Asian Champion on Ice: Michelle Kwan :: Biography Biographies Skating Essays

Asian Champion on Ice: Michelle Kwan I was flipping through the channel one day, searching for something interesting to watch. Then I came across to a figure skating competition on TV, and I saw an Asian girl doing a triple loop. Her moves were mind-blowingly beautiful and she looked confident. It turned it was Michelle Kwan. After watching that competition, I couldn’t help doing some research on this amazing figure skater. Michelle Kwan was born on July 7, 1980 in Torrance, California. She was the third child born to Danny and Estella Kwan. She has an older brother named Ron and an older sister named Karen. Michelle’s parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1970s from Hong Kong. Michelle and her older sister Karen wanted to learn how to figure skate after watching their brother Ron practice hockey. So they started taking skating lessons at the local rink. They loved the ice. As time went by, they became skilled and learned moves. Later, they took private lessons with coach Derek James to learn more advanced moves. Michelle fell many times on the cold and hard ice. But she didn’t give up; she’d get up and tried again. Once her skills improved, Michelle, along with her sister, entered the local competitions. There, Michelle won her first gold medal at the age of 7. That’s when she decided skating was going to be her career. She wanted to go to the Olympics . At the age of 11, Michelle won a gold medal at the Southwest Pacific Regionals and a bronze at the Pacific Coast Sectionals. She qualified for the Junior Nationals. Her talents caught the attention of Frank Carroll, so he asked her to be his pupil. Michelle’s persistence continued; she wanted to move up. So without her coach’s permission, she asked her parents to take her to take the â€Å"gold test,† which she passed, bringing her to the senior level. Two years later, her determination brought her to third rank in the United States just behind Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. In January 1994, during the U.S. Nationals, Kerrigan was attacked which caused her to unable to perform in the competition. So Michelle became an alternate and travel with the Olympic team. While she was watching the skaters from the sidelines, she was telling herself that she will be just like them and better.