Damian Dovarganes / AP

Figure-skater Michelle Kwan was happy Friday after being confirmed as a member of the U.S. Olympic team in Los Angeles.

updated 6:58 p.m. ET Jan. 28, 2006

LOS ANGELES - Michelle Kwan is going to Turin, and she’s going for gold.

Kwan sealed her spot on the Olympic team Friday, showing a five-person monitoring committee with jumps, spins and those majestic spirals what she said two weeks ago: She’ll be healthy enough to compete in Turin.

And compete with the best.

“I’m thinking gold is good,” Kwan said at a news conference after the monitoring committee announced its decision. “I’m staying positive, feeling good. I’m injury free. So right now, it’s just going for it.”

The five-time world and nine-time U.S. champion was given a medical bye onto the Turin Olympic team two weeks ago — with the condition she prove by Friday that she had recovered from the groin injury that had kept her out of the national championships.

That she certainly did. She performed both her long and short programs in less than 12 minutes, a quick practice session, and did every one of her jumps except the triple loop.

“It is truly the opinion of this monitoring team that Michelle could win the Olympics,” said Bob Horen, chairman of U.S. Figure Skating international committee. “We really believe that, and she skated that way. We really do believe she’s skating very well.”

When the session was over, Kwan curtsied to the committee and then went home to await the decision. The committee — Horen, technical controller Charlie Cyr; world judge Paula Naughton; international judge Lorrie Parker; and athlete representative Brittney Bottoms — debated for about an hour and then delivered a unanimous decision:

Kwan deserves another shot at gold.

“It feels awesome,” Kwan said, grinning. “When I first put in the petition I believed I would be 100 percent at the Olympics, and I still believe it.”

In Turin, she’ll join Sasha Cohen, who won her first national championship earlier this month, and 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner on the U.S. team. Emily Hughes, younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes and bronze medalist at nationals, will be the alternate in case one of the three is injured before women’s figure skating begins Feb. 19.

FREE VIDEO Kwan gets green light Jan. 27: U.S. Figure Skating official Bob Horen explains why Michelle Kwan will compete for the U.S. in the Olympics.

“I have a lot of work and a lot of improvement to make,” Kwan said, but she expressed confidence, especially if she can add a triple-triple combination to her program.

“One of the reasons why I put in the petition is that I do have a shot. I can’t tell you the percentage. I will take advantage of that shot and do my best. As of now I’m right on schedule.”

Kwan has been the face of figure skating for a decade, a five-time world and nine-time U.S. champion. But there’s one gaping hole in her extensive resume: the Olympic gold medal.

She went to Nagano and Salt Lake City as the gold medal favorite, only to be beaten by a fellow American who skated with the joy and abandon that used to be her trademark. Kwan won the silver in 1998 and the bronze in 2002.

Slide show   U.S. Olympic hopefuls A look at athletes who have the best shot at gold in Turin.

Now 25, she stuck around four more years to chase gold one last time.

“I have a lot to work on,” she said, “and I’m going to try my very best to skate from the heart.”

First, though, she had to prove she deserved to go.