Letters to the Editor
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On second thought: Kwan = Norton
Perhaps there is a decent boxing analogy here: Ken Norton.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Norton)
Declared champion but never won a title fight, although he lost a close split decision to Larry Holmes (just like in skating, his championship fights were twice decided by judges).
I think the book is open on whether he is a "great," but he did make the boxing HOF, which is at least one measure. Another is that he beat Ali, breaking his jaw, back when Ali was in his prime.
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How skaters qualify...
As a longtime skating viewer let me correct a few things re the perception of some kind of conspiracy of special treatment for Kwan.
1. The nationals serve as trials for the Olympics, World Championships. The WINNER of nationals automatically qualifies. (Sasha Cohen this year, Tonya Harding in 2004 after Nancy got whacked by her amusingly named ex. Had the attack not happend, Tonya would have placed a strong second given the same performance and would have likely been on the team anyway.) A USFSA committee selects the other team members, but it's customary that the team members are chosen in order of their finish at nationals, but not always done. In 1992 Paul Wylie was named to the Olympic team OVER Scott Davis even though Davis beat him at nationals. This was based on Wylie's lifetime record and while it was so contraversial that they'll likely never do this again, Wylie won the Olympic silver medal in a very close decision. Davis was named to the world champs team instead (as Emily Hughes was this year.
The job of the committee is not to reward skaters, it's to build the best team they can. Because how the skaters do at world championships determines how many spots you get the following year. The US currently has 3 women's spots (the maximum) in part based on Kwan's "disappointing" 4th-place finish at worlds last year. But again, the Wylie decision was so ill-received (until he got silver) that only a medical situation is likely to bump some one in the future.
2. ANY skater, not just someone famous like Kwan, may petition for a medical waiver to miss nationals. Nancy Kerrigan got this waiver after her attack, which nobody in their right mind would argue with -- but that's the precedent. I think but am not sure that Todd Eldredge once received a similar waiver. If named to the Olympic or World team you must prove your fitness by a certain date, and Michelle did so on January 27. She likely reinjured herself this week.
3. The rumors about special treatment because her brother-in-law is on the committee are ridiculous. He recused himself and was one of a 30-member committee.
4. Just my opinion but if Michelle Kwan were feeling OK she would probably have done better than Emily Hughes is likely to do, having never competed in a major international meet before.
5. Lipinski and Hughes are not one-shot wonders. Kwan was the 1996 US and world champion, then had a bad season in 1997. Lipinski stole both titles out from under her and went into the 1998 Olympic season as the defending national and world champion (at 14). Kwan recaptured the 98 US title on a broken toe and skated well enough at the Olympics that most viewers thought she'd won until Tara skated. Loser, indeed.
In 1999 Sarah Hughes (at 13) won a silver junior world medal to qualify for the senior nationals, and then was invited to substitute for someone else at the senior worlds, placing seventh. By 2002 she had extensive international experience and had occasionally beaten Kwan, Cohen and Slutskaya.
Emily Hughes has not progressed as quickly, though she may in the end be as talented.
In my opinion the committee was right to send Michelle, but she was right to bow out once it was clear she could not do well.
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She didn't choke twice
Hey King, I remember watching the 1998 Olympics and thinking that Michelle had WON until Tara skated. She did not choke. It was only compared to cute little Tara's exuberance that she came up short. She completed one of the most difficult programs ever done at the Olympics (on a stress fracture in the toe that you need to do the pick jumps) and I remember the commentators having to explain to the audience why she had lost. Maybe she did choke in 2002 but even so, she didn't quite have the level of difficulty of Slutskaya and Hughes and either needed Slutskaya to screw up or for the judges to prop her up based on her vaunted "artistry." At that time, also, she wasn't really skating full time anymore.
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More Michelle Kwan point-missers
As a lifelong ice hockey fan, I feel it's only proper that I comment on Michelle Kwan's lack of Olympic success. And, why all these Salon readers missed King Kaufman's point.
Pete Sampras isn't the best comparison to make for Michelle Kwan, because (despite his not winning the French Open) he had a much bigger, much more successful impact on the game. A better comparison would be, say, Ivan Lendl -- see, you don't even remember him! The choker of chokers, a man that won everything countless times except Wimbledon, which you can argue matters most in the eyes of fans.
The Olympics is the Olympics because it matters most; more than any professional tour or "world championship". Well, except for hockey. ;) Michelle Kwan, bless her cute soul (and it's cute, alright), was a terrific skater that never won a gold medal. She came up short each time at the Olympics -- where it matters most. Why do people not want to believe that?
Love,
Chris