Michelle Kwan considers withdrawing from the games!

[ronnykmarshall]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060211/ap_on_sp_ol/oly_fig_kwan_workout_tr2

This sucks. I really wish she would win a gold. I can't stand that damn Tara Lupinsky that won in 1998 and that other american that won in 2002.

Michelle, say it ain't so!

[medeak]

1. Emily Hughes is a sweetie tho

and would get her place back

[Bjornsdotter]

2. She didn't belong there this year

I'm a huge Michelle fan, but she didn't belong there this year.

She's too old, too injured from landing triples for too many years, and the new judging rules do not favor her.

I wasn't a big Lipinski fan and I thought Michelle was the better skater.

We were at the last Olympics, at the Women's final....Sarah Hughes out skated Michelle. It appeared that Michelle thought she was a shoe-in. Hughes definitely deserved the Gold.

Michelle should step aside for Emily Hughes, I don't think Emily will win but...

As for Cohen...can't stand her. I don't like her style of skating and her off ice attitude is unbelievable. However, she is very talented.

In my wildest dreams I hope I'm completely off base about Michelle and that she pulls it off....I would gladly eat crow.

Cheers


Edit....can't spell this afternoon!

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. Cohen reminds me too much of Oksana...another prima donna.

:hi:

[GR]

9. Ever Since Cohen Sucked Up To Bush At The Last Olympics

I've hated her...She obviously loves Bush...

[ronnykmarshall]

21. Same here.

Can't stand that her ass.

Same with ol' Mrs. Ed .... Nancy Kerrigan.

[ronnykmarshall]

23. Oksana wasn't a prima donna at first ...

but once she won the gold and became a party girl .... Miss Thang got that crown on her head REAL quick.

I love La Oksana. I'm glad she beat ol' bucky the beaver for the gold in '94.

[ScreamingMeemie]

32. I totally agree with you at first...but it's what she turned into that

most remember. Her story was inspiring when she was just a little, bewildered girl.

[AtomicKitten]

46. Oksana was brilliant when she won her gold medal.

then turned into a drunk-driving lush here in the U.S.

[LisaL]

18. Exactly. And because her groin problem is a pre-existing

condition, if she withdraws, Emily won't be allowed to compete (most likely).

[LynneSin]

38. If it wasn't for Kwan's placement in worlds last year only TWO skaters

would have been sent.

We need to have so many skaters place up high in order to be the country that can send three. Kwan was 4th place and I believe Cohen placed above her. The other american skaters did not place high enough to give US the advantage.

So maybe she deserved that last chance knowing that had she not placed so high we would have only be able to send two this year. I mean, that's why we have an alternate and Kwan was at least gracious enough to realize it just wouldn't happen and bow out.

Now Emily can skate!

But mind you - Michelle would have still been our better shot if she was a little bit healthier. Hands down she can skate circles around those younger skaters (outside of Cohen)

[October]

3. I have to disagree

My sense has always been that she feels she has some sort of right to the gold medal, just because it's "her turn" or something. She wore gold that one year (in anticipation?) and cried at the end of her performance, thinking she'd won it. I was put off by that. She skated "safe" and thought that was enough and when it wasn't, she got snippy.

I remember when Olympic champions were amateurs -- teens. Skating at 25 as an "amateur" is a bit deceitful, in my humble opinion. She's taking someone else's place, too, and had to get a special medical waiver to be on the team.

NBC obviously loves her, though, because they show her constantly -- personal interview, walking in, watching the show, etc., etc.

[LostinVA]

13. That was her exhibition skate to "Fields of Gold"

It was not a competitive skate, and was performed AFTER the skating programs.

I do not think she feels it's owed her, even though she outskated Lipinski. She is a FIVE time World Champ, and Peggy Fleming has publicly said that she, as well as many, many others, consider Kwan the best overall female skater in history. Fleming also thinks Kwan has been an excellent "public face" for American figure skating.

I have always found her interviews engaging, open, and modest, and have never heard a word of arrogance.

I think she has a a right to be in Turin, and I also respect her sportsmanship enough to know she'll withdraw for the greater good, and let Emily Hughes step in. THis is also her agreement with the Committee. And I'm afraid she'll have to withdraw.

This is one thing I HATE about the Olympics: a great athlete who has been a great competitor for many years has their whole "worth" boiled to to one competition. People like Kwan, or Jackie Joyner-Kersee, etc. have given much more to their sports than a nationalism-induced piece of medal around their necks.

[tridim]

4. Honestly I've never really liked Kwan

No specific reason, she just has a personality I'm not fond of. At least I like her more than Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. That whole ordeal was just embarrassing.. "Why? Why? Why?"

[MADem]

5. If she can't cut it, and she is thinking she can't, she needs to step off

...and give that young kid a shot. They say she doesn't have much of one, but just getting the "Olympic experience" will help her on the next go-round. She's still very young, and could be a player four years hence.

