Michelle Kwan

Michelle Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired American figure skater and diplomat. She has won five world championships and nine U.S. championships. She has been the United States Ambassador to Belize since 2022.

Michelle Kwan
Kwan in 2022
United States Ambassador to Belize
Incumbent
Assumed office December 5, 2022
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Leyla Moses-Ones (Chargé d'Affaires ad interim)
Personal details
Born	(1980-07-07) July 7, 1980 Torrance, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 2 in (157 cm)
Spouse(s)	Clay Pell ​ ​ (m. 2013; div. 2017)​
Children	1
Residence	California, U.S.
Michelle Kwan Personal information Country represented United States Former coach Rafael Arutyunyan Frank Carroll Scott Williams Former choreographer Tatiana Tarasova Lori Nichol Nikolai Morozov Sarah Kawahara Peter Oppegard Karen Kwan Christopher Dean Skating club Los Angeles FSC Retired 2006 ISU personal best scores Combined total 175.20 2005 Worlds Short program 61.22 2005 Worlds Free skate 113.98 2005 Worlds Medal record Ladies' singles figure skating Representing the United States Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 1 1 World Championships 5 3 1 Grand Prix Final 1 4 0 World Junior Championships 1 0 0 Total 7 8 2 Olympic Games 1998 Nagano Ladies' singles 2002 Salt Lake City Ladies' singles World Championships 1996 Edmonton Ladies' singles 1998 Minneapolis Ladies' singles 2000 Nice Ladies' singles 2001 Vancouver Ladies' singles 2003 Washington, D.C. Ladies' singles 1997 Lausanne Ladies' singles 1999 Helsinki Ladies' singles 2002 Nagano Ladies' singles 2004 Dortmund Ladies' singles Grand Prix Final 1995–1996 Paris Ladies' singles 1996–1997 Hamilton Ladies' singles 1999–2000 Lyon Ladies' singles 2000–2001 Tokyo Ladies' singles 2001–2002 Kitchener Ladies' singles Goodwill Games 1998 New York City Ladies' singles 1994 Saint Petersburg Ladies' singles 2001 Brisbane Ladies' singles World Junior Championships 1994 Colorado Springs Ladies' singles

Michelle Kwan
Traditional Chinese	關穎珊
Simplified Chinese	关颖珊
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guān Yǐngshān Wade–Giles Kuan1 Ying3 Shan1 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Gwaan1 Wing6 Saan1

Birth and childhood

Michelle Kwan was born on July 7, 1980, in Torrance, California. Kwan showed interest in figure stating when she followed Ron and Karen, her brother and sister, onto the ice, saying that all she could remember was "every day, tying up my skates and a big smile on my face, excited to go on the ice". She attended public school until eighth grade, when she began being homeschooled in 1994.

Junior world champion

Kwan won the world junior championship in 1994. The same year, at the age of 13, she came in the top 10 in the world senior championship. She became world champion in 1996, when she was 15.

Diplomatic career

On December 15, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that he planned to nominate Kwan to be United States Ambassador to Belize.

Olympics

• World Championships: first place in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003
• Olympics: 1998 - silver; 2002 - bronze
• U.S. Championships: first place in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

Other websites

• Media related to Michelle Kwan at Wikimedia Commons
• Quotations related to Michelle Kwan at Wikiquote
• United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) Athlete Biography Archived 2005-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
• International Skating Union (ISU) Skater Biography Archived 2005-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
• US Olympic Committee Biography
• Michelle Kwan Fan Site (1) Archived 2019-12-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Michelle Kwan Fan Site (2)