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Updated Wednesday, March 25, 2009 11:16 am TWN, By Amy Shipley, The Washington Post

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Kwan ponders return to the ice after 3-year hiatus

But a decision to stay out of the sport would leave Kwan free to pursue graduate school — she said she has applied to a number of programs and is awaiting acceptance letters — while continuing to further her career with the State Department. It would enable her to continue to dabble in television work; she has agreed to do color commentary for NBC during the world championships after having declined a similar offer when she pulled out of the 2006 Games.

It would also leave her competitive reputation unsmirched, while not preventing her from eventually joining a professional skating tour, a career path followed by many world and Olympic medal winners.

“I could train to get in shape to be in the Olympics, or to do a tour perhaps in the future, or it could be just chilling with my two nieces at the rink,” she said. “That's where I'm at . ... It's nice to have all of these options right now, because I am not sure.”

Yet when someone at the rink recently remarked with awe that she had come so far after so much time off, the praise stuck with Kwan — who admits it has been difficult to evaluate her own progress.

“I'm thinking I should already be doing long programs and triple-triples,” she said, “considering how much I've done off the ice.”

At least her body feels healthy and rested after three years of an exercise routine that consisted largely of five-mile runs around Denver's Washington Park. Since returning to skating, she has emphasized strength and flexibility, spending the majority of her time doing dry land work with a personal trainer. She has not hired an on-ice coach. She skates by herself for about an hour a day.

Some jumps have come back easily, she said. Others are more of a struggle. Her surgically repaired hip feels better than ever, but she is also wary of doing further damage by pushing too hard too fast.

“I know,” she said, “I'm not a spring chicken.”

After pulling out of the 2006 Olympics, Kwan found it easy to give up the sport. She had no choice: Soon after the Games, she underwent arthroscopic surgery on her hip. The forced time off allowed her to dive into school in a way in which she had dreamed of, but had previously failed to achieve during an earlier stint at UCLA.

“I've always had the mind-set of taking one thing at a time,” Kwan said. “When I was in school, I really jumped right in and loved the experience of being a complete student, completely involved.”

She did not cease to be a celebrity, of course. Soon after the Olympics, she found herself at the White House, sharing a luncheon table with President George W. Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Despite tingling with nervousness over the setting and company, Kwan was surprised to find she and Rice had much in common. Rice, a former amateur figure skater, had attended the University of Denver (albeit entering at age 17).

By the end of the dinner, Kwan offered to help the administration in any way she could, and Rice hinted at Kwan's occupying the volunteer post that she now holds. The interaction profoundly affected Kwan, helping to convince her to switch her major from political science, in which she earned a minor, to international relations.

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