I am surprised at the relative shortage of people distinguishing Michelle Kwan. Even more so, considering that like 50% or more GS members are from the USA.
I'm an American who grew up during Michelle's heyday, but only recently got into watching the sport properly. I will say she's probably one of the few figure skaters that most Americans would be able to name (at least, until this past Olympics) and there's the general knowledge that she was a truly great figure skater. She's definitely an athlete who moved into "cultural icon" status in the late 90s/early 2000s.
With that kind of clout, there's a certain expectation that she must have been amazing and I wonder if that sense of expectation makes it harder for younger fans getting into the sport, perhaps, to truly enjoy her. Granted, I am generalizing, I can't be sure that most of the US fans here are in my age bracket and would share my sentiment.
Going back and watching her performances now, I think she has an amazing presence and has a lot of amazing qualities (hello spirals!) and deserves all her accolades. However, she's not a personal favorite and I sometimes still feel a little removed from her skating and I'm not sure if that's because I didn't follow her while she was active or due to the sense of expectation I had going in.