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spt_oly_kwan_profile.sTitle = "Spotlight on: Michelle Kwan";
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spt_oly_kwan_profile[i-1].body = "Will she finally do it? One thing’s for sure: Everyone will be watching. Michelle Kwan has won every major figure skating competition in the world with the exception of the Olympics, finishing second in 1998 to Tara Lipinski and third in 2002 to Sarah Hughes. As both these gold medalists have left their careers behind, the 25-year-old Kwan has continued her domination of the world standings and will potentially make one more run at the gold medal that has eluded her the past two Olympics.";
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Kwan was born on July 20, 1980 in Torrance, Calif. The youngest of three children, Kwan began skating at age five after watching her brother play hockey. She won her first skating competition at the age of seven. In her first three junior competitions in 1992, Kwan finished first, third and ninth, respectively. It wouldn't be long before Kwan would reach the top of the skating world.";
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1993 — Kwan finishes first at the Southwest Pacific Regional.";
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It became apparent that Kwan was on the road to being one of the best figure skaters in the world when she finished second at the 1994 World Championships at the age of 13. Normally, a second-place finish would qualify a skater for the Olympics, but this was the year of the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding saga in which Kerrigan was assaulted before the U.S. championships and was unable to compete. Kerrigan was allocated to the U.S. Olympic team and Kwan was the first alternate.";
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1996 — Kwan wins the first of her five titles at the World Championships.";
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Kwan's quest for her first Olympic gold medal will certainly not be a cake walk.
Kwan withdrew from the 2006 U.S. Championships because of an injury, but was still granted a spot on the U.S. Olympic team by U.S. Skating.
Kwan will face stiff competition from longtime rival Irina Slutskaya in what could be the final dual between the two. And you can bet that U.S. figure skater Sasha Cohen will do her best to pull off what Lipinski and Hughes did in 1998 and 2002.
Kwan has also struggled with injuries of late. This past fall, she injured her hip during a training session, forcing her to pull out of both her scheduled Grand Prix competitions, Skate America and the Cup of China.
Kwan also finished a disappointing fourth at the World Championships, with the new scoring system exploiting the lower difficulty of her routines.
On the other hand, Slutskaya has showed she will be the one to beat, winning the world championships and the Cup of China despite suffering fatigue and pain from her battle with vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels.
Kwan will face her toughest task yet in Turin. Other than facing her longtime rival, she will have to shake off her injuries and make sure she has a routine that the judges will view as more difficult. But who knows, maybe Kwan will thrive in an underdog role.";
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Other notable accomplishments