# Should Michelle Kwan be given a spot on the US Figure Skating squad?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-kwan-be-given-a-spot-on-the-us-figure-skating-squad/339875
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 13, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-kwan-be-given-a-spot-on-the-us-figure-skating-squad/339875 "2006-01-13T20:49:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-kwan-be-given-a-spot-on-the-us-figure-skating-squad/339875/61 "2006-02-12T13:16:25Z")
I’ve started a thread over [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354016) for a more general discussion of the competition.
And, BTW, I’m in the “Michelle Kwan is a class act” camp.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-kwan-be-given-a-spot-on-the-us-figure-skating-squad/339875/62 "2006-02-12T13:27:18Z")
Sorry – can you say “hall of mirrors”? Try this one: [linky](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7095292#post7095292).
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### Author:  [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-kwan-be-given-a-spot-on-the-us-figure-skating-squad/339875/63 "2006-02-12T13:39:59Z")
> [@Equipoise](#):
>
> It’s not that big a deal. Michelle had earned the right to try, first by her Worlds performance, and then by her skating for the panel of…whoever those people were that she skated in front of (I tuned out and didn’t get the whole story, just that they approved her).
No, she didn’t “earn” anything, see earlier posts, she did not compete in most of the relevant qualifying competitions this year, and only finished fourth in the one she finished. Whatever she accomplished in the past does not count. But apparently it did.
> [@Equipoise](#):
>
> Michelle Kwan was an alternate herself in 1994, and had to be ready in case Nancy Kerrigan, who was injured and received a medical bye to be able to go to the Olympics, couldn’t skate. Kerrigan skated and Kwan didn’t.
Apples and oranges. Kerrigan was a top contender and was head and shoulders above Kwan at the time. Considering the extraordinary circumstances, this was what a medical bye was intended for. Regardless, should not be relevant to this year’s team.
> [@Equipoise](#):
>
> Emily Hughes was an alternate, and had to be ready in case Michelle Kwan, who was injured and received a medical bye to be able to go to the Olympics, couldn’t skate. Kwan can’t, and so Emily can.
Hughes was MADE an alternate, she actually skated her way onto the team. Kwan did not.
> [@Equipoise](#):
>
> I still don’t understand what the big deal about any of this is. Were the current Kwan bitchers bitching that Kerrigan shouldn’t have gone to Lillehammer because she was injured? That Kwan in 1994 deserved a guarantee she could skate? Probably not, because the bitching seems to have more to do with being anti-Kwan than being pro-rules.
Tired. Did Kwan out skate Kerrigan back then? No. Kerrigan would have gotten the slot np, had it not been for the attack. Kwan was not up to her level at the time. Again, apples and oranges.
> [@Equipoise](#):
>
> I would almost guarantee that Emily Hughes herself never fumed about Kwan for even a second. Kwan’s a legend (who not to mention had already been beaten by Emily’s sister) and Emily respects both Kwan and rules.
>
> I’m sure she’s one beaming kid now!
Don’t involve Hughes in this, she did the best she could and succeeded, only to have her spot stolen by Kwan’s bullying.
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### Author:  [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-kwan-be-given-a-spot-on-the-us-figure-skating-squad/339875/64 "2006-02-13T17:32:23Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#):
>
> Hughes was MADE an alternate, she actually skated her way onto the team.
Bullshit. Only one skater skates her way onto the Olympic team. That was stated in the article you linked to: “At last month’s U.S. championships, only winner Sasha Cohen was guaranteed one of the three U.S. spots in Olympic women’s singles.”
Kwan realized she wan’t ready and pulled out. She did the right thing. Good on her.
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### Author:  [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2006, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-kwan-be-given-a-spot-on-the-us-figure-skating-squad/339875/65 "2006-02-14T07:04:33Z")
Ultimately, Michelle Kwan did exactly the right thing, which is a lot more than I can say for some superstar athletes. I’ll concede, knowing what I know now, that there’s a good chance she would’ve stunk up the joint if she competed, but I don’t criticize what don’t happen.
Even if she “bullied” her way onto the team, no one was under any obligation to give in to it. And remember, nearly everything about this sport is subjective. If a panel says they thought she looked good, well, short of her doing a faceplant on the ice, I really don’t see an arguable point here.
Kwan retires with a tiny disappointment but avoids a repeat of Tonya Harding’s catastrophic nightmare collapse, a huge net positive. Hughes gets her rightful spot. No twisted arms, no irritating drama, no last-second shuffles. For crying out loud, everything that could go right here did! Why can’t we be happy? 🙂
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