Tara Lipinski
File:Tara lipinski.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Tara Kristen Lipinski
Country represented	United States
Born	(1982-06-10) June 10, 1982 (age 30) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Height	4 ft 10 in (1.47 m)
Former coach	Richard Callaghan
Choreographer	Sandra Bezic
Retired	1998
Medal record Ladies' Figure Skating Competitor for  United States Olympic Games Gold 1998 Nagano Ladies' singles World Championships Gold 1997 Lausanne Ladies' singles Grand Prix Final Gold 1997–98 Munich Ladies' singles Gold 1996–97 Hamilton Ladies' singles

Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American figure skater. At the age of 15, she won the Ladies' Singles Olympic gold medal in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Lipinski remains the youngest individual gold medalist in the history of the Olympic Winter Games.^[1] She is also the 1997 World Champion, two-time Champions Series Final Champion (1997–1998) and 1997 U.S. Champion.

Early life[link]

Lipinski, an only child, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Patricia (née Brozyniak), a secretary, and Jack Richard Lipinski, an oil executive and lawyer.^[2][3] She spent her earliest years in Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey.^[4] The family lived in Sewell, New Jersey until 1991.^[5] Lipinski began roller skating at age three and later won a number of competitions. She began figure skating at age six. Her first competition was the 1990 regional championship, where she finished second. At the 1991 United States Roller Skating Championships, she won the primary girls freestyle as a nine-year-old.^[6]

In 1991, her father's job required the family to move to Sugar Land, Texas. However, training facilities were not available there. In 1993, Lipinski and her mother moved back to Delaware, where she had trained before. She later moved to Detroit, Michigan to train with Richard Callaghan.^[7]

Competitive career[link]

Lipinski first came to national prominence when she won the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival competition, which at the time was a junior-level competition. She became the youngest ladies figure skating gold medalist as well as the youngest athlete in any discipline to win gold. Later that season she placed fourth at the 1995 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and second in the junior level at the 1995 United States Figure Skating Championships. By that time, Lipinski was the subject of a great deal of media attention.

After a disappointing fifth-place finish at the 1996 World Junior Championships, Lipinski changed coaches from Jeff Di Gregorio at the University of Delaware to Richard Callaghan in Detroit. Moving up to the senior level That year, the International Skating Union voted to raise the minimum age for participating at the World Championships to 15. Lipinski, who was 13 at the time, was grandfathered into remaining eligible for future events, along with other skaters who had already competed at the World Championships before the new age requirement was introduced.

In 1997, Lipinski unexpectedly won the U.S. Championships and, at 14, became the youngest person to win the title ahead of Sonya Klopfer who won it in 1951 at the age of 15.^[2] She went on to win the World Championships, again becoming the youngest person to win the title. At the 1996 U.S. Postal Challenge, Lipinski became the first female skater to land a triple loop/triple loop jump combination, which became her signature element. Lipinski also won the 1997 Champion Series Final, again becoming the youngest female ever to win the title.

The following season, Lipinski got off to a shaky start, finishing second to Michelle Kwan at Skate America and, while suffering from a bad head cold, to Laetitia Hubert at Trophée Lalique. With Kwan sidelined with a toe-related stress fracture injury, Lipinski successfully defended her Champion Series Final title (now known as the Grand Prix Final), skating cleanly. At the 1998 U.S. Nationals, Kwan and Lipinski met again, but after an uncharacteristic fall on the triple flip in the Short Program, Lipinski ended the night in 4th place with Kwan in 1st place. Although she rallied to land seven triples in the Long Program, she still finished second to Kwan, who had skated one of the best long programs of her life.

