Michelle Kwan's decade-long hunt for Olympic gold has come to a tearful end after the American pulled out of the Winter Olympics with a groin strain.
One of the most successful skaters of all time, she owns a record-equalling nine US national titles and five world crowns.
Yet, for the woman who was barely more than a child when she captured the world title at 15, chasing the Olympic dream proved to be her downfall.
In 1994, Kwan qualified for the Olympics after finishing second at the US nationals but was bumped off the American team thanks to the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding saga. Kerrigan was given a medical waiver at the expense of Kwan to travel to Lillehammer.
Kwan, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, arrived at the 1998 Nagano Games as the overwhelming favourite for gold. But she was upstaged by fellow American Tara Lipinski, who at 15 became the youngest women's Olympic champion.
Four years later at Salt Lake City, Kwan again found herself on familiar territory gunning for gold, and felt a sense of deja vu when she was surpassed by 16-year-old American schoolgirl Sarah Hughes.
Despite her failure on figure skating's biggest stage, the eloquent Kwan has become one of the most recognised US athletes.
"Michelle Kwan means more to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) than maybe any athlete that has ever performed for the United States Olympic Committee," USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth said.