Jim McKay's tribute piece on Michelle

She has been a constant

In a constellation of circling stars

Nearly giddy with light in the beginning

Now still radiant

But more reserved

At all times elegant

With a fire that ignited passions

Warmed hearts, burned images into our memories

The smile, the glow

The flair for the dramatic and the gentle

The flamboyant and the subtle

The spectacular and the soft

And always competing, for prominence in skating's crowded sky

Fourteen turns around the surface of the U.S. Nationals

Nine times the champion

In a galaxy filled with phenoms

With comets, shooting stars

The dominant fixture by which all others are measured

Can sometimes be passed by

But for so long, she's been there

The star for young skaters to wish upon

 The brilliant point of reference for her peers to follow

Michelle Kwan

The approachable distant star

The supernova down to earth

And the ice skating world has been a brighter place

With her shining above it