Going into the 1998 Winter Olympics, Lipinski embraced the experience, living in the Olympic village, experiencing all that Nagano had to offer, and mingling with other competitors. Lipinski skated her short program to music from the animated movie "Anastasia." Many^[who?] claimed that this demonstrated her immaturity, especially in comparison to Kwan's artistic brilliance. Lipinski skated perfectly, but Kwan won the short program. In the free skating, Kwan skated first in the final group of skaters. While technically flawless, her performance was more restrained than at the national championships a few weeks earlier. Lipinski skated a technically stronger program than Kwan with seven triples, including a historic triple loop/triple loop combination and, at the very end of her long program, a triple toe/half loop/triple salchow sequence. Lipinski bounded across the ice as her music ended, punching her fists in the air and smiling from ear to ear, and emitted a piercing scream when her marks were posted. She became the youngest ever ladies Olympic Figure Skating Champion and the youngest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympic history.

Professional career[link]

On March 9, 1998, Lipinski announced her decision to withdraw from the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships, citing a serious glandular infection that required her to have two molars extracted, constant fatigue, and possible mononucleosis.^[8]

On April 7, 1998, Lipinski announced her intention to turn professional in an interview with Katie Couric on the Today Show. She cited a desire to spend more time with her family, to have time for school, and to compete professionally against other Olympic champions. However, given the opportunities available to a newly crowned Olympic Champion, Lipinski took on full schedule of touring, publicity appearances, and acting engagements, albeit that they required constant travel.^[9] She was also heavily criticized by some for her decision to retire from competition at such a young age; for example, Christine Brennan, writing in USA Today, compared the pro skating circuit to "joining the circus."^[10] However, the criticism aimed at Lipinski was labelled by one commentator as "petty backlash" following her defeat of the expected-winner Kwan at the Nagano Olympics.^[11]

In the spring and summer of 1998, Lipinski toured with Champions on Ice. She then toured with Stars on Ice for four seasons. Lipinski appealed to a younger audience, attracting new fans to what had traditionally been an adult-oriented show. Her signing to Stars on Ice was reported as a coup for the tour,^[12] which at that time was doing well, with some performances routinely selling out months in advance.^[13][14] Choreographic Sandra Bezic commented, "Tara reminds us why we're doing this – the idealism, the genuine love of skating. There's a real sweetness there that makes us all go, 'Yeah, I remember' ".^[13] Lipinski generally received favorable reviews and was popular with fans, sometimes signing autographs for hours after each show.^[15]

Lipinski's decision to turn pro coincided with a change in the business climate for the skating industry. After the 1998 Olympics, many of the pro skating competitions that had sprung up in the aftermath of the 1994 Tonya Harding spectacle were converted to a pro-am format or discontinued entirely as audiences lost interest.^[16] Lipinski did not want to compete in the new pro-am events, and not long after she turned professional, she broke an existing $1.2 million contract to appear in made-for-TV events sponsored by the USFSA.^[17] Instead, she skated only in the remaining all-pro competitions, which were primarily team events such as Ice Wars. Her most notable individual victory came at the 1999 World Professional Figure Skating Championships; at age 17, she became the youngest person to win that event.^[18]

Lipinski's professional skating career was hampered by a series of hip injuries. In August 1998, Lipinski suffered a hip injury in practice for Stars On Ice. After a string of other injuries, she underwent surgery to repair torn cartilage in her hip in September 2000.^[19] Lipinski suffered another hip injury in 2002 during a Stars on Ice show in St. Louis, when she fell hard on her right hip during a jump, and then tore muscles around the bruised area the next day.^[20]

Many people have pointed to the repetitive stress of practicing the triple loop combinations Lipinski performed during her competitive days as the primary cause of her hip problems. Lipinski herself has issued contradictory statements about the timing, cause, and severity of her injuries. After her surgery in 2000, she stated in interviews that the real reason she had turned professional was that she had originally incurred the injury to her hip in the summer of 1997 and that she had skated the entire Olympic season in terrible pain,^[21][22] contradicting her earlier account of the original injury having occurred in the summer of 1998 rather than in 1997.^[19] More recently, in a 2010 statement on her web site, Lipinski denied that her hip injury was a factor in her decision to retire or that she suffered particular pain during her amateur career beyond "the norm for any athlete."^[23]

