8 Asians

As anyone who has followed me on this blog, you probably could tell that I have had a crush on figure skater Michelle Kwan for the longest time. I had the real great honor of seeing Kwan compete in the 2002 Salt Lake City winter Olympics in the women’s figure skating finals, short program. Well, my long time crush is now no longer available (though my friends state that until she’s actually married, she’s still technically available). In an exclusive with People Magazine, Kwan has announced her engagement:

On Sept. 3, though, she got the ultimate in bling – a diamond ring. Kwan, 32, tells PEOPLE that she is engaged to Clay Pell, 30, director for strategic planning on the National Security staff at the White House. The two first met in April 2011. … “It was a simple decision and it made sense, that’s what’s so exciting to me,” Kwan says of the proposal. “We are working together as a team, like in [pair skating].” Adds Pell: “It was amazing from the very beginning how in sync our way of thinking is, our basic values and our sense of priorities. We just both got each other.”

I must have missed the news, but apparently Kwan, appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to serve on the Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports in June ad, continues to work in the State Department as a U.S. public diplomacy envoy. Pell is a JAG and Lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard. I wish the both of them the best of luck!

On a political note, the People article mentioned that Pell is the grandson of former and late Democratic Senator Claiborne Pell.