Michelle Kwan - Awards and Accolades

Awards and Accolades

Kwan is a recipient of the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award (2001), which is given to America's best amateur athlete; she was the first figure skater to win the award since Dick Button won it in 1949. In 2003 she was named the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) "Sportswoman of the Year", and is the 5th figure skater in history to receive this honor. She has also been named USOC "Athlete of the Month" fourteen times, which is more than any other athlete, male or female, as well as being named "Female Figure Skating Athlete of the Year" by the USOC multiple times. She is also the recipient of the USOC's "Citizenship Through Sports Alliance Award" (2004).

Kwan is one of only two multiple winners of the "Readers' Choice Figure Skater of the Year" award given by Skating magazine (1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001–2003). In 2003, the United States Figure Skating Association, which publishes Skating, announced that the award would be renamed the "Michelle Kwan Trophy." The USFSA stated that although Kwan may continue to skate competitively, she will no longer be eligible for this award. She also appeared on International Figure Skating Magazine's "25 Most Influential Names in Figure Skating List" seven times, and was named the most influential skater for the 2002–03 season.

In 1999, Kwan was given the Historymakers Award by the Los Angeles Chinese American Museum. In 2010, she received an honorary doctorate's degree from Southern Vermont College and delivered the commencement speech for that year's graduation.

In January 2009, Kwan was appointed a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports by George W. Bush. On May 3, 2009, Kwan was honored by the Los Angeles Chinese Historical Society of Southern California in "Celebrating Chinese Americans in Sports". In 2011, she was added to the board of the Special Olympics.

Kwan is the sole inductee for the 2012 United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She is also the sole inductee for the 2012 World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.