Lipinski participated in rehearsals for a fifth season of the Stars on Ice tour in the fall of 2002, but withdrew from the tour before it began. She had been increasingly unhappy with life on the tour; she felt isolated from the off-ice camaraderie of the older skaters on the tour,^[24] and her injuries caused friction with the show's producers and other cast members. She later wrote on her official web site, "It was really hard those last two years of touring for me. Emotionally I was drained and hurt. I have never been treated like that in my whole life."^[25] In later interviews she also expressed frustration with the artistic direction of the show at that time.^[26] For example, reviewers had particularly panned the rap ensemble performed by Lipinski with Kristi Yamaguchi and Katarina Witt in the 2001–2002 tour.^[27][28][29]

She has made several television appearances, which have included guest roles on a number of primetime shows (Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Touched by an Angel, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Malcolm in the Middle, Veronica's Closet, Early Edition, 7th Heaven and Still Standing), as well as a cameo in the theatrical film Vanilla Sky. Lipinski also played a brief supporting role on The Young and the Restless in 1999, starred in the TV movie Ice Angel in 2000, and was cast in the independent film The Metro Chase. Additionally, she has been a celebrity guest on VH-1's The List, Fox's Beach Party, several Nickelodeon productions, Girls Behaving Badly and has appeared on numerous magazine covers as well as every major talk show. In 1999, CBS aired a primetime special, Tara Lipinski: From This Moment On.

Lipinski now spends most of her time in New York.

Lipinski is now a sports commentator for Universal Sports for figure skating.

Lipinski made an appearance on the Today Show on March 18, 2011, where she skated to Ben Harper's "Forever".

Awards and recognition[link]

The year before her Olympic win, the U.S. Olympic Committee named Lipinski the 1997 Female Athlete of the Year. Lipinski is particularly proud of the recognition she has received from fans. In 1999 and 2000 she was voted Best Female Athlete at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. In 1999, she won Best Female Athlete at the inaugural Fox Teen Choice Awards. She received similar awards from Teen People and Teen magazine. She has been recognized by the American Academy of Achievement, the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Foundation, and many other organizations. In 2006, Lipinski was the youngest ever inductee into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Philanthropic work, endorsements, and publications[link]

With Shaquille O'Neal and Denzel Washington, Lipinski is a national spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. She is also a spokesperson for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids^[30] and the Childhood Leukemia Foundation. Lipinski is also involved with the Office of National Drug Control Policy's anti-drug campaign. Her anti-drug public service announcement aired nationwide on TV and in theaters in 2000.

She is also dedicated to helping children in need, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Children's Circle of Care, the philanthropic organization for children's hospitals nationwide. She has also supported St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,^[31] and numerous cancer research efforts.

Her portfolio of endorsements includes McDonald's, Charles Schwab, Chevrolet, Snapple, DKNY, Minute Maid, Capezio, Mattel, Campbell's Soup, Autoweb.com, Kellogg's, Coca Cola, Kleenex, Kodak, Hallmark Cards, Office Depot, Smuckers, Target and others. Lipinski has also been on the runway for Limited Too!. Lipinski has two official books in print: Totally Tara – An Olympic Journey and Triumph On Ice. In additional there are numerous unofficial biographies, including:

• 'Tara Lipinski: Queen of the Ice', Bill Gutman
• 'Tara Lipinski: Superstar Ice-Skater', Stasia Ward Kehoe
• 'Tara Lipinski (Sports Superstars)', Richard Rambeck
• 'On Ice with Tara Lipinski', Matt Christopher
• 'Tara Lipinski (Champion Sports Biographies)', Annis Karpenko
• 'Tara the Road to Gold', Wendy Daly
• 'Tara Lipinski (Awesome Athletes)', Jill Wheeler
• 'Tara Lipinski (Female Skating Legends)', Veda Boyd Jones
• 'Tara Lipinski (Jam Session)', Terri Dougherty
• 'Tara Lipinski: Star Figure Skater', Barry Wilner

Programs[link]

Results[link]

Eligible[link]

• N = Novice level; J = Junior level

Professional[link]

