Turin, Italy ? Dressed in black, her eyes red and swollen from crying, Michelle Kwan flashed none of the spark and charisma the world has come to admire. Her smile did little to hide her misery.

“I’ve had a great career. I’ve been very lucky,” she said, pausing to compose herself.

Everywhere but at the Olympics.

Kwan’s last chance to win the only medal that has eluded her grasp – an Olympic gold – ended sadly Sunday when she withdrew from the Turin Games because of a groin injury.

She has chased that medal for a decade, coming so close twice that she could feel its heavy weight around her neck. Now she’s headed home, her neck as empty as her heart.

After waiting four years for one final chance, the gold is all but certain to remain a dream unfulfilled.

Her body isn’t as indestructible as it once was – two groin injuries in less than two months – and she’ll be 29 by the next Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010.

“I can’t even think past right now,” she said, biting her lip and fighting tears. “It’s physical pain that’s keeping me from performing and skating. But it’s also emotional pain as well.”

Emily Hughes, younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes, replaced Kwan on the U.S. team and will join national champion Sasha Cohen and Kimmie Meissner. The women’s competition doesn’t begin until Feb. 21, and Hughes plans to spend a few days at home in Great Neck, N.Y., and in school before leaving for Turin.

“It was fair that Michelle had all the opportunities to make the Olympic team,” said Hughes, who finished third at the U.S. national championships last month but was bumped after Kwan got a medical bye onto the Olympic team. “It’s unfortunate that she was injured.

“I’m just ready to compete whatever it is. Right now it is the Olympics,” she said.

For Hughes, this marks a beginning, her first major international competition. For Kwan, it’s likely the end.

She’s been the face of figure skating for a decade, beloved as much for her grace and humility in defeat as her long list of triumphs. Though she won five world and nine U.S. titles, she is best remembered for her heartbreaking finishes at both the Nagano and Salt Lake City games. The favorite at each, she settled instead for a silver (1998) and a bronze (2002).

The image of her sobbing as she stood below a beaming Tara Lipinski on the Nagano medals podium is as enduring as her majestic performance at the national championships.

“I would love to compete in my third Olympics, but I love and respect the sport, and I think it’s all about the United States bringing the best team to the Olympic Games,” Kwan said. “I wouldn’t want to be in the way of that.”