Michelle Kwan is a smart woman. Not only did she withdraw from the Olympics early enough to give Emily Hughes enough time to get over to Italy and practice, but she also decided to not make a spectacle of herself on TV, either.

According to this article, NBC offered her a figure skating analyst job soon after she announced that she was removing herself from the U.S. team. Kwan turned them down, however, saying that she didn't want to be a distraction for the rest of the U.S. team.

Turns out they had been courting her since January, when it looked like she wasn't going to make the team because of injury (she petitioned U.S. Figure Skating for a spot on the team and was added after they saw her practice). Now it looks like the next time we're going to see Kwan is the next time Disney on Ice comes to town. Not a great way to end a stellar amateur career.

[Photo: AP]