Staying on ice

HER PLACE among the greats of her sport secure, Michelle Kwan doesn't need to prove anything else. Which means she'll probably blow away all the figure skating records.

"It's like this never- ending feeling," Kwan, right, said Saturday night after winning her fifth World Figure Skating Championships title in Washington, tying the American record held by Dick Button and Carol Heiss. "I think that's why people ask, 'Why is Michelle competing? Why does she keep on going?'

"Because I haven't had that feeling (of) well, that is enough, I've had enough competition, I can hang my skates up."

As the 22-year-old Kwan continues to collect titles, it seems more certain she will be around for the 2006 Olympics. After all, the one piece of gold missing is in sports' biggest arena, although she has a silver and bronze at the Olympics.

With a smile that could light up the world and a grace unequaled in her graceful sport, Kwan soared into the record books with the kind of magnificent artistry that would match anyone who has ever laced on skates.

"This year has been enjoyable because I have been so relaxed," said Kwan, who beat Russian Elena Sokolova and Japan's Fumie Suguri. "Maybe that tells me something: that I should put less pressure on myself."

And for those who criticise her for not trying the most difficult jumps, she answered with a technical masterpiece of spins, spirals and footwork that had the crowd in ecstasy.

She appeared to be just as ecstatic, particularly toward the end of yet another brilliant free skate. With more than a minute remaining in the programme, she was smiling widely. During a mesmerising series of steps from one end of the rink to another, she looked as if she was somewhere else -- in that special place where only champions travel.

Kwan, a seven-time US champion, already has more world medals than any American, with eight. She has been either first or second at every world championship since 1996, winning in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and this year. No other woman has recaptured the title three times.

Kwan did six triples, two in combination, with the smoothest salchow and lutz you'll ever see. While she didn't attempt a triple-triple combination -- Sokolova and several others did them -- it hardly mattered when everything else was of such high quality