President Biden Nominates Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist Michelle Kwan as Ambassador to Belize

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden also announced that Caroline Kennedy would serve as U.S. ambassador to Australia

Rich Fury/Getty; Cindy Ord/Getty Images.

Michelle Kwan has been nominated for the position of U.S. ambassador to Belize within the Biden administration.

The former Olympic figure skater, 41, posted the announcement from the White House to her Twitter account on Wednesday, writing, "I am honored to be nominated by President Biden to serve as ambassador to Belize, and if confirmed, I will be very proud to serve my country" along with an American flag emoji.

Kwan, who won the figure skating Silver Medal at the Nagano Winter Games in 1998 and the Bronze four years later in Salt Lake City, most recently served during Biden's presidential campaign in 2019 as director of surrogates and worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign in a similar capacity.

The athlete is currently a treasurer and member of the board of directors for the Special Olympics.

"Belize is full of incredible history and culture and has been a tremendous partner to the United States," Kwan said in a statement per The Washington Post. "I look forward to working with the Belizean government on economic issues, to put an end to this pandemic, and to address the root causes of migration."

In its official announcement, the White House said, "Michelle Kwan has had a distinguished career in public service, diplomacy, and sports."

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"She is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history, having won 43 championships, including five world championships, nine national titles, and two Olympic medals," the statement continued. "She became the first Public Diplomacy Envoy in 2006, and for a decade, traveled extensively on behalf of the U.S. Department of State to engage youth around the world on social and educational issues."

The message went on to detail some of Kwan's further accomplishments, including her position as Advisor to the Office of Global Women's Issues at the U.S. Department of State, and as a member of former President Obama's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.

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Another nominee elected to an ambassador role Wednesday by the Biden administration was Caroline Kennedy, who is slated to serve as U.S. ambassador to Australia.

Kennedy, 64, is the last surviving child of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Caroline Kennedy. Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty

She previously served as the Obama-nominated U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017. Kennedy is one of the most prominent members of her famed political family.

She endorsed Biden early on in his 2020 presidential run and spoke at last year's Democratic National Convention on his behalf.

During her DNC speech, she noted that she has known Biden since the 1970s, when she was a Senate intern and Biden, now 78, was a senator from Delaware.

In her initial endorsement last year, Kennedy wrote in The Boston Globe that she believed Biden would be "a president who can bring people together" and said he's someone "who knows how to get things done at home and abroad."