Kwan won five
World Championships (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003), tying her with
Carol Heiss (1956–1960) for the most world titles by an American. Kwan's nine world medals overall is the all-time record for an American skater in any discipline. The only ladies' singles skater with more world titles or medals is
Sonja Henie of Norway. Kwan won nine
U.S. Championships (1996, 1998–2005), tying the record for most wins set by
Maribel Vinson-Owen (1928–1933, 1935–1937). She holds the record for the most consecutive U.S. titles (eight) and most consecutive U.S. Championship medals (twelve). She also earned the silver medal at the
1998 Nagano Olympics and the bronze medal in the
2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Kwan has received a combined total of 57 perfect marks (6.0s) at major competitions, the singles record under the former
6.0 judging system. Carroll defended their decision to make Kwan appear more mature by stating that they were giving the judges what they wanted, saying, "The judges were looking for the ladies' champion of the world, not the girls' champion of the world". In both her practices and during her performance at
Skate America, Kwan wore her hair in a bun instead of a ponytail and wore heavy theatrical makeup, including rhinestones pasted near the corner of her eyes. Her costume consisted of "a short-sleeved rich purple dress with rhinestone-studded flesh-colored fabric across the midriff and deep front and black necklines, ornamated with elaborate sequined floral patterns in gold and bright pastels". According to writer Ellyn Kestnbaum, Kwan was inspired more to the music than to the narrative, which as Kestnbaum criticized, revealed Kwan as "a sexual being". Kestnbaum stated, however, that she found it difficult to construct a linear narrative about the seductive Salome, but that Kwan's moves "might better represent a young woman venturing confidently into the world, encountering loss and confusion, but ultimately finding peace and triumph". Kestnbaum also stated that Kwan's movements in the program evoked "images of a sensual, luxurious, exotic Middle East". Kwan's free skate consisted of seven successfully executed triple jumps, including two triple Lutz jumps, one of which was done in combination and was debuted at Skate America and the other preceded by intricate steps. Other elements, such as the complexity of her steps that connected these elements and her spin positions' originality and variety, also contributed to the program's difficulty and artistry. Kestnbaum insists that Kwan's increased speed, the strong debut of her triple-triple jump, and her improved poise, precision, and posture "say more than her hairstyle or makeup about her new maturity as a skater". Kestnbaum states that Kwan's fellow competitors were better in how they executed flow across the ice, speed, and height of their jumps and that although Kwan exhibited more caution and control than her competitors, she skated with "new power and excitement compared to her younger self". Kestnbaum credits the success of the
Salome program to Kwan's intricate choreography, which featured emotional depth during the program's heavier moments and frequent reversals of direction that often unexpectedly led to spins or jumps. Kwan ended up winning Skate America in 1995. Kwan won both the U.S. Championships and the World Championships in 1996. In the later event, she edged out defending champion
Chen Lu in a very close competition in which both competitors garnered two perfect 6.0s for
Presentation in the free skate. She was the third youngest figure skater to hold both titles. The 1996–97 season marked the beginning of a winning streak for Kwan that lasted more than a year, from the fall of 1995 to the fall of 1996. As Kestnbaum put it, Kwan became "the most consistent and well-rounded skater in the [women's] field, taking on an almost legendary mystique as she continued to mature as a feminine artistic skater emphasizing beauty, musicality, and dramatic storylines concerned with love and death". In the 1996–97 season, Kwan skated to "Dream of Desdemona" (short program) and "Taj Mahal" (free skate). During this season, Kwan struggled with her
jumps because of a growth spurt, which affected her balance on her jump, and problems with new skating boots which she wore for an endorsement contract with the manufacturer. She won the short program at the
1997 U.S. Nationals, but fell early in her free skate and as she later stated, "panicked" and made several more errors. She lost to
Tara Lipinski, who came in first place in her free skate. Three weeks later, at the
Champion Series Final, she again lost to Lipinski, who completed more successful jumps than Kwan in both the short program and free skate. Overall, Lipinski came in first place, Kwan came in second place, and Slutskaya came in fourth place behind
