SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, February 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Under the great 
pressure of being the hosts' top gold medal hope in figure skating,
American four-time world champion Michelle Kwan would like to 
enjoy herself at the 19th Winter Olympic Games opening here on 
Friday.
   "There is a lot of pressure, of course, having the Olympics in 
the home country," said Kwan at the press conference Friday 
morning.
   Kwan, runner-up to Tara Lipinski in Nagano four years ago, 
seemed not to mind the surprising dismissal of long-time coach 
Frank Carroll, which left her coachless in Salt Lake City, but 
confident of turning silver into gold with consistent support from
her father Danny Kwan.
   "It's never heard of, being coachless at an Olympics. I have my
dad, who is not the coach but he says that he's the cheerleader, 
there to support me.
   "The main thing is to believe in yourself and take control on 
the ice, and I feel that I've been doing that."
   With four world titles in pocket and the Olympic championship 
in sight, the 21-year-old veteran has not decided on her future.
   "I can't guarantee you anything. I'm still only 21 years old," 
said Khan when asked whether she would follow the steps of 
Lipinski to retire right after winning the Olympic medal. "I might
be a veteran, or have gone to two Olympics, but I feel that 
skating is such a wonderful sport and I'm having a lot of fun 
doing it."
   "Competition is stressful; there's a lot of pressure. Who knows
-- maybe I'll be in Italy four years from now."
   Russian Irina Slutskaya, fifth placer at Nagano, will be Kwan's
top rival at Salt Lake City with Kwan's teammate Sarah Hughes and 
Russian Maria Butyrskaya also having a chance to touch the gold.  
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