Michelle Kwan to Cover Winter Olympics for Fox Sports

Figure skating icon Michelle Kwan will return to the Olympics as an analyst for Fox Sports, the network announced.
Kwan will report on the Sochi Winter Olympics in February, joining Olympic skier Picabo Street as a correspondent for Fox Sports. The five-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist will also cover different sports for the new Fox Sports 1 channel, which will launchAug. 17. "When they asked, they were really encouraging to me to try it out," Kwan told The Associated Press. "They said, 'We are going to be innovative and fun and open to different angles,' which really attracted me. Reporting and story-telling is what they want, so for me it will interesting to kind of let the public know about the stories of athletes, or their perspectives on the Olympics."

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Kwan previously reported covered the 2010 Vancouver Olympics for ABC and is already making plans for Sochi. She's hoping to talk to 2010 men's figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek and world champion ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Since NBC has the broadcasting rights to the Olympics, Kwan is hoping to do more athlete-focused pieces. "I won't be covering it like NBC would, but more doing insider stories. I also like the idea they are launching FS1 this month, and I will be able to be a part of it and see it take shape and form," she said. "And also, if I have some sort of ideas how I want to report the Olympics, I will have that freedom to do it.

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"I can talk about personal experiences, how it feels to be on the ice in the six-minute warm-up, or the last few seconds you get to talk to your coach, or that split second before the music starts," Kwan said. "I know as a kid, I was watching Brian Boitano and Brian Orser at the [1988 Calgary] Olympics, and that was what I wanted to hear, too. Get inside the head of an athlete."Kwan, 33, won a silver medal in 1998 and a bronze in 2002. She withdrew from the 2006 Torino Olympics because of injury.The 2014 Sochi Olympics start Feb. 6.Are you excited for Kwan to cover the Olympics?