The Legendary Figure Skater Michelle Kwan Visited Yonsei The “figure skating legend” Michelle Kwan visited Yonsei University on January 6. Some 80 students in the New Millennium Hall welcomed her with an enthusiastic applause. Visiting Yonsei as a public diplomacy envoy for the U.S. Government, Kwan answered questions with a smile, as she sat on the podium with five other persons including Park Sung-ho from Yonsei’s Underwood International College (UIC). Kwan started, “I will answer any questions like the ones about figure skating or Yuna Kim.” On the question about the impression of Korea, Kwan answered that it was the second visit after an ice show with Yuna Kim last August. “I’m more pleased this time to learn Korean culture and it is memorable to have spent time with ‘future Yuna Kims’ to teach them figure skating.” She talked about the driving force which allowed her to stay as a top figure skater for a long time, “Passion and love were what drove me either in studying or skating”. She said, “I had higher goals even after I became number one” and “Yuna Kim may also be challenging herself to be a world champion.” Once selected as People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World,” Kwan regarded inner beauty as more important than physical appearance. To a question on what is the standard of beauty asked by Ahn Mi-jin, Kwan said, “A mind of a person is more important than one’s appearance, and what is seen is not everything.” She added, “I did a diet as far as I could have strength to be a figure skater.” Kwan also made some wisecrack about Korean students. “I was told not to put stress for Korean students since they study too earnestly,” she said. When one male student asked her to sign his skates, Kwan delightfully said yes to the request. Known as a ‘figure skating legend’ with Katarina Witt of East Germany and Irina Slutskaya of Russia, Michelle Kwan was a world champion for 10 years from 1995 to 2005, and won a world championship for 5 times, and American championship for 9 times, achieving an unprecedented record of 43 championships. She also won two Olympics medals (Silver medal in 1998 Winter Olympics and Bronze in 2002). Other than her career as a figure skater, she is currently studying international relationship at Tufts University. In 2006, she became the first public diplomacy envoy for the U.S. Government. In January 2009, she was appointed as a committee member of health advice group for President Obama. Arriving in Korea on January 3, she was involved in various activities including a “one-point lesson” for the Korean national figure skating team, and returned to the States on January 9.