At the 1998 United States Figure Skating Championships, history was made by Michelle Kwan. Michelle earned the most 6.0 marks ever earned in the history of the U.S. Figure Skating Nationals. Her long program, Lyra Angelica, was magical and exuded joy and peace. It would be hard to top that kind of performance in Michelle's next competition, the Olympics. In the weeks leading up to the Olympics, I had this gut feeling that Michelle Kwan was going to win. It just had to happen that way. I thought and believed that no other skater was going to pose a threat to Michelle and her perfection. I *knew* that Michelle was going to win. Her practices were even flawless. Michelle performed flawlessly in her Olympic short program, executing a perfect triple Lutz combination and a breathtaking spiral sequence. However, Michelle was followed closely by her teammate, Tara Lipinski, who was in second place after the short program. Michelle was slated to skate first in the long program, with Tara following four skaters behind her. It looked like Tara would be the only skater who would remotely challenge Michelle for the gold medal. Michelle Kwan gave a performance of a champion for her long program. She skated with her whole heart, and she was magical. Her jumps and spins were flawless, and the artistry was impeccable. Since Michelle was skating first, her technical marks were a little low, saving room for the other skaters after her. However, Michelle's presentation marks were all 5.9's. One by one, skaters after her made little mistakes. Chen Lu had skated an emotional program, but did not overtake Michelle...No one came close, until Tara Lipinski took the ice. I didn't believe that Tara would come close to Michelle's emotional performance. Tara had a great skating order (second to last) and she also had the guts. She didn't hold anything back as she unleashed two triple-triple combinations. The pure joy of being at her first Olympics added to her performance, and Tara won the gold medal. Michelle Kwan finished with the silver medal and she knew that she had skated her absolute best. Her attitude remained unchanged, even positive. She knew that life does not always hand you what you want all of the time. Chen Lu won the Olympic bronze, which was a personal achievement after a 25th-place finish at the 1997 World Championships. Both Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan deserved the gold medal that evening in the White Ring, and in retrospect, the United States is very lucky to have these two young women at the top of their sport. (R. - L. Michelle Kwan, Silver Medalist (U.S.A.); Tara Lipinski, Gold Medalist (U.S.A.); Chen Lu, Bronze Medalist (China).) Back to Marvelous Michelle Kwan