Michelle Kwan - 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Short Program

Los Angeles, California, USA - 2002 United States Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Short Program - Michelle Kwan placed 1st after this skate.

[@thesupremediva]

What the USFSA would give to have seen something of this caliber a few weeks ago! It's becoming ever clearer how special she was. No one has that perfect combination of artistry, consistency, and heart these days. Now it's all paint-by-numbers triple triples.

[@theprinceoftides6836]

Exactamundo, nailed it . I always felt when M.K. left , figure skating not only lost one of its greatest skaters and ambassador, The sport also lost its heart and soul.

[@jimmythegentconway8690]

OMG her trainer was Jackie Chan!!

[@jjh2456]

She just kissed the ice with that 3flip. I wish she had done it like that at the Olympics.

[@thesupremediva]

Perfection. Presentation marks should have been 6's. I think it sucks that she ALWAYS had to skate first. There are numerous instances, most at World level, where here programs would have garnered even more perfect marks if she hadn't had to skate first.

[@excalibur1812]

Isn't it just coincidental that great music makes for great skating???? Skaters of today could learn a lot from her, what with their down-trodden, somber program. The 2nd largest mistake that the ISU ever made was allowing vocals in competitive skating. The first huge error was removing the compulsory figures.

[@edrivera8824]

I love how people say sasha "worked " so hard...lol, even her coaches said otherwise. Anyways, the Olympic short scores showed that the WORLD loved this short program...

[@vistaprime]

Sasha wasn't a hard worker?

[@erivera4928]

not according to tarasova!

[@grantgoffin4774]

@@erivera4928 Tarasova was pissed Sasha left her, so her comments can be taken with a grain of salt. And as legendary as Tarasova is she isn't always unbiased in general. Remember her claiming Sotnikova was "underscored" in her farce Olympic Gold victory and Kim who nearly everyone agreed was robbed was "overscored". I rest my case.

[@lowdaisy1]

i love her dress:)

[@reubenkeyz5131]

I wished she never did this twice! Somehow didn’t have the same charm and magic the first time around. Just my opinion.

[@ehrenjw]

if it ain't broke, don't fix it

[@theprinceoftides6836]

Exactamundo. U don't own and dominate a sport for more a decade like she did if there's a problem.

[@anne91276]

Getrealandsaee, I will report YOU to you tube if you make falsehood claims about harassment when it is YOU who made all these nasty commentary about Michelle Kwan. What I want you to do is READ the terms of agreement on You tube OR I will report you for making slurs and nasty falsehood against Kwan. Do you understand that you tube will start censoring your comments IF you continue to make up garbage about this figure skater?

[@snowballwannabe]

1:14 "Very nice (chicken leg) possition on that [neck]back spin (¿?)”.

[@calphurnia2007]

This is a glorious program, however, I would have placed her second behind Angela Nikodinov. Sasha should have been third because of the flutz and Sarah Hughes should have been 4th for her poor form.

[@vistaprime]

Kwan flutzes too and that layback wasn't in the same caliber by any means of the others you mentioned.

[@jjh2456]

vistaprime but she didn’t flutz here, and her layback is a different style than Nikodinov et al.

[@paulmcelroy81]

vistaprime no she didn’t

[@kim71749]

Button and Fleming... ugh...hear their negative comments from past competitions...yuk

[@snowballwannabe]

It wouldn't matter if Sasha Cohen or anyone else would have skated a perfect short program with 8 triples including a quadruple-triple combo and exquisite artistry and superb music/costume/choreography: the US judges would never allow anybody to surpass their golden girl (MK) "signature program", as mediocre as it was. The only pure lines there, were the lines of corruption.

[@Ronizetti]

snowballwannabe - so nice to read that someone DOES understand figure skating! - I was at every US Nationals Michelle skated - I can honestly say she "actually" won about half of them, the remainder were "gifted" her ... You are precisely correct about USFSA "holding their chosen skater up". I watched this over and over (think Todd Eldridge). What is sad, is they failed to realize this would not happen with Olympic judges - so when every time at Olympics true competition showed up, THEY won! Sadly, this left a very confused American public scratching their heads in disbelief. My God, I saw Sarah Hughes skate as a 13 yr old girl (!) and instantly proclaimed she would be the next Olympic champion - yet she was given no focus at all!? - people were taken by surprise, WHY ... because she wasn't "favored" - not saying she wasn't supported, but she did not get the "build up/hold up" that Michelle did ... Sadly, little has changed - ie. Ashely Wagner, etc... We have got to do an about-face and restructure how we do it over here or we will never gain the top of the podium again!

[@jjh2456]

snowballwannabe it also would have helped Sasha if she didn’t fall all the time.

[@elizabethhurley1129]

@@jjh2456 Sasha just standing on the ice was light-years ahead of MK. Even falling, she was better.

[@TT-ee4qp]

@@elizabethhurley1129 I don't agree what you said. Michelle finished no lower than 3rd place between 1995~2004, Michelle's so stable, means Michelle's artistry and technique were hard to close for the other skaters. Sasha never became a ledge like Michelle.

[@TT-ee4qp]

@@Ronizetti Michelle's parents came from China, when Tara won at 1998 Olympics, some people said : American beat Michelle. Gift ? You're so deserved to win the Joke Olympics gold. Michelle got 5 World medals and 9 US titles, she got into the World Figure skating Hall of Fame. She totally deserved.

[@snowballwannabe]

Sadly, the only remarkable and memorable aspect of this program.