• 1998 Skate TV Championships: 1st^[32]
• 1998 Ice Wars: 1st (Team USA)^[33]
• 1998 Jefferson Pilot Financial Championships: 1st^[34]
• 1999 Team Ice Wars: 2nd (Team USA)^[35]
• 1999 Ice Wars: 1st (Team USA)
• 1999 Grand Slam Super Teams of Skating: 1st^[36]
• 1999 World Professional Championship: 1st
• 2001 World Ice Challenge: 1st (Team USA)
• 2002 Ice Wars: 1st (Team USA)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Tara Lipinski at the Internet Movie Database

Michelle Kwan
Michelle Kwan performs her signature spiral at a practice session at the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Personal information
Full name	Michelle Wingshan Kwan
Country represented	United States
Born	(1980-07-07) July 7, 1980 (age 31)
Residence	Torrance, California
Height	5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Former coach	Rafael Arutunian, Frank Carroll, Scott Williams
Former choreographer	Tatiana Tarasova, Lori Nichol, Nikolai Morozov, Sarah Kawahara, Peter Oppegard, Karen Kwan, Christopher Dean
Skating club	Los Angeles FSC
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	175.20 2005 Worlds
Short program	61.22 2005 Worlds
Free skate	113.98 2005 Worlds
Medal record Competitor for the  United States Ladies' Figure skating Olympic Games Silver 1998 Nagano Ladies' singles Bronze 2002 Salt Lake City Ladies' singles World Championships Gold 1996 Edmonton Ladies' singles Gold 1998 Minneapolis Ladies' singles Gold 2000 Nice Ladies' singles Gold 2001 Vancouver Ladies' singles Gold 2003 Washington, D.C. Ladies' singles Silver 1997 Lausanne Ladies' singles Silver 1999 Helsinki Ladies' singles Silver 2002 Nagano Ladies' singles Bronze 2004 Dortmund Ladies' singles Grand Prix Final Gold 1995–1996 Paris Ladies' singles Silver 1996–1997 Hamilton Ladies' singles Silver 1999–2000 Lyon Ladies' singles Silver 2000–2001 Tokyo Ladies' singles Silver 2001–2002 Kitchener Ladies' singles World Junior Championships Gold 1994 Colorado Springs Ladies' singles

Michelle Wingshan Kwan^[1] (born July 7, 1980) is an American figure skater. She is a two-time (1998 and 2002) Olympic medalist, a five-time (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003) World champion (a record bettered only by Sonja Henie among ladies skaters) and a nine-time (1996, 1998–2005) U.S. champion (the all-time record, as tied with Maribel Vinson-Owen).

She competed at a high level for over a decade and is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history.^[2] Known for her consistency and expressive artistry on ice, she is widely considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.^[3][4][5]

For well over a decade, Kwan maintained her status not only as America's most popular figure skater but as one of America's most popular female athletes, consistently making the top ten on many such polls and lists (often as the only figure skater) even years after she had stopped competing.^[6] During the decade of her reign Kwan enjoyed unprecedented popularity and amassed numerous multi-million dollar endorsement deals, starred in multiple TV specials and was the subject of extensive media coverage.^[7]

Personal life[link]

Born in Torrance, California, Kwan is the third child of Danny Kwan and Estella Kwan, Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong. As a child, Kwan grew up speaking a mixture of Cantonese and English at home. Kwan’s interest in figure skating began at the age of five when she followed her two older siblings (hockey player Ron and figure skater Karen) onto the ice. Karen and Michelle began serious training when Michelle was about eight years old. They practiced three to four hours a day, waking up at 3 am to skate before school and going back to the rink right after school to skate again. Paying for their increased skating-rink time led to financial hardship for Kwan’s working class family. When Kwan was ten years old, her family could no longer afford a coach, but they were offered financial assistance by a fellow member of the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club^[8][9] that allowed them to train at the Ice Castle International Training Center in Lake Arrowhead, California.

