Michelle Wingshan Kwan was born on July 7, 1980 in Torrance, California. She is widely considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.
Kwan has won five World Championships (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003), the most by anyone in the ladies' division since Carol Heiss (1956-1960), with whom she is tied for the most wins by an American.She has won nine United States Figure Skating Championships (1996, 1998-2005), tying the record for most set by Maribel Vinson-Owen (1928-1933, 1935-1937). Kwan's eight consecutive U.S. Championship titles (1998-2005) and 12 consecutive U.S. Championship medals (1994-2005) are both U.S. records.
She is the only woman in figure skating history to reclaim the World title three times (1998, 2000, 2003). She also won a silver medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and a bronze medal in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Among her many accolades, Kwan is a recipient of the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award, which is given to America's best amateur athlete; she was the first figure skater to win the award since Dick Button won it in 1949.
Kwan has received a combined total of 57 6.0s (perfect scores) from her National and World competitions throughout the years. At the U.S. Championships alone, she holds the record for most 6.0s. Because figure skating is no longer scored on a 6.0 scale, Kwan's records will stand indefinitely. ( Wikipedia )
Michelle Kwan - 2004 US Figure Skating Championships | Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia Uploaded by britified
