MICHELLE KWAN The American figure skater Michelle Kwan was known for her artistry on the ice, but she was also a superb technician. She was a five-time world champion (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003) and two-time Olympic medallist (winning silver in 1998 and bronze in 2002). In all, Kwan won 43 championships. After her skating career ended, she became a U.S. diplomat. She was born Kwan Shan Wing in Torrance, California, on July 7, 1980. Her parents had moved to the United States from Hong Kong, and Kwan and her siblings were the first native-born Americans in the family. When Kwan was five years old, her parents took her and her sister, Karen, to watch their brother play hockey. The game inspired the sisters to learn to skate, and within a year both girls were enrolled in figure skating classes. At the age of six, Michelle entered her first competition, which she won. Convinced of their daughters’ potential as champion skaters, in 1990 the Kwans hired a professional coach, Frank Carroll, to work with Michelle and Karen. After a year the sisters moved to Ice Castle International, a world-class training centre in Lake Arrowhead, California. There they began intensive training in the company of some of the top skaters in the world. While Carroll was out of town, 12-year-old Michelle went against his wishes and took the test to become a senior-level skater. After passing, she finished sixth at the 1993 U.S. national championship, where she was the youngest skater to compete in the senior class in 20 years. Later that year at the U.S. Olympic Festival, she landed six triple jumps. In 1994 she won the silver medal at the U.S. nationals and was selected as the alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team. Kwan captured both her first national title and her first world title in 1996 at the age of 15. Kwan was favoured to win gold at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and was in the lead after the short program. With her usual optimism, Kwan told reporters afterward that she had won the silver, not lost the gold. Kwan decided to remain an amateur athlete while also attending college at the University of California, Los Angeles. Having split from Carroll in October 2001, Kwan was without a coach as she captured her sixth national title in January 2002 and headed to Salt Lake City in February. Shortly after the Games Kwan earned a silver medal at the world championships, becoming the first U.S. skater to medal seven times at that competition. Kwan won the nationals again in 2003, 2004, and 2005, for a career total of nine U.S. titles. Later in 2005, however, Kwan finished fourth at the world championships. Kwan qualified for the 2006 U.S. Olympic team but was forced to withdraw after she suffered an injury during her first practice at the Games. In 2006 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Kwan as an envoy for public diplomacy. In that role Kwan gave speeches to young people around the world on behalf of the U.S. State Department, talking about athletics as well as social and educational issues. Meanwhile, Kwan earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Denver and then attended graduate school at Tufts University. She earned a master’s degree in international relations from Tufts in 2011. Kwan then became a senior adviser at the U.S. State Department. She worked on the U.S. presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton for the 2016 election and Joe Biden for 2020. Biden was elected president, and in December 2021 he nominated Kwan as ambassador to the Central American country of Belize. Kwan published an autobiography, Michelle Kwan, Heart of a Champion, in 1997. RCTCET 48
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CHRISTIANO RONALDO There is essentially no debate – Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player to ever have laced up the skates. The National Hockey League tracks goals, assists, and points (goals and assists combined). Gretzky is the leading career goal scorer, assist producer, and point scorer in NHL history. He is also the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season and he did it four separate times. Known simply as “The Great One,” Gretzky led the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cup victories. When he retired in 1999, for the first time in its history the NHL retired his number “99” across the entire league. “Gretzky, as an individual, stood above his contemporaries to an even greater extent than did Michael Jordan.” As he progressed to each new level of hockey, the naysayers predicted he would fail. However, Gretzky was so well-schooled in the game of hockey that he brought a level of artistry never seen before. “The average guy in the league thinks one play ahead, the superstars think two plays ahead and Gretzky thinks three plays ahead,” recounted player Steve Shutt. Perhaps the best way to sum it up is to say that Gretzky was playing chess out there while everyone else was playing checkers. Wayne was a classic sports child prodigy. Each winter his dad created a hockey rink in his backyard. By the age of 5, he played hockey every chance he got. Go where the puck is going, not where it’s been.” At the age of 6, he played on a team for 10- year-olds and dominated. And by the time Wayne was 13, he had scored 1,000 goals. He was selected by the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association. When the WHA folded, the Oilers joined the NHL — and, as they say, “The rest is history.” If his exposure to the game of hockey was rooted in family, his passion for the game was rooted in his country. Hockey was invented in Canada, and its long and cold winters made it the “National Game.” So, if baseball is as American as apple pie, then hockey surely has been as Canadian as the ice on which it first was played. Gretzky loved playing for the Edmonton Oilers and Edmonton loved him back. While Gretzky was the star, it is important to note that he averaged twice as many assists as he did goals. The world was shocked when Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. On the positive side, he changed the game of hockey in America exponentially. Suddenly it became cool to like hockey and to go to hockey games. From the time Gretzky started playing in LA until the time he retired, the league exploded from 21 teams to 30 teams. Throughout his career, Gretzky has given away approximately 700 hockey sticks a year —which he paid for himself. Every time Wayne walked by the table, he signed 10 or so. He founded the Gretzky Foundation to help young people in need. That part of being Wayne Gretzky is most rewarding as far as I’m concerned.” Wayne always had, and still has, the personal qualities that endear him to people. Earning multiple individual awards could have easily led him to forget that hockey was indeed a team sport. Time after time, Gretzky demonstrated his exceptional character to the world. Wayne never lost the humility of a small-town upbringing nor did he forget the people of Canada. Glen Sather, his coach in Edmonton, said “I have millions of memories of Wayne, and they aren’t so much what he did on the ice as what he did off the ice.” The fans will undoubtedly remember his goals, his highlights and his wins, but those close to him will always cherish his character and the type of person that he has been. RCTCET 50
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Credits Magazine Head: Rtr. Ishita Pawar Magazine Mentors: Rtr. Mitali Mandge Rtr. Nikita Shukla Design Head: Rtr. Dhruvi Jagani Editors: Rtr. Chetan Mohnot Rtr. Sumit Sharma Rtr. Sudha Shukla TEAM EDITORIAL: TEAM CREATIVES: Rtr. Aditi Nikam Rtr.Divya Mistry Rtr. Ananta Pandey Rtr.Suraj Mishra Rtr. Dipasha Chaturvedi Rtr.Ram Gupta Rtr. Malcolm Cardoza Rtr.Ananta Pandey Rtr. Reha Jambavadekar Rtr.Ishal Raut Rtr. Ruchi Yadav Rtr.Khushii Nikhade Rtr. Sejal Nalawade Rtr.Nikhil Suthar Rtr. Rhea Rajput Rtr.Chaitra Suvarna Rtr. Reena Verma Rtr.Moksha Kothari Rtr. Maupa Samanta Rtr.Keenjal Gupta Rtr. Prachi Vaishya Rtr.Simran Pardesi Rtr. Saad Khan Rtr.Jay Gupte Rtr. Kaushal Agarwal Rtr.Janhvi Jaiswal Rtr. Piyush Pandey Rtr.Palak DK Rtr. Abhishek Chaurasia Rtr.Suraj Mahato Rtr. Harshita Khandelwal Rtr.Aayush Tripathi Rtr.Sakshi Bangad RCTCET 54
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