Vanessa Gusmeroli of France. Going into the 1997—98 Olympic season, the American press "play[ed] up the Kwan-Lipinski rivalry for all it was worth". According to Kestnbaum, Kwan's programs emphasized sophistication and pure skating, which Kestnbaum called "a change of pace" Many people consider her performances at the 1998 U.S. Championships to be the high point of her career from both a technical and artistic standpoint. Both performances earned her fifteen perfect 6.0s and left two judges in tears. Kwan and Lipinski were co-favorites to win the
1998 Olympic Games in
Nagano, Japan. Kwan placed first in the short program, winning eight first place votes out of nine judges, while Lipinski came in second place. In the free skate, Kwan, who skated first in the final group, executed a clean seven-triple performance but placed behind Lipinski, who also did seven triples including a triple loop/triple loop combination and a triple toe-loop/half-loop/triple Salchow. Kwan's performance was "graceful and well-measured, filled with complex edging and unusual moves such as a sequence of spins in both directions". Kestnbaum called Kwan's free skate "tentative and slow" as compared to her performance at Nationals. Her jumps were more difficult and bigger than Lipinski's, but Kwan's were not as high and did not cover as much ice as her competitors' jumps. Kwan ended up winning the silver medal, with the gold medal going to Lipinski and the bronze medal to
Chen Lu. Lipinski and Chen both retired from competitive skating shortly after the Olympics, while Kwan went on to win the 1998 World Championships in Minneapolis.
From 1998 to 2002 Olympics long program at the
2001–02 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Ontario, Canada Kwan continued to compete as an eligible skater in the 1998–99 season, although she bypassed the fall Grand Prix season and instead chose to skate in a series of made-for-television pro-am events. Her "regular" competitive programs that season were "Fate of Carmen" (short program) and "Lamento D'Ariane" (free skate). Kwan won her third national title at the 1999 U.S. Championships, competing against a weak field. At the 1999 World Championships, Kwan did not skate her best, and placed second behind Russian competitor
Maria Butyrskaya. Kwan's win at the 2000 U.S. Nationals was controversial to some. She was criticized for planning an easier solo jump in her short program than some of her competitors (a triple
toe loop rather than a triple
flip), and fell on this element in the competition. The judges nevertheless placed her third in that segment behind younger challengers
Sasha Cohen and
Sarah Hughes; however, the placement still kept her in contention for the title. Ultimately, she won the free skate with the best performance of the night, capturing 8 of the 9 first-place ordinals. At the 2000 World Championships, Kwan was again in third place after the short program, behind
Maria Butyrskaya and
Irina Slutskaya. In her free skate, Kwan landed seven triple jumps, including a triple toe loop/triple toe loop combination, and won that segment of the competition. Butyrskaya lost her commanding lead by finishing third behind Slutskaya in the free skate, allowing Kwan to win the overall title as well. During the 2000–2001 season, Kwan began working with the famed designer (and former figure skater)
Vera Wang, who designed most of her competition and exhibition costumes for the next six years. Kwan was only the second figure skater Wang designed for, following
Nancy Kerrigan. At that year's national championships, Kwan again won the title, receiving first-place ordinals from all 9 judges in both the short program and free skate. At the 2001 World Championships, Kwan was second behind Slutskaya in the short program. Kwan won the title with her "Song of the Black Swan" free skate, executing 7 triples, including a triple toe loop/triple toe loop combination. Kwan and Carroll decided to end their coaching relationship two days before the start of the
2001 Skate America competition. Coachless, Kwan arrived at the 2002 U.S. Championships in Los Angeles amid the media's scrutiny over her separation with Carroll and her season's inconsistencies. Kwan won the competition with a revived "Rachmaninoff" short program and a new "
Scheherazade" program for her free skate, securing a place on the
2002 Olympic team. Joining her on the team were
Sasha Cohen (second) and
Sarah Hughes (third). The 21-year-old Kwan and Russia's
Irina Slutskaya were favorites to win the gold. Kwan led after the short program, followed by Slutskaya, Cohen, and Hughes. In the free skate, Kwan two-footed her triple
toe loop combination and fell on her
triple flip, while
Sarah Hughes skated a clean program and won the free skate. Kwan finished 3rd in the free skate, behind Hughes and Slutskaya, and as a result Kwan won the bronze medal behind Hughes and Slutskaya. Kwan's final event of the season was the
