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I hope you caught Michelle during the closing ceremonies. They showed her several times walking into the stadium and sitting in the stands during the performances. When she got to her seat, you could see an athlete from another country ask for her picture, and you saw her posing with the athlete. It was cute! She was interviewed during one of the performances by Andrea Joyce. Here's what was said:
Michelle: It is awesome to see Dorothy Hamill and Ilia Kulik performing, one skater after another, KISS, N Sync, full of people. Andrea: Is it an emotional high or is it bittersweet? Michelle: It is bitter, but very sweet. I didn't skate my best, but I'm having tons of fun and, you know, enjoying every moment of it. Andrea: This is a great night. It is fun. Back to you guys. Check out a picture of Michelle from the closing ceremonies, waving as she enters the stadium Michelle's exhibition to Fields of Gold was beautiful and touching. You can watch the program in real video format courtesy of Moyesii. The clip is about 13 MB, and Moyesii says it will only be up for a limited time. I'd love to put it on my site, but I don't have enough space. Check it out! There is also an avi, 18 MB clip of the program at shanfan.com. Go to the SLC video section of her site for the link. Michelle was at the Olympic short track speed skating competition on Saturday, Feb. 23, though I never saw the TV camera show her. AP articles about the event said that Michelle was one of several celebrities in the arena, and that she was holding a sign that said "Oh Yes Ohno!" The article Apolo's great name sucked us into short track said, "So suddenly short track is the hip sport. Suddenly Michele Kwan is sitting in the stands with a fake soul patch under her lip." LOL, how could they not show that on TV?! Congratulations to Michelle on her bronze medal at the Olympics! There aren't many skaters who can say they have two Olympic medals. I've added many pictures to my Links to Other Photo Pages section, but just thought I'd share my favorite picture from the medal ceremony. It's of Michelle, Sarah, and Irina laughing. It made me feel better last night, seeing Michelle so happy. Many visitors of this site are sending their best wishes, and leaving beautiful messages, to Michelle in my guestbook and to me via e-mail. Please remember, I am not Michelle, I don't know Michelle, this is just a fan site. I can't get these messages to her, though every one I read makes me feel better. If you want to send a note to Michelle, write her one of the snail mail address on the contact page. I think the Lake Arrowhead address is best. We love Michelle not just for being one of the best figure skaters in history, but for the wonderful person she is. I don't think I could get as emotionally attached to one person just for their athletic accomplishments. It's what she's done on and off the ice in the 9 or so years I've been following her career that has made me the fan I am today, and that love of Michelle the skater, and person, will never dim, no matter what color medal she is wearing around her neck. A note about the site...I'm sorry that it has been slow loading lately *sigh* Traffic during the Olympics has been anywhere from 4-6 times normal (everyone wants to learn more about Michelle!), and I'm guessing that's what's been slowing the site. Hopefully it will be better soon, so please don't let that stop you from returning! Michelle is in first place after the short program at the Olympics! She got straight 5.9s for presentation. Check out the complete results from the short program. The draw for the final group in the long program is (or see the complete starting order for the long program): 1. Maria Butyrskaya There are so many articles and pictures from the short program. To read the articles, go to the Olympics articles section of the site. Also, here are some pictures from the short program, Rachmaninoff:
Tiffany Scott was on the local news on Tuesday, to preview the ladies. She was Michelle's roommate when Michelle stayed in the village, and she talked a little bit about Michelle, how nice she is, etc. Also, Vera Wang was on Access Hollywood Tuesday, showing her sketches of Michelle's costumes. She said that the Rachmaninoff dress that she wore is Michelle's favorite costume Vera has designed for her. The draw for the short program order took place Sunday, Feb. 17. Out of 27 skaters, Michelle skates 15th. Here is the skate order for some notable skaters: 2. Fumie Suguri For more information, check out the article Kwan Gets Favorable Draw During the prime time broadcast of the Olympics on Monday, Feb. 18, there will be a ladies preview. Also, the Today show all this week is supposed to talk about the ladies. I have heard that there will be more on Michelle on Tuesday (including some clips of Michelle and Katie on the ice you may have seen at the end of the Today show this past week), but you know how iffy the show has been showing skaters. Check out some real audio clips of Michelle from Saturday, February 16, from CBS Sportsline: Saying she didn't watch the pairs competition Joking that the men's program has inspired her to take chances Saying she didn't mind sharing the practice ice she's had to herself all week Michelle, Sasha, and Sarah were interviewed on the Sunday, Feb. 10 primetime coverage of the Olympics. Michelle looked great. Always smiling! Check out my screencaptures from the interview
