Kim Yu-Na owns figure skating “with a touch of flirt.”
“I was surprised that I was crying. I didn’t know that I was going to cry,” Kim Yu-Na told NBC sports reporter Andrea Joyce immediately after her world record free skate Thursday night in Vancouver. “I am so happy,” she blinked back more tears. “It is the first time I have done a clean long program, and I am very happy with my performance.” The new Olympic champion shyly conceded the tears were a mixture of joy and relief.
For South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na, the four minute free skate represented far more than a well-choreographed dance across the Olympic ice. Yu-Na perfectly understood she skated on behalf of the entire South Korean nation, who would settle for nothing less than Vancouver gold. Tangled in a fierce duel with Japan’s Mao Asada, Kim Yu-Na skated for her nation’s honour.
En route to her Olympic gold medal, the 19-year-old South Korean super-star rewrote the figure skating record books. She established an all-time high mark for her short program, set another all-time high score in the free skate, and ended the competition with the highest total score ever recorded under figure skating’s radically reinvented scoring system.
Coached by two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser of Canada, Yu-Na spent January and early February training in Toronto, sheltered from relentless South Korean media and throngs of adoring fans. The pressure in her own country became such a distraction, the skater and her coach grew convinced it undermined the quality of her training and threatened her Vancouver performance.
After Yu-Na’s long program, veteran figure skating analysts agreed that her performance more than satisfied the gold medal requirements. Moreover, experts agreed Kim Yu-Na rightfully earned the nearly twenty “grade of execution” points judges lavished on the flawless free skate. In sharp contrast to the men’s competition, which unfortunately became “all about the jumps,” the women’s competition demanded sophisticated, skilled execution of fine foot-work, deep edges, graceful curves, and exquisite spinning. Putting Yu-Na’s performance under the microscope, worldwide analysts reached consensus: “Everything that she does is everything that [the judges] want,” said NBC analyst Scott Hamilton, “and she does it all spectacularly.”
“With just a touch of flirt,” added Sandra Bezic.
i love to see women that is doing some figure skating , they are really beautiful and gracefull.-;`