Figure-skating fans awaited a historic moment last week, as Michelle Kwan, 24, competed for her ninth victory at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She aimed to tie the record for most U.S. national titles, set by Maribel Vinson Owen in 1937. Kwan said she was ready for the challenge. "I love being nervous and pushing myself to the max," she said before the competition began.
Kwan is also a five-time world champ, but she has never won a gold medal at the Olympic Games. Now she may stick around to go for the gold at the Olympics in Turin, Italy, in 2006.
"I'm the luckiest girl alive," said Kwan."It's going to be hard for me one day to just walk out of the ice rink and say I'm done."