2002 Worlds, where she won the silver medal behind Slutskaya.
2002–2006 " in the
2004 World Figure Skating Championships in
Dortmund, Germany Kwan began working with coach
Scott Williams in the summer of 2002. Kwan skated a clean performance with five triples and received the last 6.0 marks given at the World Championships. She placed second in the free skating portion (she was one judge short from winning the free skating) and placed third overall, behind Arakawa (who performed seven triples, including two triple-triple combinations) and Cohen. For the 2004–2005 competitive season, Kwan skated her long program to "
Boléro", choreographed by British ice dancer
Christopher Dean who had famously skated to the music with
Jayne Torvill two decades before, and debuted a new short program, "Adagio" from
Aram Khachaturian's ballet
Spartacus. At the U.S. Championships, she won her 9th title, tying the all-time record previously set by
Maribel Vinson-Owen. Vinson-Owen had coached
Frank Carroll, who in turn coached Kwan. At the 2005 World Championship, Kwan competed for the first time under the new judging system. She had a rough qualifying round and placed third in the short program. In the free skate, Kwan fell on her triple
salchow and two-footed a triple
lutz. Although she finished third in both the short and long program portion of the competition, Kwan was edged by
Carolina Kostner for the bronze medal and finished fourth overall, missing third place by 0.37 points. It was the first time since 1995 that Kwan had failed to medal at any international competition, and would be her final competitive event.
2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, February 12, 2006 Kwan looked at the 2005 Worlds as a learning experience in the
ISU Judging System. She continued to train and stated that she would attempt to qualify for the
2006 Olympic Games in
Turin, Italy. However, following a hip injury, she was forced to withdraw from her three planned competitions in the fall of 2005. Kwan skated her new short program ("Totentanz") at a made-for-TV event in December 2005, but her performance was well below her usual standard. On January 4, 2006, Kwan withdrew from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships with an abdominal injury incurred in December 2005. One week later, she filed a petition with the USFSA for a medical waiver to be placed on the 2006 Olympic figure skating team. The Turin organizing committee accepted the USOC's application for
Emily Hughes (who had finished third at the U.S. Championships) to compete as Kwan's replacement. After her withdrawal from the Olympic team, Kwan turned down an offer to stay in Turin as a figure skating commentator for
NBC Sports. During an interview with
Bob Costas and
Scott Hamilton, Kwan said she was not retiring yet. Kwan underwent elective
arthroscopic surgery in August 2006 to repair a torn
labrum in her right hip, an old injury which she traces back to 2002. Kwan told the Associated Press in October 2007 that she would decide in 2009 if she planned to compete in the
2010 Winter Olympics, In August 2009, Kwan made her first on-ice appearance in several years, performing at
Ice All Stars, a show headlined by South Korean world champion
Yuna Kim in
Seoul, South Korea. Kim considered Kwan her idol growing up. Kwan also later appeared in Kim's
All That Skate shows in South Korea and Los Angeles. She was chosen as the guest of honor to help open a new
synthetic ice rink at the
Marina Bay Sands resort in
Singapore in December 2010, where she performed a modified routine to "Winter Song", a program she self-choreographed with her sister. In 2014, Kwan joined
Fox Sports 1 for its
Winter Olympics broadcast. ==Skating technique==