[LisaL]

19. It's too late to give a young kid a shot.

Her groin is a pre-existing condition. By appointing her to the team, US had screwed itself up if now she can't compete, because she had this problem to begin with, and was still allowed to go.
Those are the rules.

[LynneSin]

24. So why was Emily Hughes sent to Torino as an alternate?

So she can do the touristy thing I'm guessing

[LisaL]

25. As far as I know, she wasn't sent to Torino.

[LynneSin]

26. Just stop the misinformation ok!

Alternate plans
In January, Long Island native Emily Hughes placed third at the 2006 U.S. Championships, behind Sasha Cohen and Kimmie Meissner , and shortly afterward was named first alternate for the U.S. Olympic team. Michelle Kwan successfully petitioned for a provisional Olympic berth after missing Nationals with a groin injury, and on January 27th she proved to a special panel that she deserved the Torino spot; Hughes remains the alternate. However, the U.S. could substitute Hughes for Kwan as late as three days before the ladies' competition begins in Torino -- Feb. 21 -- as long as the International Olympic Committee and International Skating Union consent. "I'm just going to go home and train hard and whatever happens, happens," Hughes said after being named Olympic alternate. "I'm just really happy about what happened tonight. We'll see what happens in the future."

http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/5088869/detail.html?ib_oll=Headline

Well there's the damn rules, not sure what you're all upset about with the misinformation you're providing

[LisaL]

27. I am not spreading misinformation, it's you who is misinformed.

"If Kwan chooses to withdraw, it is far from clear that the designated alternate, Emily Hughes, would be allowed to take her place in the Olympic women's competition that begins Feb. 21.

An International Olympic Committee provision allowing late replacements under "extraordinary circumstances," such as injury, illness or death in the family, may not apply in this case because Kwan's injury was pre-existing, according to U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel.

"I don't think there is much precedent here, so there is not too much to go on as to what `extraordinary circumstances' means," John Hughes, Emily's father, said Saturday from his Long Island home. "We hope Michelle is OK."

There are no plans to bring Emily Hughes to Italy on a contingency basis "because there is no place for her to train," her father said, adding that she is training full-bore for her appearance at the World Championships in mid-March."

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/13849621.htm
Pay particular attention to "there are no plans to bring Emily Hughes to Italy". So, where is Emily? Not in Italy, that's for sure. She was named as an alternate, but she is not in Torino. So, who is spreading misinformation? Well, it aint' me.

[LynneSin]

47. Yeah, well I was wrong about Emily not being in Torino

but as soon as JFK opens again she will be.

So, um, when are you finally going to admit you are wrong.

The IOC has not done anything wrong. As long as the ladies competition has not begun an alternate can be used to replace an injured competitor.

Me a misinformer - hardly! I knew from the moment that they picked Kwan for the team that Emily Hughes would be available should Kwan have to drop out and that's exactly what happened. And if it wasn't for Ms. Kwan, a woman you thrash even though Sasha Cohen is a bushbot, the United States would have only been able to send two skaters. Kwan's 4th place at the last World ensured that three skaters could be sent.

I think you owe myself and Ms. Kwan (along with some other DUers who tried to tell you the same thing) an apology!

[LisaL]

49. Actually, US had to work very hard to convince an Olympic

Committee Michelle had a new injury, and not a pre-existing condition. Otherwise Emily wouldn't be allowed in.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/13856105.htm
So, how about that apology? I haven't been spreading any misinformation, and in fact there was no guarantee Emily would have been allowed in. And in fact right now Emily is stuck in NY because all the planes have been canceled.

:eyes:

[LynneSin]

50. Oh please, I didn't even have the sleep out of my eyes when I heard

that Emily was replacing Michelle. I hardly doubt there was any worry that the IOC would have rejected this.

And you know, it doesn't hurt to say you're wrong once in awhile - it's good for the soul!

[Cleita]

6. She shouldn't try for the gold. I think she could do

a personal best. I would like to see her perform one more time and you never know....

As for Sasha Cohen wasn't wasn't she the bitch that sat with Bush at the opening or closing ceremonies in Salt Lake?

:puke: on her.

[Zomby Woof]

12. Cohen is from Orange County

Which explains her Bushlove. :puke:

[amitten]

20. Cohen skates like an immature show-off, with the foot in the nose.

Michelle Kwan is an artist.

[BOHICA06]

8. Other American ......

do you mean Sarah Hughes, the 16 year old without a chance of winning so she went onto the ice in the purest display of amateur performance for performance sake and landed 7 triple jumps in a routine that vaulted her over the more highly touted Russian & American skaters (neither of whom put in anywhere near as flawless a long program) to gain the Gold Medal, thus creating one of the most joyous singular images in Olympic history? You mean that American?

