Michelle Kwan has withdrawn from the Olympics

[SoCalDem]

I think she made the right decision..

[JI7]

1. she will still be remembered as the best skater

which is probably more than the gold medalist winners who will mostly be forgotten.

i just hope Sasha Cohen loses.

[LostinVA]

32. Peggy Fleming calls her the best female skater ever

And says many skater insiders think so. She also called Kwan one of the top skaters ever.

She will be missed. A true sportswoman, a true devotee to her sport, a great ambassador of the sport. The future of US Women's skating will be dim for a few years, I think.

And, I hope Sasha Cohen doesn't medal, period. Then her buddy Pickles can console her.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Really?

So, does the person whose spot she stole get to compete now?

I have no patience for these prima donnas. Yeah, she was great once, and may be great now, but getting all weepy because she had a bad practice and blaming it on being out in the cold for the opening ceremonies is just childish.

Yeah, she made the right decision. She should have made it before she ever went.

OnEdit : Link

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=1608443

It appears Emily Hughes will get her rightfully deserved spot.

[SoCalDem]

6. I wish she had made the decision earlier too

She probably does too..

It must be hard to want something so badly and work so hard to get there, only to have to give it up..

Tara (I-skated-GREAT) Lipinski turned pro right away, never finished high school, and faded away..

Gotta give Michelle credit for having a real life..graduating from college, resisting the temptation to turn pro..and staying to try one more time..

I think she should have bowed out earlier, but it mist be a hard dream to give up..

Don't everyone be so hard on her..

Emily has plenty of time to prepare, and probably won't medal anyway.. I think Irina will win gold..Sasha will flub it up like she usually does because she tends to believe her own press too much.. The Chinese will do well too.. ..

[RoyGBiv]

8. Hard on her ...

I'm hard on her for one reason. She rode her reputation into this Olympics rather than her current level of ability. That's not the way the Olympics are supposed to work and is one of the reasons, despite the fan I am of the events, that I am more and more finding myself left irritated at them. This would be something like Martina Navratilova coming out of retirement and being seeded #1 at Wimbledon just because of who she is and had done, not what she is currently capable of doing. I respect what she did and am sad for her that she never achieved what she desired, but that's the way these things go, and anyone getting into the sport needs to understand no free rides exist.

Kwan had been hyped right up to her withdrawal. She was hyped after her horrible practice. She'll be hyped throughout the entire event, even though she's not there. That's not fair to the others who are there now.

[SoCalDem]

10. I fault the skating association ..

They should have just told her she could not go. Apparently she had only competed ONCE in the whole lead up year. Even is she was not injured, there was NO way she could get ready in time..

They should have made the hard decision. I think she would have accepted it gracefully

[RoyGBiv]

11. I agree ...

And, to be fair, I will now count myself corrected in my opinion on this. It's not so much Kwan as the governing authority that placed her in this position. I suspect somewhere along the line this was about money. Kwan would mean ratings, which means money.

[SoCalDem]

12. Yessiree..it was a marketing decision

either way, the marketers win.. She does well, and it's a "will of the olympic spirit"..a comeback.. fulfillment of a little girl's dream...

she falls, and the whole world grieves at her "brave attempt"..

she withdraws and she's a trouper with a golden heart , who only wants the best for skating..

In a weird way, they conned HER into going to the games, knowing that whatever the outcome, it would enhance ratings...probably at her expense..

the new rating system does not favor skaters like Michelle. And since it's so new, lots of skaters don;t really know how to "play to the judges"..It's a toss the high-low..thgen random selection of 9 of the 12 judges, and there's a video replay at every judge's station, so it's really a crap shoot now.. The trademark specialties of particular skaters are just one more item to be checked off the list..

[LisaL]

19. She had asked to go.

I doubt if they would force her to go if she told them she couldn't compete, which she clearly couldn't.

[RoyGBiv]

22. I wasn't aware of that ...

I knew she wanted to go and had quickly accepted the invitation, but I wasn't actually aware she'd openly requested a spot on the team.

[LisaL]

23. Oh definitely. She had asked for a medical exemption.

She had to petition and everything. Obviously she wasn't ready at all, but they still allowed her to go.

[LostinVA]

34. She asked for a medical by -- like Kerrigan did at Lillehammer

When Kwan herself was the alternate. She said the Committee could evaluate her to see if she could skate well enough to go. They thought she did. She also said that if she could not skate well enough to bring honor to the team, she would withdraw. Which she did.

If it wasn't for Kwan, Ms. HUghes wouldn't be going anyway, as three women from the US are going only because Kwan finished 4th at the World;s this year... a World';s she skated in partly for herself, and partly to help her team take three Representatives to the OLympics. Which she did. So, people on this board have to remember: if it wasn't for Kwan, Emily Hughes wouldn't be on her way to Turin.

Michelle Kwan has given a hell of a lot to the sport, and even more to the sport in the United States. There's nothing wrong with the decision of the Committee. I know they probably did it for ratings and sponsor money, but I';d like to think some of them also did it as a salute to a REAL champion... and honors and medals are only part of that.

And, I do hope that BUsh's favorite skater Sasha Cohen chokes at the big one.. as she often does.

[LisaL]

14. Wasn't she supposed to know that?

She had asked for a medical exemption. She knew she was injured. Yes, the association did a stupid thing, but so did Michelle.

[SoCalDem]

16. True, but we all know how "optimistic" athletes are

:evilgrin:..

My own son rehabbed from knee surgery and kicked a 56 yd field goal 7 weeks afterwards.. His doctor was furious at him, but athletes are a different breed.. they always assume they can overcome anything..

[LostinVA]

36. And, like Mary LOu Retton and Picabo STreet, they often do

[Scout1071]

44. Keri Strug won the gold with a severely sprained ankle! nt

[LisaL]

15. Yea, I wonder why Germany didn't send Katarina Witt this year?

:shrug:

[LostinVA]

33. Emily HUghes doesn't have a chance of medaling

She can maybe crack the top seven. It'll be good experience for her, though.

[LisaL]

13. I don't think it's clear yet whether Emily will be allowed to replace

her. The US is sending her in, but the Olympic committee had to approve the replacement. And it's not like US wasn't informed about the rules and pre-existing conditions. I said it was very stupid to appoint Kwan to the Olympic team, and as it turned out, it obviously was.
"The U.S. Olympic Committee asked to replace Kwan with Emily Hughes, the third-place finisher at last month's national championships and younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes. A response was expected later this week, and Hughes was to travel to Torino shortly.

"The replacement provisions are injury, illness and exceptional circumstance," said USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel. "It's really in the hands of the organizing committee and international federation to determine whether or not they'll accept the replacement petition.""
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/5101092/detail.html

[LynneSin]

40. Why would we bother with alternates then?

There is no reason why not for Emily to replace Michelle. Even NBC is saying that Emily is coming to Torino but the only holdback right now is the blizzard we just had here in the region (She's up in Long Island and we just had a ton of snow dumped on us).

I can't understand why all the Kwan badmouthing. Emily would have never been able to go to the Olympics AT ALL if it was not for Kwan's 4th place placement at the last Worlds. We would have only been able to send two skaters.

She had every right to be on that team, she was still competetive and gracious enough to bow out when she found that she was injured in that groin yet again.

[LisaL]

17. She has been around the sport too long to know better.

[Maine-ah]

31. I completly agree with you.

[Suich]

3. Seriously??? n/t

[VolcanoJen]

4. Bwaaaa ha ha ha ha

Hate the schadenfreude, love the player. Just like the Germans say.

Premature Schadenfreude - Is There A Pill For That?

[LaurenG]

21. Just FYI

I love your blog. You are a really good writer. I have been reading it and lost track of time. Just thought I'd tell you.:thumbsup:

[VolcanoJen]

27. Made my day

Incredibly sweet to hear. I wish I had an audience for Kwan-Hate-Mad.

Thanks again... wow. :hug:

[Awsi Dooger]

5. Lousy news

She wouldn't have won a medal but I wanted her to get one last shot. Plus I'm always partial to the athletes who show up at Opening Ceremony. Just too bad Kwan didn't quite skate her best in the '98 long program at Nagano, or she would have had that gold medal and her rightful place in history long ago. I'm still not sure Tara Lipinski beat her, as much as Kwan was somehow downgraded for not matching her phenomenal effort in the U.S. championships a month earlier.

Emily Hughes may have come in 3rd in nationals but she's a flawed skater who is too heavy and not very athletic. Kwan's performances over the years allowed the U.S. to get three Olympic spots in the first place.

[RoyGBiv]

7. Opening Ceremony ....

I would just add that Kwan is partly blaming her appearance at the openening ceremony for her failure, which, imo, is a cop-out.

[Awsi Dooger]

9. I was just contrasting it to Nagano

If I remember correctly, Kwan bypassed the Opening Ceremony in '98 at Nagano when she was a heavy favorite. I thought it was a mistake even though she might have had a minor injury. I remember she did march in Salt Lake City and I became a much bigger Kwan fan at that time since she seemed to realize the Olympics weren't a normal competition, and soaked everything in with a great attitude.

This time I knew she was hurt and would be subpar. Frankly, it might have been sad to watch her perform at a subpar level and be remembered for going out that way. The injury is legit but she shouldn't have mentioned the Opening Ceremony as a hint of excuse. I'm confident she won't emphasize that aspect during the press conference in a few hours.

[LostinVA]

38. That's not what she said at all -- I just read the transcript

of her press conference.

"But she said she pulled the groin when she tried a triple flip Saturday, and the injury worsened throughout the day.

But she said the long plane ride to Italy, followed by marching in the opening ceremony, took a toll. By the time she returned to the athletes' village, she was starting to hurt.

When she woke up Saturday morning, it wasn't any better.

"It's an honor to represent your country. I didn't think twice about not going to the opening ceremony, or not going to practice. I have to get my legs under me," she said Sunday. "When I felt stiff, it's the Olympics, you've got to push. Unfortunately, it happened."

She isn't using any of this as a cop-out -- just an explanation. How the hell is she trying to cop out??? She wants to skate so badly. But, skaters can't jump with a groin injury, and it's better for her to step aside.

[RoyGBiv]

41. Of course, I didn't quote her ...

As you noted, prior to do so, she listed a lot of reasons that might lead to her pull out. She started by talking about the practice and how stiff she was as she began, saying that being out in the cold (during the opening ceremonies) had made her stiff, which was then the foundation for the rapid downward spiral in her workout.

It's a "cop-out" for exactly the reason you mentioned, with a bit of expansion. She wants to skate so badly she made a poor decision regarding her health and ability and got herself put on the team when she wasn't truly qualified to do so. One night out in the cold didn't ruin anything or "make her stiff." She was stiff because of her injuries. The cold didn't help, but it sure didn't cause it either.

[LostinVA]

37. Lipinski didn't beat her

The "ranking" system beat her.... the same one that had Pelletier and Sale "losing." Lipinski also kissed ass to the judges (seriously,m in what other sport does that happen? Judges watching practices, having dinner with athletes, acting like lobbyists?), and Lipinski so cheated her jumps, she ruined her body. Sorry... Lipinski only wanted a medal, she had no love or respect for the sport. Ticks me off to this day.

Look at Kwan's accomplishments, both personal and professional... then look at most other gold medalists under 45 or so... who's more accomplished?

[LynneSin]

43. That's very true - Tara's daddy bought her that gold medal

Kwan was robbed that year!

[SoCalDem]

47. I don;t think ANY of our skaters will win medals..

Irina & the Chinese women are strong skaters.. OliveOyl will choke..The only thing she does well is lift her leg over her head , and smile at BushieWooshie:puke:

[Robeson]

18. Are the Olympics going on right now?......

...:yoiks:

:hide:

[SoCalDem]

20. hard to tell.. Most of what I have seen so far is reruns of

events already overwith.. I guess LIVE technology is not available anymore.. Odd too. I remember seeing the olympics LIVE when I was a teenager.. we would set the alarm to get up during the night if it was on..then the news programs showed clips later in the day.. If you were a diehard fan you watched it happen.

It's no accident that there appears to be no forum where viewers can voice their opinions of the shitty coverage :).. It just gets worse.. Apparently they are broadcasting 410 hours..but how much of that 410 hours is just canned schmaltz or commentators sitting around chatting with each other?

I would rather they just place cameras at each venue and let us choose the feed we want to watch.. i don;t really need the commentators' snarky comments anyway:)

[RoyGBiv]

24. I was thinking about this tonight ...

I remember being, oh, 7 or 8, and talking my mom into letting me put a television in my room so I could watch the Olympics. The events were being broadcast live, starting around midnight, and this was when we had three channels, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Highlights were replayed during prime time much like they are now, but you had the option. Now we have 376 channels, and we only seem able to get them on one of those, and then only via replay.

Makes no sense.

[Robeson]

25. For those young enough to remember, Franz Klammer's....

...downhill run was one of the all-time sporting events I remember in my early days. He attacked the hill with total wild abandonment. The build-up to it was great, and, believe it or not, I think I got to watch it....LIVE!...

In those days, it was like watching the Super Bowl.

[RoyGBiv]

26. I remember ....

... and I watched it live.

The Innsbruck and Montreal Olympics were what made me a fan, and Klammer's run was a big part of that.

[sandnsea]

28. It really does suck

Here it is the middle of the night and I'm still getting a rerun of the evening show. I'm glad, cuz I missed the skating, but it really is pathetic coverage. No wonder nobody watches anymore. Remember when the Olympics were on at everybody's house??

[Heidi]

29. All Michelle Kwan!!! All the time!!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=105

[Left Is Write]

46. I remember when the Olympics were on at everybody's house...

because nobody had 150 channels to choose from. The Olympics were a big event, something special.

I still like the Olympics, but it's not the same.

[sbj405]

30. I bet this quote makes every other athlete feel great

:eyes:
"Michelle Kwan means more to the United States Olympic Committee than maybe any athlete that's ever performed for the U.S. Olympic Committee,'' Ueberroth said.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/olympics/wires/02/12/2080.ap.eu.spt.oly.fig.kwan.out.6th.ld.writethru.0989/index.html?cnn=yes

In any case, I'm glad she's pulling out now. Best of luck to Emily and all the athletes.

[LostinVA]

39. But you didn't use the rest of the quote:

"She's been a leader, she's been gracious, she's somebody that cares for so many youngsters that are training in our country.

"She's a real loss to all of the United States Olympic Committee and to the United States of America, and I think to the world. She's made a courageous decision."

Maybe not the best choice of words where the other athletes are concerned, but it's saluting her, and for the hard work she's done for skating and its future over the last decade or so. She will be missed, I think.

[ChipsAhoy]

35. Nope I didn't know

Thanks for the news. Bummer.

[Deja Q]

42. Well, if she returns for next time, it'll redefine the Rhythm Method...

[JVS]

45. What would Brian Boitano do?