Kazakova and Dmitriev at the GWG...page 12
• The article 'Reflections on Ice' Michelle Kwan's Debut Disney Special to the Music of 'Mulan'...page 18-19
• A small article on choreographer Sarah Kawahara where she talks about working with Michelle on Mulan...page 55

The article asks six champions to share their secrets to being successful in sports, fitness, and other areas of life. Michelle said it was her focus. There's a black and white picture of her doing her beginning pose of "On My Own".

Also, Michelle is in the September issue of Teen People. There is a picture of her in the "True Beauty" section of the magazine, and also a poll where you can vote for her as your favorite female athlete. (I have heard you can also vote for her through AOL.)

"You have taught me how to see the lessons in a difficult experience. You know of my dream, and you dream it too."

"This season Michelle Kwan demonstrated just how ethereal figure skating could be with her blissful performances at the US Nationals where she garnered 15 perfect marks of 6.0. She also continued to be a winner in the corporate marketplace, securing prominent endorsements with Walt Disney and Unilever's Caress. Her autobiography, Heart of a Champion, proved to be a great success which went into paperback shortly after the Olympic Winter Games. While the Olympic gold medal may have eluded Kwan in Nagano, she claimed her second World title in April and promised that she would compete in the eligible ranks until the 2002 Games.
'Hopefully what people are receiving from my skating [is]...I hope they believe in themselves in life and in anything they do,' Kwan said. 'I think that's the most important is believing in yourself that you can do it.'"

Several other Michelle items in this issue of the magazine:

• An article about Michelle's Deal with Disney that includes a picture of her from the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in March...page 8
• Picture with Steven Cousins and her sister, Karen, at the closing banquet at Worlds...page 14
• An article on the 1998 World championships with a picture of Michelle during her long program...page 16
• A mini article about the future of Michelle's sister, Karen...page 63