Michelle kwans brilliant performance to rachmaninoff at the 1998 nationals championships...this program is so amazingly perfect and beautiful... my favorite performance of any skater ever!
There isnt a skater in the world that skate on the level as Michelle Kwan...Olympic gold or not..she is the greatest skater EVER to hit the ice...truely a legend!
Epic. A once-in-a-lifetime talent. There was Michelle Kwan...and then everyone else. Peerless then, now, and forever. Utterly, unequivocally, completely, absolutely, flawless. A synthesis of technical brilliance, inspired artistry, interpretive genius that almost defies description and that will never be rivaled. So beautiful it hurts. On the list of defining athletic achievements of the 20th Century. A performance for the ages. Thank you Ms. Kwan.
I was in the audience, behind the judges as a guest of Morry Stillwell. I had tears in my eyes, watching this program on screen doesn't begin to capture the magic of seeing it live. The entire audience held its breath as she went into the Lutz combination and if we could have done the jump for her, we would have. She was so beloved by the skating community. (For those in the know, I'm Kimber from AOL)
This comment made my day. Today is a rough day for me, and to help cope, I pulled Michelle's performance up. Thank you for this comment and making me smile.
Come through Michelle Kwan!! The greatest skater ever, skating the greatest short program ever. Brings me to tears ever time! Can i cry 1000 times? Yes.
Am am absolutely confident in saying: The standard that Michelle has set for this sport will NEVER be beaten. There is simply no way anybody will ever skate the way she does. Sheer perfection.
The thing that set Michelle apart from everyone else and allowed her to dominate for so long wasn't her jumps, spins or even her fabulous footwork. I think it was her mental toughness. Mentally, she is one of the most intense and focused athletes of ANY KIND I have ever seen. Her consistency was proof of that.
I was only 12 years old when I saw this skated live and I couldn't appreciate it brilliance of it then. But watching it now, after 14 years of competitive skating myself, I understand how truly exquisite she is!!
There are moments in this performance that are so beautiful that all you can do is just cry. I still get chills watching this and the free skate from Philly--and there is no other skater who has that power. She is the best and will always be the best.
Many say that Kwan would be blown away by the technical abilities of this generation's skaters..yet I find myself enjoying her far more than the others simply because she is the epitome of figure skating. The beauty and art she creates is remarkable and unmatched.
I LOVE the footwork. The speed and command she has is incredible and interprets the music perfectly. And to put the triple flip late into the program is genius. Her jumps really are just an extension of her legendary artistry.
That spiral to the end especially just comes through like 3D. So much energy and love for her sport. We are fortunate to have been able to witness Michelle for so many years. Eternally grateful for her, Frank, Lori and the contributions of Michelle’s family.
the fact that 9 people disliked this video is painful. if 1 person disliked it i would still be completely offended that people have no respect for the most beautiful skater ever to live. what an art.
Sheer perfection. I get shudders up and down my spine every time I see it. And it is just me...? Why don't get I get that feeling with any of the ladies out there in 2008? The new ladies are clearly strong athletes, but I'd choose to watch Michelle any day. I wish skating could go back to this - I bet that would get attendance back up again. Seeing all those empty stands at competitions is sad. Michelle is still, in my opinion, the best lady there ever was (and will be?).
This is the best short program ever from Michelle Kwan... I think the best long program is Tosca in 2004 and Lyra Angelica in 98... WE LOVE U MICHELLE....
Actually, I think the value of Olympic gold in figure skating has been diminished by the fact that Michelle Kwan never won it. Her record and body of work speaks for itself. I predict that in 20 years, there will be no additional skater with five World titles and no US skater with 9 national championships.
You know, all skaters time their jumps and exciting elements to punctuate highlights in their music. But I don't think anyone has ever done it better than Michelle. She always used great music, too; music that often built to a "take that!" conclusion. Never a weak flat ending of any of her programs that I can recall. First rate!
Great program! Love seeing this! Her timing to the music is PERFECT here, especially when she landed the Double Axel. Literally perfectly timed with the music.
This is a gorgeous program. I wonder why none of the female skaters nowadays including Kim Yuna cannot deliver a program even close to Michelle's. Sasha Cohen is in the same league as MK artically, but younger skaters including Kim Yuna cannot touch MK's artistic merits. I have goose bumps when I watch MK skating tapes.
You know, there will be great skaters in the future, like Yuna, but there will never be another Michelle Kwan. The standard she set, in terms of expression and emotion, is basically impossible to best.
michelle kwan is the true queen of figure skating. no one in this generation can hold a candle against her. who could potray what she potrayed? who could achieve what she achieve?
One of my favorite choreographic moments in this program: When she takes her first gliding edge at about 0:16, notice how she stays on the right foot and never sets the left foot down until after that "swinging" motion; when she finally puts the left foot down, it is literally on the perfect downbeat of the music and with precision matches the start of the next musical phrase. Her sense of timing really is impeccable.
Why do we need to trash one skater to celebrate another? Michelle and Sasha are both great athletes. Sasha was stunning to watch, and if her technical skills and consistency could have matched her artistry, who knows what she could have accomplished. Michelle had it ALL, artistry, technique, and more -- she had a grace on ice; the grace and joy of her spirit, that I doubt we'll see the likes of again.
