Michelle Kwan Quotes

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Michelle Kwan

Profession : Athlete

Birth : July 7, 1980

I want to see how far I can train. I have to see how far my body will go.

Michelle Kwan

To be the best, you need to be the most well-trained and well-prepared athlete you can be. The pressure is going to be all around you. You just have to make sure that your body and mind is fine-tuned. Then you go out there and do it.

Michelle Kwan

I always thought after 2002 that I'd hang up my skates and turn professional and just go on tour and do shows. But I don't know when it is enough. I mean, I still enjoy it. I'm the luckiest girl alive that I get to perform in front of thousands of people, do what I love doing.

Michelle Kwan

I was so worried about winning, it was as if I was caught up in my own web.

Michelle Kwan

Skating takes up 70 percent of my time, school about 25 percent. Having fun and talking to my friends, 5 percent. It's hard. I envy other kids a lot of things, but I get a guilt trip when I'm not training.

Michelle Kwan

There's a lot of emotions that always come out after a skate of a lifetime. I always start crying because there is so much buildup to that competition.

Michelle Kwan

I had dreamed of being at the Olympics since I was 7 years old.

Michelle Kwan

You can always say, 'I wish I had landed that triple flip better, or I wish I didn't fall.' They're not regrets, just mistakes.

Michelle Kwan

What I love the most is getting on the ice and just popping in a fabulous CD and skating - all by myself, the rink completely empty, just me and the music.

Michelle Kwan

Because I'm pushing my body so hard already, the last thing I want to do is have music that's really too strong, in my head.

Michelle Kwan

I actually prefer soothing music - and maybe that's the skater in me.

Michelle Kwan

Sometimes my body is aching, but I always think, 'Why am I in this? Why do I love it so much?' That's what makes me persevere, that's what makes me keep on going.

Michelle Kwan

As an athlete, I've always been very proud to represent the United States.

Michelle Kwan

Girls, in particular, benefit from sports.

Michelle Kwan

I tell aspiring young skaters to dream big, work hard, have fun, and follow their passion. It's simple to say never give up, but learn from your mistakes to keep growing.

Michelle Kwan

Looking back, I feel very fortunate to have had such a long career. Many skaters end their careers in their early 20s. I had the opportunity to go to two Olympic Games - almost three after being the alternate in 1994 and then in 2006 being injured.

Michelle Kwan

The Women's Sports Foundation has empowered so many young girls and women across the U.S. I benefitted from WSF with a travel and training grant when I was 12 years old. It really helped my family financially.

Michelle Kwan

Sports provides that tool kit to be successful in life. Because it's not always going to be smooth sailing.

Michelle Kwan

Maybe I didn't get new skates, but I got used skates. I made it to the national championships in used skates that were custom-made for another girl. I still have those skates. Underneath the arch, there was a name crossed out and my dad had 'Michelle Kwan' written in. Granted, they were a little big, but it worked.

Michelle Kwan

When I look at my own career, growing up, I was doing really well at age 11, but it was kind of isolating because back then, people weren't hanging out with me. My mom was always there. She had my back and was like, 'You keep focused. You gotta keep focused.' And I think those kinds of lessons were hard.

Michelle Kwan