[hippiechick]

10. It's just not the Olympics without a figure skating drama ...

:eyes: The human interest story of this year's games ... will she withdraw ? won't she ? will she tough it out and skate ? can she skate ? will she medal ? will she fall ?


Let's see, Olympic figure skating dramas over the years (feel free to add any I've forgotten):

Tai Babalonia and Randy Gardner withdraw due to injury at the last minute
Debi Thomas vs. Katarina Witt - Debi chokes
Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan and 'the club'
The Canadian <?> Ice Dancers' scoring controvery - the judges pimped them out of a gold medal



:hi: RonnyK!! How are you ?

[LostinVA]

14. I want to stick up for Debi Thomas -- she didn't choke

She was a good skater, but skating wasn;t her LIFE, her existence. Katrina Witt was "the other Carmen," skated very well, skatingw as her life, and she had the whole Eat German juggernaut behind her. Witt won fair and square imo, but THomas deserves kudos.

[hippiechick]

15. Absolutely she deserves kudos, but

... if you're going to compete at that level, you have to have your head all the way in it when you hit the ice. If she didn't (for whatever reason), she shouldn't have been there.

Her long program was a disaster, IMO.

[ronnykmarshall]

22. Hey baby!

Now don't go talking trash 'bout skatin'!! You know that next to the Oscars ... it's the gay men's Super Bowl!!! :loveya:

[Zomby Woof]

11. We live in her hometown...

And that is sad news if it comes to pass. :-(

[Squatch]

16. "The face of US Olympics" my ass.

She should never have even gotten on the plane to Italy.

[LisaL]

17. I said from the beginning she shouldn't have gone.

Geez, she had her moment. She didn't compete almost all year.
It's a sport, not a popularity contest, or at least it shouldn't be.

[Bzzzz]

28. She should not have even...

been able to represent the USA this year. She's washed up and there were others that could have represented our country who were ready and proved it.

[bigwillq]

29. You bring the best.

Michelle is the best the US has. Sometimes you can't control when you get hurt.

[LisaL]

30. She was hurt before she was picked for the team.

That's why she couldn't even compete in Nationals. How does that make her the best?
Geez!

[bigwillq]

39. Cohen, Hughes, Kimmie

They still haven't beaten Kwan, that's why she's still the best.



GEEZ!

[LisaL]

44. They haven't beaten Katarina Witt either.

I wonder why Germany didn't send her? And Dick Button maybe could actually skate for the men instead of commenting? Nobody on the current team beat him either? How exactly could they have beaten Michelle if she didn't compete in any major competitions since last worlds?

[bigwillq]

45. Not just this year

but in year's past, none of those girls have beaten Kwan as far as I can recall.

[LisaL]

48. Sasha Cohen certainly beat Michelle several times,

including Worlds.
Michelle couldn't adjust to the new system, and had about as much a chance at a gold medal as Emily does.

[Bzzzz]

31. Maybe at one time...

but, she's not the best we have now...Emily Hughes deserved the chance...Michelle has had her chance twice...she choked.

[KeepItReal]

33. It is official...she's done

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/4705822.stm

"Five-time world figure skating champion Michelle Kwan has withdrawn from the Winter Olympics after struggling to come back from injury."

[zanne]

34. I wonder if some other deserving skater could take her place

I'd hate to think that somebody else who was in competition with her had to stay home.

[colinmom71]

35. Don't worry!

The IOC quickly approved the USFS's petition to substitute Emily Hughes in Kwan's place this morning. Miss Hughes should be in Torino within a few days to fill the US's third slot for the Ladies' Figure Skating competition. And I'll be cheering for her...

I'm so sad for Kwan. I'd hoped she would skate well and have that gold medal awarded to her next week. But she's remained true to her sense of sportmanship in giving up her assigned spot on the Olympic team to ensure that Hughes can participate in the Oly Games. I genuinely enjoy Emily Hughes' skating, but I sincerely wish Kwan hadn't suffered another injury and felt the need to withdraw from the team. This is just heartbreaking for her and those of us who love her skating... :(

[LostinVA]

36. Emily HUghes has ALWAYS been the alternate

[zanne]

37. Thanks for the info, guys.

I'm glad to hear it.

[bigwillq]

40. OK, now all of you Kwan haters

could hush now. Emily's in.
You can all get on with your lives now.

[ScreamingMeemie]

41. I think this one needs to go down in DU history with the chicken threads

and the Laura Branigan bashing...:hug: Hi There bigwill! :hi:

[cboy4]

42. I know! I think I remember being depressed for at least a week in '98

when Michelle finished 2nd. She got all 5.9's for artistic, but "only" won silver because she didn't complete enough triples :cry:

But Sasha Cohen is very cute, so I think I'll be pulling for her now

[cboy4]

43. Oh brother, I just read Sasha is a Bush lover

so I guess I'll be rooting for someone different now. :argh: