GOLDSEA ASIAMS.NET ASIAN AMERICAN PERSONALITIES AMERICA'S ICE PRINCESS
Michelle Kwan may have been a minor player in the controversy in Lillehammer, Norway, but you can bet she'll be the center of attention over the next several years. mid the clatter of dishes, the incessant chatter of hungry patrons and an annoying techno-jingle from a nearby video game, Danny Kwan sits in his family-owned restaurant in Torrance, California, and patiently answers questions about his daughter Michelle. Kwan appears fatigued. He's just returned from Michelle's training facility in Lake Arrowhead, about a two-hour drive from the Golden Pheasant restaurant. The Winter Olympics are still three weeks away, but the stress of the ongoing controversy involving Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan and, indirectly, Michelle seems to have sapped Kwan's energy. "That's not a sacrifice. Skating is like a gift. I give it to them, and I get happiness out of it."
A middle-aged woman catches Kwan's attention and shakes her fist. "We're rooting for her," the woman nearly shouts in an effort to be heard above the din. Kwan thanks her with a nod and a quick wave as she departs. The decision of the U.S. Olympic Committee to let the beleaguered Harding compete at Lillehammer, Norway, is not one of Kwan's favorite subjects. "We never pay attention to it," he says. "Michelle just wants to be a good skater. That's the bottom line. There's a lot of competition after the Olympics anyway."
At the age of 13, Michelle Kwan may be the brightest young star on the U.S. figure skating scene. Her potential is tremendous. At the national championships in Detroit earlier in the year, she finished second to Harding and would have received a berth on the U.S. Olympic team except for the fact that U.S. Figure Skating Association used its prerogative to place Kerrigan on the same team after she was literally knocked out of the competition by an assailant. | |
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