MICHELLE KWAN made a numbed and tearful departure after pulling out of the Games yesterday with a groin injury.
A five-times world and nine-times United States champion, Kwan’s hopes of capturing the elusive Olympic gold in Turin ended when she picked up a groin strain while attempting a triple jump on Saturday during a practice session at the Palaghiaccio rink.
“It’s physical pain that’s keeping me from performing and skating but it’s also emotional pain,” Kwan, who won silver in Nagano in 1998 and a bronze four years later in Salt Lake City, said. Kwan was assessed by the US team doctor, Jim Moeller, on Sunday and his evaluation left her with little option.
“I knew I was in pain — after physio and treatment, it just got worse and worse. In my heart I knew I couldn’t do my best,” Kwan, 25, said.
Moeller said: “This injury limits her function, making it impossible for her to jump, land and skate effectively.”
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Kwan’s withdrawal will allow Emily Hughes, 17, sister of 2002 Olympic champion, Sarah Hughes, to participate in the competition, which begins on February 21.
Hughes finished third at last month’s US National Championships but was left out of the Olympic team when Kwan received a medical waiver to participate despite missing the nationals with a previous groin injury. “Michelle Kwan means more to the United States Olympic Committee than maybe any athlete that has ever performed for the United States Olympic Committee,” USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth said. “She is a leader, she is gracious . . . and she is a real loss to all of the United States of America and to the world and she has made a courageous decision.”
Kwan had barely skated over the past season as she struggled with injuries.