Figure Skating: Kwan picks grad school over 2010 Olympic bid

OLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — Five-time world figure skating champion Michelle Kwan will not make another attempt at the Olympic gold medal that eluded her, saying Friday she will skip the 2009-2010 season.

Kwan last competed in 2005 but had pondered making a return to the ice in hopes of qualifying for February's 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Instead, the 29-year-old American who settled for silver at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and bronze in 2002 at Salt Lake City will attend graduate school at Tufts University near Boston working on a master's in international affairs.

"Skating will always be a part of me, but in the bigger picture of my life, I have always wanted to find a career that will allow me to make a positive contribution and difference in the world," Kwan said.

"Furthering my education will bring me closer to that goal and I don?t want to wait any longer to continue the journey."

Kwan, a nine-time US champion who graduated in November from the University of Denver, will skate before an audience for the first time in three years in August when she joins world champion Kim Yu-Na in Ice All-Stars 2009 at Seoul.

Kwan has traveled the world as a diplomatic envoy for the US State Department and will work as a television commentator and corporate spokeswoman.

World titles went to Kwan in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003.