Be sure to check the Practice section of the links to other photo pages of my site. So far, there have been new pictures of Michelle each day, so hopefully it continues! Wasn't it exciting to see Michelle marching in the opening ceremony? She looked so happy. Before the ceremonies, President Bush talked to the US team, and also talked separately with the athletes, including Michelle. They interviewed her before the opening ceremonies, and she said she was having a great time hanging out with the other athletes, like the bobsledders. In fact, she likes SLC and the rink so much, she has decided to stay in SLC for the duration of the Olympics. She originally was planning on going back to Lake Arrowhead for a week after the opening ceremonies. Both Sasha and Sarah will be going elsewhere to train prior to the event (Sasha to Lake Arrowhead, Sarah to Colorado Springs). Michelle also said that she will be staying in the Olympic village part of the time, with the other nights spent in a hotel room. You can see many articles from the day's events on my 2002 Olympics articles page. Check out the following pictures from February 8:
I have a digital camera that takes decent pictures off the TV, so I made some "screencaptures" of Michelle in the opening ceremony, and of the interview before the ceremonies. I may try to get some better pictures later, but here's what I've done for now:
Also, listen to a real audio clip of some of what Michelle had to say in the US ladies press conference. Finally, during the opening ceremonies, they showed Michelle's Chevrolet commercial! Michelle was shown twice on the Today show on Friday, Feb. 9. At the very beginning of the broadcast, they showed her landing a triple toe/triple toe in her first practice. Later, they showed more of her first practice on the Olympic ice, plus a small interview. They showed her landing several jumps, plus spirals and spins. When they came back, Katie said she was looking really good. You can see real video clip from this practice courtesy of Arizona Republic (go to about 1:40 into the clip.) At the end of the show (where they show pieces from the past week), they showed a clip of Michelle and Katie skating on the ice, from the interview the day before. I have heard that Michelle will be on the Today show on Feb. 19 (with more of Katie and Michelle on the ice), but I haven't seen it listed in the TV Guide. Of course, the TV Guide was wrong before, so hopefully it will be wrong this time. Michelle is in Salt Lake! She arrived Wednesday to check in, and get fitted for her Olympic gear. Thursday, she had her first practice, which was for the short program, on the Olympic ice. She was the only skater on the rink since the other competitors (including Sasha and Sarah) have not arrived yet. For more information, check out the article Kwan only U.S. woman to practice Thursday. Also, Barbara Underhill posted a practice report on her official message board. According to Barbara, Michelle's looking good. She said, "Hi everyone....I am sitting in the Olympic Rink watching Michelle Kwan have a private practice....nobody else showed up for the practice, and she has looked phenomenal....didn't miss one jump, looks supremely confident, clean short, and two 3/3 combo's ....wow......" Michelle will be marching with the US team in the opening ceremonies, so don't forget to watch Friday night. Hopefully they'll show her! Check out the following pictures of Michelle's first two days in Salt Lake City:
If you missed Michelle on the Today show on Thursday, Feb. 7, check out my transcript of the interview. The Chevrolet commercial that I wrote about earlier will be shown on TV during the Olympics according the the press release Chevrolet Launches Three New Divisional TV Spots For 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games. There is a nice article about Michelle in the LA Times titled Kwan's Options. It says that she will be attending the opening ceremonies, and talks about her decision on whether to stay in the Olympic village and whether to stay eligible after the games. zap2it.com has a picture of Michelle on its Olympic preview graphic. Then, in it's Olympic preview section, it has a picture of Michelle, and talks about my site. Here's what it says:
Michelle Kwan has accomplished everything in figure skating, except winning the elusive Olympic gold medal, this year that may change. This is a fantastic fan site to find information on Michelle. Check out the "Seen and Heard" page if you want a quick update on what’s happening with Michelle. If it’s more in depth information you’re after, you’ll find it here too. Fans come here to reach out to each other and share stories about their Michelle encounters, or to take the time to send each other online cards with picture of Michelle on them. The new US Olympic Team site contains a cute parody on the movie, Oceans 11. They have a site called Olympic 11, and Michelle is cast in the Julia Roberts part of the poster (comparing it to the movie poster). The site also contains wallpapers and video clips of Michelle in their multimedia section. weasel woman posted the following on the MK Forum (Thanks weasel woman and Alison!):
Dick does a write up for each of the ladies who have won the gold. The article actually starts out about Michelle, and then ends on his thoughts on how Michelle will have to skate competing against Irina. He feels that if she skates like she did in Vancouver, she will win the gold!! He also mentioned how MK acknowledged him in the kiss and cry after her win and his feelings upon hearing it. He describes Irina's and Michelle's skating and its pretty obvious how Dick feels about MK and her skating! There is also a figure skating page on all the disciplines and the American hopefuls to make the team. The interesting thing on this was that the three ladies mentioned were Michelle, Sara and Sasha. Not a mention of Angela. I hope Angela shows them all and makes the team! Alison later posted how to order the program: Last updated June 14, 2002 Back to News / Past News on Michelle Photo © Jay Adeff |
