A blade glides across the smooth surface of the gleaming ice as newcomer Michelle Kwan prepares for a double axel at the 1994 World Championships. Her image is broadcast across the world and she is instantly catapulted to fame in the United States.

Young girls began to view Kwan as an inspiration for their own dreams of stardom. While Kwan has never won gold in the Olympics, she is the most decorated figure skater in the United States.

Sophomore Jeanna Lee and senior Stephanie Smith have looked up to Kwan throughout their years as competitive figure skaters.

"I feel like I grew up watching Michelle skate," Lee said.

Smith said she admires different aspects of several skaters, including Kwan's "grace and persistence" and Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski's "sparkle and enthusiasm."

Although both Lee and Smith have been competitive skaters for approximately 10 years, the beginnings of their careers differ.

Lee laced up her first pair of skates when she was 2 and a half years old and began taking group lessons at the age of 3. She began to view herself as a figure skater when she entered her first competition around her 11th birthday after taking private lessons for nearly six years.

Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, Lee felt it was normal to skate due to the abundance of ice rinks. She moved to Seattle right before third grade and continued to take lessons.

"I loved it from the moment I first got on a pair of skates and got on the ice," Lee said.

Unlike Lee, Smith did not have the childhood skating experience, although she did enjoy watching figure skating on TV. When she was 12, her parents gave her a set of group lessons for Christmas, which would become her first on-ice experience. She immediately discovered joy in figure skating, and a talent for it as well.

"As a child I just thought skating was cool, and I wanted to be like the pretty girls I saw competing on TV in a way that was both athletic and beautiful," Smith said.

Competitions are generally an intense yet exciting opportunity for figure skaters to display the aesthetic and athletic aspects of the sport.

They are full of preliminary activities and people bustling around the rink in preparation for the main event. Vendors sell skating dresses and stuffed animals. Skaters, parents, photographers, volunteers, and hair and makeup artists mix with spectators to create a festive atmosphere.

Lee and Smith compete in local and regional events. Smith also took part in the Ice Skating Institute (ISI) world competition in Los Angeles in 2005.

Compared to the elite competitions that are broadcast on television, these local events are less intense and have significant differences. The "kiss and cry" area, where skaters wait to receive their scores at the Olympics and other televised events, does not exist at this level; instead, the scores are posted at the end of the event. Trophies or medals are handed out at a podium following the competition.

Although competitiveness usually plays a role to some extent, skaters at the local level are focused on having fun as well.

"I used to cry if I came in second place when I was younger," Lee said. "As I got older and had less time to skate because of school, competitions were more for fun."

Balancing school and skating practices can be a challenge, especially as skaters enter high school and college.

Steve Baker, skating director for Seattle Skating Club, said that a mid- to high-level skater should spend five days a week on the ice for about three hours, in addition to off-ice classes such as ballet and strength training.

"A lot depends on the classes they are attending, but usually it does affect their training program," Baker said.

Lee has not been competitive for two years but is planning to begin training again for the regional competition that will be held in Seattle in 2007. She organized her winter quarter schedule so that she can skate for a couple of hours in the morning, come to class in the afternoon, and spend her evenings doing martial arts and yoga.

Smith said she carefully chooses her competitions during the school year so that her coursework does not suffer. Winter quarter she will be interning in the Tri-Cities area, so her next competition will be most likely be Sprinker's Spring Fever, a three-day ISI event in April.

"Since I started competing, I have only missed that competition once," Smith said.

In addition to singles skating, Smith has participated in Cheer On Ice as a member of the Seattle Ice Angels. Although the program has dissolved now, she had performed at Everett Silvertips hockey games and area high school hockey games for about a year.

Despite the joy of figure skating, there are several downfalls to the sport, as injuries are common and the cost of lessons can quickly add up.

Lee was forced to spend a year off the ice when she began experiencing pain in her right ankle. Her doctors found a hairline fracture and put her in a walking cast for several months. A week after she had permission to step back on the ice, she broke it again on a jump and was put in another cast.

"I realized around that time that skating couldn't be my number one priority," Lee said.

The average cost of a year of figure skating can easily amount to more than a year of tuition at UW. Lee said it costs her approximately $1,000 a month, and there aren't many fundraisers held for the sport to offset the cost.

Yet the sense of accomplishment felt at the conclusion of a flawless program and the feel of a well-deserved medal around the neck negates the price of lessons and hours of strenuous practice.

In that moment, a skater can imagine how it feels to win the gold a la Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes, and she can feel the dream of becoming the next Michelle Kwan come a little bit closer to reality.

Reach reporter Abby Walker at abbywalker@thedaily.washington.edu