Michele Kwan!

Do I have to say any more. She is a true champion. She has proven herself time and time again, and she has done so through longevity, grace, and giftedness.

Some say that she will be remembered as the greatest American skater of all time, BUT she never won the gold medal in an Olympics. To that I disagree. She is the best because of what she stands for…sure all the medals on her neck tell a powerful story, but it is what she did in this Winter Olympics of 2006 that makes her the ultimat champion and a gold medalists in my eyes.

Michele Kwan came to the Olympics with the hopes and dreams of finally winning the Olympic Gold. The one title she had not won in her stand out career. However, she came to realize that an injury was holding her back from peak performance. Could she possibly have healed enough to skate? Could she have skated well with the injury? No one knows. Why? Because Michele Kwan had the same Grace off the ice that she had on the ice. Michele had the courage to place the U.S.A. above herself.

So even though Michele Kwan never won the Olympic Gold…she did in my eyes. She did what any true athlete and loyal partiot would do…she thought of her country above herself!

Way to go Michele…you got the Gold!