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Kim Yu-na wins Olympic gold with record score
Source: Agencies |
February 26, 2010, Friday
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Online Edition
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Kim Yu-na of South Korea won the women's figure skating gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics yesterday, delivering an elegant program in royal fashion.
Known at home as "Queen Yu-na," Kim soared to a world-record 228.56 points and shattered her previous mark by more than 18 points. It will go down as one of the greatest performances in figure skating history, and is South Korea's first medal at the Winter Olympics in a sport other than speedskating.
Kim has made a habit of spectacular performances, but even she was dazzled by this one. She said "Oh my god!" when she saw the monstrous score - a mark her top competitors can only dream of - and coach Brian Orser pumped both arms, shaking his clasped fists over each shoulder.
"I can't believe this day has finally come for me," Kim said.
Kim's longtime rival, Mao Asada of Japan, won the silver medal, but it was no contest - even with Asada landing both of her triple axels, one in combination with a double toe loop.
Joannie Rochette, skating four days after the sudden death of her mother, Therese, won the bronze, giving Canada its first women's medal since Liz Manley's silver in Calgary in 1988.
Kim came in with almost incomprehensible pressure on her. Not only was the reigning world champion the most overwhelming favorite since Katarina Witt in 1988 - she's lost just one competition over the last two seasons - she carried the weight of an entire nation on her slim shoulders.
She grinned as she hopped up to the top spot on the podium, tugging at the bottom of her dress. When the gold medal was put around her neck, she kissed both sides of it and held it up.
The most popular athlete in South Korea, Kim needs bodyguards whenever she returns home from her training base in Toronto. Anything she does creates a frenzy, and even a simple practice draws a rinkful of photographers.
Kim seemed to shrug it all off earlier this week, saying after the short program that it felt like any other competition. But it was clear Thursday that it meant much more.
There were simply no flaws in her performance, from her skating to her expressions to a lovely cobalt blue dress. While other skaters slow down as they approach their jumps to steady themselves, she hurtles into them at full speed, yet touches down with pillow-like softness.
Her connecting steps are like performance art, and her edge quality is so fine there is not even the slightest hint of a harsh scrape, just the sound of her crisp edge. Her spins are centered so perfectly the tracings look as if they were made with a protractor.
But what really makes her transcendent is her performance skills. Kim breathed life into Gershwin's "Concerto in F," moving across the ice like notes on a score. As the music lifted the first time, she put one hand on the small of her back and gave a flirty little smile that set shutters clicking throughout the building.
When she finished, you could almost see the pressure fall away as Kim bent over and covered her mouth. So many stuffed toys and flowers littered the ice the full complement of sweepers had to be deployed - not once, but twice.
It almost wasn't fair that Asada, skating next, had to try and better that. She couldn't. It wasn't even close.
Asada, who has swapped titles with Kim since their junior days, is one of the few women who even tries a points-packing triple axel, and she did two Thursday. But she melted down later, stumbling on the footwork into her triple toe and forcing her to cut it to a single.
"The triple axel I landed I'm happy with," Asada said, "but I'm not satisfied with the rest of my performance today."
Asada looked stone-faced as she waited for her marks, and she didn't even crack a smile when she got her silver medal.
For Rochette, the medal is a culmination of "a lifelong project with my mom." Therese Rochette, 55, had a massive heart attack just hours after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter skate, and Rochette has been the picture of courage this week.
Supported by her father, Normand, and longtime coach Manon Perron, Rochette decided to go ahead and compete. Her performance Thursday wasn't perfect; she two-footed and stepped out of a triple flip, and had shaky landings on a couple of other jumps. But she made up for those errors with an emotional and expressive portrayal of "Samson and Delilah."
Unlike Tuesday, when Rochette broke down and sobbed when she finished her short program, she managed to contain her emotions. Her eyes were wet, but her smile seemed genuine, not forced.
"I feel proud and the result didn't matter," Rochette said. "I'm happy to be on the podium."
Known at home as "Queen Yu-na," Kim soared to a world-record 228.56 points and shattered her previous mark by more than 18 points. It will go down as one of the greatest performances in figure skating history, and is South Korea's first medal at the Winter Olympics in a sport other than speedskating.
Kim has made a habit of spectacular performances, but even she was dazzled by this one. She said "Oh my god!" when she saw the monstrous score - a mark her top competitors can only dream of - and coach Brian Orser pumped both arms, shaking his clasped fists over each shoulder.
"I can't believe this day has finally come for me," Kim said.
Kim's longtime rival, Mao Asada of Japan, won the silver medal, but it was no contest - even with Asada landing both of her triple axels, one in combination with a double toe loop.
Joannie Rochette, skating four days after the sudden death of her mother, Therese, won the bronze, giving Canada its first women's medal since Liz Manley's silver in Calgary in 1988.
Kim came in with almost incomprehensible pressure on her. Not only was the reigning world champion the most overwhelming favorite since Katarina Witt in 1988 - she's lost just one competition over the last two seasons - she carried the weight of an entire nation on her slim shoulders.
She grinned as she hopped up to the top spot on the podium, tugging at the bottom of her dress. When the gold medal was put around her neck, she kissed both sides of it and held it up.
The most popular athlete in South Korea, Kim needs bodyguards whenever she returns home from her training base in Toronto. Anything she does creates a frenzy, and even a simple practice draws a rinkful of photographers.
Kim seemed to shrug it all off earlier this week, saying after the short program that it felt like any other competition. But it was clear Thursday that it meant much more.
There were simply no flaws in her performance, from her skating to her expressions to a lovely cobalt blue dress. While other skaters slow down as they approach their jumps to steady themselves, she hurtles into them at full speed, yet touches down with pillow-like softness.
Her connecting steps are like performance art, and her edge quality is so fine there is not even the slightest hint of a harsh scrape, just the sound of her crisp edge. Her spins are centered so perfectly the tracings look as if they were made with a protractor.
But what really makes her transcendent is her performance skills. Kim breathed life into Gershwin's "Concerto in F," moving across the ice like notes on a score. As the music lifted the first time, she put one hand on the small of her back and gave a flirty little smile that set shutters clicking throughout the building.
When she finished, you could almost see the pressure fall away as Kim bent over and covered her mouth. So many stuffed toys and flowers littered the ice the full complement of sweepers had to be deployed - not once, but twice.
It almost wasn't fair that Asada, skating next, had to try and better that. She couldn't. It wasn't even close.
Asada, who has swapped titles with Kim since their junior days, is one of the few women who even tries a points-packing triple axel, and she did two Thursday. But she melted down later, stumbling on the footwork into her triple toe and forcing her to cut it to a single.
"The triple axel I landed I'm happy with," Asada said, "but I'm not satisfied with the rest of my performance today."
Asada looked stone-faced as she waited for her marks, and she didn't even crack a smile when she got her silver medal.
For Rochette, the medal is a culmination of "a lifelong project with my mom." Therese Rochette, 55, had a massive heart attack just hours after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter skate, and Rochette has been the picture of courage this week.
Supported by her father, Normand, and longtime coach Manon Perron, Rochette decided to go ahead and compete. Her performance Thursday wasn't perfect; she two-footed and stepped out of a triple flip, and had shaky landings on a couple of other jumps. But she made up for those errors with an emotional and expressive portrayal of "Samson and Delilah."
Unlike Tuesday, when Rochette broke down and sobbed when she finished her short program, she managed to contain her emotions. Her eyes were wet, but her smile seemed genuine, not forced.
"I feel proud and the result didn't matter," Rochette said. "I'm happy to be on the podium."
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