‘Queer Eye’s’ Michelle Kwan Moment: Everything You Need to Know about the Olympian

Just when you thought you couldn’t cry harder at Queer Eye, they bring out a legendary Olympic medalist to teach the coolest kid ever. Queer Eye Season 4 is not playing around!

As Netflix teased in the lead-up to Season 4, Michelle Kwan does indeed make her Queer Eye debut in the episode “Stoner Skates By,” a truly heartwarming episode that focuses on big slacker dad John Stoner and his precocious 10-year-old daughter Lucy. Lucy, as grooming expert Jonathan Van Ness is very excited to learn, is a little figure skater and she wants her dad to get involved. If you follow JVN’s instagram, you know that he absolutely loves a figure skating moment. It is his jam, and this episode delivers a few moments of its own.

It turns out that John’s stayed away from Lucy’s figure skating because he feels out of place. He doesn’t know enough about it, doesn’t know what to look for, and feels like he’s just getting in his daughter’s way when he shows up. To get him up to speed, Jonathan takes John and Lucy to the rink for an ice skating session–and that’s when the gag of the season happens! As Jonathan says, “try not to cry, try not to lose it.”

Then out comes–as Van Ness says–”the most decorated American figure skater of all time,” Michelle Kwan! It’s a jaw-dropping moment. Can you believe???

The entire ice skating sequence is just a dream come true, seeing the look of pure wonder on Lucy’s face as she looks up to Kwan. Just try to not cry while you watch John watch his daughter skate with an Olympian, and then offer her words of encouragement as he picks up on the sport. I live, I cry, I cry and I live. But none of their reactions or our reactions compare to Jonathan Van Ness.

It’s truly a magical moment. And because you definitely want to know more about Michelle Kwan, or you just want to relive some of the highlights of her legendary career, I have to pose the question…

Who is Michelle Kwan?

Well duh, she’s the most decorated American figure skater of all time! Here’s what that looks like when you break it down:

• 2 Olympic Games medals (1 silver, 1 bronze)
• 9 World Championships medals (5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
• 5 Grand Prix Final medals (1 gold, 4 silver)
• 1 World Junior Championships medal (1 gold)
• 12 U.S. Championships medals (9 gold, 3 silver)

Not only is Kwan the most decorated American figure skater at the World Championships, there’s only one figure skater in the entire history of the global competition that’s won more medals than her (Norway’s Sonja Henie, who won 11 World Championship medals from 1926-1936).

Throughout her skating career, Kwan was praised for her incredible consistency (you have to be consistent to win that many medals!) and the cleanliness of her programs. That makes her a great coach for little Lucy, who picks up a few tricks from Kwan to keep her jumps clean.

Kwan competed at the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano and the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Here she is skating at the 1998 games, where she won the silver.

And here she is skating at the 2002 Olympics, where she took home the bronze.

You can stream all of Queer Eye Season 4, including this heartwarming moment, on Netflix right now.

Stream Queer Eye "Stoner Skates By" on Netflix