Kwan attended Soleado Elementary School in Palos Verdes, California, but left public school to be homeschooled in 1994, when she was in the 8th grade.^[10] After graduation from Rim of the World High School in 1998, she attended UCLA for one year. In the fall of 2006, she transferred to the University of Denver.^[11] In June 2009, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in international studies and a minor in political science.^[12] In 2009, she began graduate studies in international relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University^[13] and graduated in 2011.^[14][15] On May 8, 2010, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Southern Vermont College.

Public life[link]

Ambassadorship endeavors[link]

On November 9, 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named Michelle Kwan as a public diplomacy ambassador. In this non-salaried position, Kwan will represent American values especially to young people and sports enthusiasts and was expected to travel widely.^[16] Kwan made her first overseas trip in the capacity of public diplomacy ambassador with a visit to China from January 17–25, 2007.

Her diplomatic position as an envoy has continued in the Barack Obama administration where she has worked with Vice President Joe Biden^[17] and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.^[18]

Between 9–15 January 2011, she traveled to Singapore on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.^[19][20]

On April 15, 2011, it was announced that Kwan would serve as an adviser to U.S.-China Women's Leadership Exchange and Dialogue (Women-LEAD).^[21]

Filmography[link]

Kwan has guest starred as herself in "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass", an episode of The Simpsons, and in the Family Guy episode "A Hero Sits Next Door". She has also made guest star appearances in the children's cartoon television series Arthur the PBS Series, and has also appeared in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. She provided the voice of a shopkeeper in Disney's direct-to-DVD sequel Mulan II, and she and fellow figure skater Brian Boitano appeared as announcers in the film Ice Princess. She has performed in numerous figure skating programs, and has cameo appearances in various other television series. In 1999, she appeared in the Michelle Kwan Figure Skating computer game.^[22]

Other activities[link]

Kwan wrote an inspirational book for children titled, The Winning Attitude: What it Takes to be a Champion. She also wrote an autobiography, Heart of a Champion, at 17.

In 2005, Michelle Kwan's family opened the EastWest Ice Palace in Artesia, California. The ice rink houses many of her skating medals and memorabilia.^[23]

Kwan has had numerous endorsement contracts and has appeared in television commercials for sponsors including Campbell's Soup, VISA, Coca-Cola, and Kraft.^[24] The Chevrolet/Michelle Kwan R.E.W.A.R.D.S. Scholarship program was established by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors in cooperation with Kwan.^[25] In February 2006, Kwan was named a "celebrity representative" for The Walt Disney Company.^[26]

Competitive biography[link]

Summary[link]

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.^{[citation needed]} 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).^[2] 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.^[27]

Early competition[link]

In 1991, Michelle and her sister Karen began training with Frank Carroll. After one year of coaching by Carroll, 11-year old Michelle placed 9th at the junior level at the United States Figure Skating Championships. At the age of 12 in 1992, Kwan passed the gold test to become a senior-level figure skater despite the disapproval of her coach. In 1993, Kwan finished sixth at her first senior U.S. championships. The next season, she won the 1994 World Junior Championships.

In 1994, Kwan finished second to Tonya Harding at the U.S. Championships, which ordinarily would have earned her a spot on the U.S. team to the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. That place was instead given to 1993 national champion Nancy Kerrigan, who had been sidelined by an assault and battery (eventually connected to Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly) after a practice session at those championships. The 13-year-old Kwan went to Norway as an alternate but did not compete. Kerrigan and Harding both dropped out of eligible competition before the 1994 World Championships. Because of this (and teammate Nicole Bobek not making out of the qualifying round), Kwan had the sole responsibility to ensure two spots for the U.S. at the 1994 World Championships by placing in the top ten. Kwan had an unusual mistake in the short program and placed eleventh in that portion, but came back strong to finish eighth overall.

At the 1995 U.S. Championships, Nicole Bobek won the gold medal, while Kwan again placed second after struggling with her lutz jump in both the short program and free skate. At the 1995 World Championships, she placed fifth in the short program portion of the competition with a clean performance. She landed 7 triple jumps in her free skating performance and placed third in that portion of the competition. She finished fourth overall.

