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Michelle Kwan Wins 3rd World Champion TitleChinese-American Michelle Kwan won her third world champion in a thrilling free skating of the women's event at the World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France, Saturday.Kwan jumped to the first from the third place after the short program, beating European champion Irina Slutskaya and reigning world champion Maria Butyrskaya, both from Russia, to the second and third respectively. The 22-year-old Kwan, gold medalist in 1996 and 1998 who now tries to combine training, competing and university classes, does not look much like the complete package she once was and she has been struggling with triple loop. However, the beautiful girl -- the greatest artist on ice -- told the world that she was back. Skating to the Red Violin by John Corigliano, the jumps, the flying spin and the unusual Charlotte spiral won her a thunderous applause from the packed crowds and four 5.8s for technical merit, and four 5.9s for presentation. Kwan did a new program in free skating, which combines difficulty and art to a perfection. Her coach Frank Carroll said, "The program is very difficult, many had suggested us to give up. As if you don't do it perfect, it will leave impression that something is wrong. Michelle had a really fabulous skating this evening." Defending champion Butyrskaya, who became the first Russian skater to win the women's world title last year, had a disappointing performance mixed with several mistakes in free skating. The overnight leader in short program, skating to Swan Lake, almost fell in a triple toe loop and triple sachow. She got only two 5.7s for technical merit and one 5.9 for presentation.
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