When Michelle Kwan was five years old, she saw her first ice skating rink. Since then, she has dedicated her life to figure skating, becoming a dazzling artist of the ice and winning many championships. Michelle showed such talent as a child that her parents, Estella and Danny Kwan, willingly made the necessary sacrifices to help her pursue her dream of becoming a championship skater. Working hard to give Michelle the lessons and training she needed paid off. She was a junior champion at age 11, the youngest competitor ever at the U.S. Nationals at 12, and when she was 13, she entered the 1994 Olympics as an alternate skater. Her breakthrough came in the 1995-96 season when she won both the National and World championships. Setting her sights on the 1998 Olympics, she skated off with the silver medal. For Micheele, silver was not quite good enough, however. Although she pursues a college education and is involved in ventures other than skating, she has not given up her dream of one day winning Olympic gold.
