ESPN Figure Skating

U.S. Figure Skating on Wednesday issued a release stating that Michelle Kwan would miss the 2006-07 season to become a full-time student at the University of Denver. It also said Kwan has been recovering from hip surgery, which she underwent in August, and will be off the ice for four months.

The news release danced around the real news. So let's cut to the chase.

The headline on the release should have said: We've seen the last of Michelle Kwan on the competitive stage.

I'm sure it's difficult for athletes to announce their retirement and stick to it. (See Junior Seau.) And I'm sure it's not easy for someone like Kwan, who has been in the spotlight from the time she was a pubescent, ponytailed girl. She has been to three Olympics (winning medals at two of them, but never gold) and won five world titles and nine national championships.

So what is preventing Kwan, 26, from saying she's done? It's not as if she has anything else to prove. What would another national championship really mean? Aside from an Olympic gold medal, Kwan has won everything there is, competed against all the greats and created a legendary record.

If she says she's retiring from competitive skating, it's not as if she can't continue to tour or perform in exhibitions or become a TV analyst. If your last name is Kwan, the skating world is your oyster.

So let's get real.

Is there any way we can expect Kwan to come back -- after undergoing hip surgery, after not competing last season and this coming season -- and be able to face the likes of 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner, who landed seven triples en route to winning the 2006 world title? Are we supposed to expect Kwan to show up at the 2008 U.S. Championships -- having not competed in the event since 2005 -- and land triple-triple jump combinations or a triple axel? Those are the kinds of things Meissner has been doing and other young skaters will be attempting.

Even in Kwan's prime, she never landed a triple axel and she landed triple-triples only on occasion.

Kwan's longtime manager, Shep Goldberg, said it's "too early to tell" whether Kwan will even have a coach in Denver. She needs to focus on her hip recovery and wants to live life as a full-time college student. She tried to mix school and skating once before, at UCLA, and she quickly discovered that pizza, dorm life and homework don't mix well with a skating career. She moved out of her dorm after a semester and was out of school at the end of the year.

She's 26, and she deserves a shot at being a regular college kid and living as regular a life as someone like Kwan can.

"Each year, since 2002, I have taken a one-year-at-a-time approach to my figure skating plans," Kwan said in the news release. "Education is very important to me and this year I have decided to put college first. Next year at this time I will again evaluate all my options including returning to competitive skating."

She also has been dating Christian Anschutz, whose billionaire father Philip lives and runs his business in Denver.

For now, Kwan plans to perform in some skating exhibitions, although none has been announced yet, "work on special projects" and serve as a corporate spokesperson.

In recent skating history, no female national champion has skipped two years of competition and come back to reclaim the U.S. crown. The only woman who comes close is Barbara Roles Williams, the 1960 silver medalist. She retired after that year and had a baby. But after the United States lost its entire world team in a plane crash in 1961, the federation asked Williams to come back and she won the 1962 crown.

Skating is not kind to older women, even though by most standards Kwan can hardly be considered elderly. Katarina Witt won her second gold medal when she was 23, but her skating skills were not nearly as strong in Calgary in 1988 as they were four years earlier in Sarajevo. Japan's Shizuka Arakawa was 24 when she won the gold in Torino.

Some skaters have toyed with the media in the past, suggesting they might come back, but none ever did. Sarah Hughes won the Olympic gold medal in 2002 and, after leaving competitive skating in 2003, she made statements that she'd try to make a run at the 2006 Olympics. She didn't compete in Torino, but her younger sister, Emily, did.

Another Olympic gold medalist, Tara Lipinski, underwent hip surgery and hasn't been back on the skating stage. Her latest appearances have been cameos on the TV sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle."

After winning the gold medal in the 1992 Olympics, Kristi Yamaguchi was asked numerous times whether she'd try to win again in 1994. Even though it would be only two more years of training rather than four, Yamaguchi politely declined. She just didn't want to go through the rigors and pressures of competing anymore. And she was in top condition.

Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion, made a run for a second gold medal in 1994, after years of being a show skater. A nearly flawless competitor in his heyday, Boitano couldn't keep up and wound up second at nationals and sixth in the Olympics.

In the case of Kwan, who has been competing since before Tonya Harding's thugs whacked Nancy Kerrigan, not only would she have to rebound from a bad hip and back but she'd also have to compete under the new judging system. Gone are the days of the 6.0, when judges could pad artistic marks and be blind to footwork and spins. These days, skaters have to follow an intricate system. They and their coaches have been studying it closely.

The skating community was willing to give Kwan a shot at competing in the Olympics back in February even though she hadn't proved herself in the new judging system or competed at the U.S. Championships since 2005. In a private session, Kwan showed she could jump enough to earn a ticket to Torino.

Once she got there, however, she was in too much pain from a pulled groin muscle to stick around. On tour with Champions on Ice this summer, she did not jump at all. And when we say did not jump, that's not in reference to triples. That includes doubles and singles. Nada. Her manager said doctors recommended against jumping because of the length of the tour; they didn't want her to reaggravate her injuries.

Still, she garnered the most crowd support. All she has to do is set foot on the ice, and the fans go crazy. Sure, she can continue to have lucrative contracts through her continued association with U.S. Figure Skating. But why slave in a cold rink trying to land triple-triples when all Kwan has to do is spin a gorgeous spiral, smile for corporate sponsors and earn standing ovations?

Rather than prolong the inevitable, let's try to celebrate Kwan for a brilliant career. Honor her at the 2007 national championships by naming the women's national championship trophy after Kwan. Have her inspire young skaters at nationals as a motivational speaker. Give her the send-off party she has more than deserved.

But we can only do this if she gives us the go-ahead.

Amy Rosewater is a freelance writer based in Baltimore.