Artistic development and 1998 Olympics[link]

Following 1995, Kwan developed a more mature style. Her new, more artistically expressive programs were "Romanza" (short program) and "Salome" (free skate). She also improved her speed and her jump technique, and performed more difficult choreography. In 1996, Kwan won both the U.S. Championships and the World Championships. In the latter event, she edged out defending champion Chen Lu in a very close competition in which both competitors garnered two perfect 6.0s for Presentation in the free skate.

In the 1996–97 season, Kwan skated to "Dream of Desdemona" (short program) and "Taj Mahal" (free skate). It was during this year that Kwan debuted a change-of-edge spiral, which is still considered her signature move. However, in this season, Kwan struggled with her jumps because of a growth spurt and problems with new skating boots which she wore for an endorsement contract with the manufacturer.^[28] She fell twice and stumbled once in her free skate at 1997 U.S. Nationals, losing the title to Tara Lipinski. She lost the Champion Series Final to Lipinski a month later. At the World Championships, Kwan stepped out of her triple lutz combination and placed 4th in the Short Program portion of the competition behind Lipinski, France's Vanessa Gusmeroli, and Russia's Maria Butyrskaya. During the Free Skate, Kwan skated a six triple, mistake-free performance to win that part of the competition, but placed second to Lipinski overall.

Kwan started out the 1997–1998 Olympic season by winning Skate America (where she defeated Tara Lipinski) and then Skate Canada. However, she suffered a stress fracture on her foot and was forced to withdraw from her third Champions Series Final. Kwan regained her U.S. title from Lipinski at the 1998 National Championships, in spite of competing with a toe injury. Many people consider her performances of her Rachmaninoff short program and free skate set to William Alwyn's "Lyra Angelica" at the 1998 U.S. Championships to be the high point of her career from both a technical and artistic standpoint.^[29] The performance earned her eight perfect 6.0s and left one judge in tears.^[30]

Kwan and Lipinski were the co-favorites to win the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. Kwan placed first in the Short Program portion of the competition, winning eight first place votes out of nine judges. In the Free Skate, Kwan skated a 7-triple performance but placed behind Lipinski, who also did 7 triples including a triple loop/triple loop combination and a triple toe-loop/half-loop/Triple Salchow. Kwan ended up winning the silver medal, with the gold medal being won by Lipinski and the bronze medal by Chen Lu.^[31]

Lipinski and Chen both retired from competitive skating shortly after the Olympics, while Kwan went on to win the 1998 World Championships in Minneapolis.

From 1998 to 2002 Olympics[link]

Kwan competes her Scheherazade long program at the 2001-2002 Grand Prix Final.

Kwan continued to compete as an eligible skater in the 1998–99 season, although she bypassed the fall Grand Prix season and instead chose to skate in a series of made-for-television pro-am events. Her "regular" competitive programs that season were "Fate of Carmen" (short program) and "Lamento D'Ariane" (free skate). Kwan won her third national title at the 1999 U.S. Championships, competing against a weak field. At the 1999 World Championships, Kwan did not skate her best,^[32] and placed second behind Russian competitor Maria Butyrskaya.^[33]

Kwan's win at the 2000 U.S. Nationals was controversial to some.^[34] She was criticized for planning an easier jump in her short program than her competitors (a triple toe loop rather than a triple flip), and fell on this element in the competition. The judges nevertheless placed her third in that segment behind younger challengers Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes;^[35] however, the placement still kept her in contention for the title. Ultimately, she won the free skate with the best performance of the night, capturing 8 of the 9 first-place ordinals.^[36][37] At the 2000 World Championships, Kwan was again in third place after the short program, behind Maria Butyrskaya and Irina Slutskaya. In her free skate, Kwan landed seven triple jumps, including a triple toe loop/triple toe loop combination, and won that segment of the competition. Butyrskaya lost her commanding lead by finishing third behind Slutskaya in the free skate, allowing Kwan to win the overall title as well.^[38]