MaryShelley, we don't need to call Michelle Kwan 'overrated" or empathise on any falsehood about her. Michelle Kwan is a talented figure skater and no matter how well, or terrible Sasha seems to do at her skating performance, we cannot continue to make more stupid falsehood about Michelle Kwan. I will NOT back off until people regain their common sense and to stop their endless bickering about Michelle Kwan 'not being good enough". This makes me angry.
Lu Chen's 96 World program is the best " rachmaninoff " LP . Michelle kwan's 98 US program is the best " rachmaninoff " SP. They are artists on ice in the history.
when she was little, yuna would watch videos of michelle skate, she would move along with michelle in hopes of being able to someday express herself to the audience like michelle kwan did before. just a few days ago, yuna talked about the first time she ever saw michelle in person. she was very young and attending a training camp when she spotted michelle in the bathroom. she was struck speechless and thought to herself "wow. it's michelle kwan."
@@HowsaBowsaYowsa Oh, you mean that Sasha "I was being handed a world and Olympic championship but I didn't even have the ability to stand up and get it" Cohen? Or did you mean Sasha "I've only won one major title in my career" Cohen? Sorry. Michelle has eight more National Titles than Sasha. And five more World Titles than her. Then again, it's not hard to have more World Titles than Sasha cause she doesn't have one. Lol
Flutz Queen Tara Lipinski has NEVER skated any program that could outclass Kwan in the refinement of jumping technique nor the sophistication of choreography.
And even if I do like figure skaters like Shizuka, Sasha, Tara, Alissa, Mao, Surya and Elene, I have huge admiration for Michelle Kwan. Why? She is a true believer. She doesn't skate just to get her name on the paper or to have her face plastered all over the internet. She is gracious, she is generous, and she worked so hard to get to where she wanted to be! She is not a show off like that joker, Tonya Harding.
No one can compare to Michelle. I don't care how much they can jump or spin. Michelle redefined artistry, and that was why skating used to be so exciting, because every program was so different, and Michelle's was just unique and brilliant. Nowadays unfortunately, it's all about the points and everyone seems robotic - with the exception of the soft Mao Asada and the exquisite Yu Na Kim.
your so right about that from the position of her head down to her toe point! very well placed. a lot of skaters these days are now just flailing their arms very flamboyantly everywhere with out no thought to it and the customes? wow is all i have to say.
Michelle Kwan is absolute perfection…just wish there was a recording of this performance without having to listen to Dick and Peggy talking through the entire thing…sigh…at least Dick didn’t criticize her layback (if I heard him do that to one more skater, I would have screamed…like he ever did one.) You’re the best, Michelle!! Figure skating has gone to trash with the new scoring system…and, if it doesn’t change…we will never see another Michelle.
Remember, she had had a cast, off the ice with a stress fracture, not able to do her normal training sessions, and muscle memory, mental toughness and a pure love for the ice is what we see here, this was and will remain The Gold Standard.
Let me make it clear that Kwan is the most popular figure skater of the world. And NOBODY, not even getrealandsee can get to the level of popularity currently enjoyed by this figure skater. Not even skaters like Mao, Sasha, or even Yu Na could even top Michelle Kwan because she's a phenomenal skater to behold. Jealous haters like getrealandsee want to see her favorite figure skater like, herself to grab the gold medal just to parade in front of other angry figure skaters.. That is the truth.
gosh...this program beats all the programs of today's skaters. Its kind of sad that i'd rather watch Michelles programs from ten years ago instead of the ones from today's skaters!!! No one can be the NEXT michelle. Great athletes today, but their programs are actually boring to watch. No heart, no emotions....JUST LOOK AT mICHELLES EXPRESSIONS and the heart thats pouring out of her!!!!AMazing!!
Michelle competed for 10 years and maintained her ranking in every competition in top three. She respected every competitor by skating her best at all times. She never claimed she was the best, or refused a medal because it was less than gold. For mere stats, compare Michelle's among Tara L, Sarah H and Sasha C. She stated during Olympics 2010 that the skaters completed much higher difficulty in comparison to the time she skated. Meaning, comparing is unreasonable, completely different level.
Mitsutaki Respected every competitor by skating her best? How does that show respect? Not only did she not always skate her best (1997 season was a disaster) but I seem to remember some pretty sulky interviews in '98 when Lipinski beat her. Lipinski skated all out, from the heart, which is no doubt the kind of performance the judges were looking for, who notoriously favour' artistry'. Kwan is the most overrated skater of the era.
@@seer1623 You're a Liar. Michelle is so nice and never give up. Tara had a kid's body and weight so easier to jump, nothing more. Tara didn't really make a correct 3+3 to deserve the Olympics gold. Michelle's performance was classic, beautiful and womanly. Tara's performance just like a kid. Tara retired because she couldn't stop grow up and everything changed. Watch the truth.
Yes--Michelle was doing triple-triples back in 1995. She did them in her World Championship long programs in 2000 and 2001. And other times as well. and then there was Tara Lipinski at the '98 Olympics. No one was doing them in the short program before COP because a mistake would have been too costly.
