Kwan withdraws

Michelle Kwan announced today that she will be withdrawing from the Olympics. She had a rough practice yesterday, during which she had difficulty with her triple flip. One of her attempts on the jump resulted in a fall that exasperated the injury that kept Michelle from competing at Nationals last month. The injury was to the adductor muscle in her right hip, also commonly referred to as a groin strain.

Torino was to be Michelle's third Olympics and her last shot at Olympic gold. But she has always maintained that if her injury would prevent her from skating at an Olympic level, she would step aside. During a press conference today, Michelle remarked: "The Olympics is the greatest sporting event in the world and what's most important is that the United States fields the strongest team possible. As much as I'd love to represent the United States in Torino, I would never stand in the way of that.”

Taking Michelle's spot in Torino will be the bronze medalist at last month's Nationals, Emily Hughes. She's the younger sister of reigning Olympic champion Sarah Hughes. She is expected to leave for Torino as soon as the weather clears (read: blizzard subsides) in the eastern U.S.