Michelle Kwan - The Creator
FIGURE SKATING - OLYMPICS -TEAM USA
ARCHETYPE: THE CREATOR
Day 78/135
Athletic Accomplishments
Michelle Kwan started figure skating at age 5 and by age 12, she had already begun skating at the senior level for U.S. Figure Skating. At 16, her skating career took off, did a triple lutz, and landed quietly and gracefully on the ice.
It was that year, 1996, that Kwan won her first World Championship gold medal. From there, she went on to become a two-time Olympic medalist (silver in 1998 and bronze in 2002) and a five-time World Champion (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003). She is also a nine-time U.S. champion, which included an 8 year consecutive streak from 1998-2005. Both are all-time records. In 2001, she won the James E. Sullivan Award, given to American’s best amateur athlete.
In her skating prime, Kwan became a household name. From 1997 to 2005, she was the top-paid skater in U.S. Figure Skating, namely because fans loved her skating style, which was the perfect mix of athleticism and artistry, as well as consistent and clean.
Kwan won Skating magazine’s "Readers' Choice Figure Skater of the Year" award a blowout record of seven times (1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001–2003). She won it so many times that they actually renamed the award the "Michelle Kwan Trophy."
And to cap it all off, Kwan received 57 perfect scores at major competitions, the singles record of the 6.0 judging system.
Character Archetype: The Creator
With nine World Championship medals, including 5 gold, two Olympic medals, and nine U.S. championship titles, Michelle Kwan is one of the most accomplished and beloved figure skaters of all-time.
But she’s also a world-class BOSS off the ice.
In 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named Kwan as a public diplomacy ambassador. She continued as an envoy under Barack Obama’s administration. This wasn’t just for show, either. Kwan received a masters in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and in 2012, was appointed as a State Department senior adviser for public diplomacy and public affairs.
Kwan is one of very few skaters who can spin in both directions. And it’s this literal and figurative well-roundedness that makes her a success in competition, diplomacy, and wherever there’s thin ice.