A Korean young lady has become a superstar, not only in Korea, but also all around the world. She is Kim Yu-na, whom I really like and admire personally. You can easily encounter her presence in TV commercials, newspapers, and even on billboards along the roads. She has truly become a number one celebrity in Korea. There are a good many reasons why I adore her.
The most important reason why I admire Yu-na is that she managed to establish herself as a leader in figure skating, in spite of all the difficulties she faced training in Korea. First of all, she didn’t have proper practice facilities, so she had to move from ice rink to ice rink, training at night after the customers had gone home. Even worse, her skates were very expensive, and she had a hard time obtaining them in her size from abroad. Finally, she couldn’t find a properly experienced coach to help her improve her skating skills to the point where she could compete internationally. However, she overcame these obstacles and has become an international sensation.
Yu-na’s ability to transcend personal hardship is admirable, but her greatest asset is her graceful skating style. She glides effortlessly across the ice, and her movements have a naturalness and charm that is uniquely her own. She is famous for her technical perfection and speed in executing jumps, and first landed a triple-triple combination at the 2005 World Junior Championships when she was only 14. Despite her brilliance as a jumper, she is not a mere automaton. Every jump combination emerges organically as an extension of her program music, and no element feels artificial or forced. Yu-na has also become known for a type of spin move with a bent leg, which is now often called the “Yu-na spin.”
Yu-na has an excellent taste in music for her skating programs. Last year, she cooperated in releasing a CD of her favorite tracks called “Yuna Kim, Fairy on Ice.” This year, her short program to music from the James Bond films shows off a playful side of her personality. Her free skate to Gershwin’s Concerto in F is more serious and elegant. She has a large number of appreciative Korean fans who come out to see her at competitions all over the world. They hold signs that say “Queen Yu-na” and throw many flowers and stuffed animals onto the ice.
When she competes, Yu-na is often well ahead of the second-place skater after the short program. Commentators tend to judge her by her own high standards, and she is a perfectionist in all elements of her performance. For example, just recently at Skate America, she won the competition thanks to a huge lead in the short program, but her free skate was considered a disappointment because she was unusually tense and failed to land her hardest jump combinations.
Yu-na’s recent
competition history demonstrates her domination of the field. She won both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 ISU Grand Prix Finals, and placed second in the 2008-09 Grand Prix Final. She will compete in the 2009-10 event in early December. Yu-na won two consecutive bronze medals in the World Championships in 2007 and 2008. At that time, she was suffering from a back injury that caused her a lot of pain. She finally triumphed at the 2009 World Championships in Los Angeles, where she set ISU world records for both her short program and total overall scores. She is now the clear favorite to win the gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Kim Yu-na is clearly a superior athlete and artist who has worked hard for success in the figure skating world. Thanks to her, there are now many more Korean fans of the sport. However, her appeal transcends figure skating and she has become a national and international star in her own right. Not many people can match the willpower and determination it took for her to succeed so dramatically when the odds were not in her favor. I am eagerly awaiting her success in the Winter Olympics. History has shown that even prodigiously talented skaters such as Michelle Kwan can fail to obtain an Olympic gold medal, but I am confident that Yu-na can overcome nerves and give a superior performance in Vancouver.
The most important reason why I admire Yu-na is that she managed to establish herself as a leader in figure skating, in spite of all the difficulties she faced training in Korea. First of all, she didn’t have proper practice facilities, so she had to move from ice rink to ice rink, training at night after the customers had gone home. Even worse, her skates were very expensive, and she had a hard time obtaining them in her size from abroad. Finally, she couldn’t find a properly experienced coach to help her improve her skating skills to the point where she could compete internationally. However, she overcame these obstacles and has become an international sensation.
Yu-na’s ability to transcend personal hardship is admirable, but her greatest asset is her graceful skating style. She glides effortlessly across the ice, and her movements have a naturalness and charm that is uniquely her own. She is famous for her technical perfection and speed in executing jumps, and first landed a triple-triple combination at the 2005 World Junior Championships when she was only 14. Despite her brilliance as a jumper, she is not a mere automaton. Every jump combination emerges organically as an extension of her program music, and no element feels artificial or forced. Yu-na has also become known for a type of spin move with a bent leg, which is now often called the “Yu-na spin.”
Yu-na has an excellent taste in music for her skating programs. Last year, she cooperated in releasing a CD of her favorite tracks called “Yuna Kim, Fairy on Ice.” This year, her short program to music from the James Bond films shows off a playful side of her personality. Her free skate to Gershwin’s Concerto in F is more serious and elegant. She has a large number of appreciative Korean fans who come out to see her at competitions all over the world. They hold signs that say “Queen Yu-na” and throw many flowers and stuffed animals onto the ice.
When she competes, Yu-na is often well ahead of the second-place skater after the short program. Commentators tend to judge her by her own high standards, and she is a perfectionist in all elements of her performance. For example, just recently at Skate America, she won the competition thanks to a huge lead in the short program, but her free skate was considered a disappointment because she was unusually tense and failed to land her hardest jump combinations.
Yu-na’s recent
competition history demonstrates her domination of the field. She won both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 ISU Grand Prix Finals, and placed second in the 2008-09 Grand Prix Final. She will compete in the 2009-10 event in early December. Yu-na won two consecutive bronze medals in the World Championships in 2007 and 2008. At that time, she was suffering from a back injury that caused her a lot of pain. She finally triumphed at the 2009 World Championships in Los Angeles, where she set ISU world records for both her short program and total overall scores. She is now the clear favorite to win the gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.Kim Yu-na is clearly a superior athlete and artist who has worked hard for success in the figure skating world. Thanks to her, there are now many more Korean fans of the sport. However, her appeal transcends figure skating and she has become a national and international star in her own right. Not many people can match the willpower and determination it took for her to succeed so dramatically when the odds were not in her favor. I am eagerly awaiting her success in the Winter Olympics. History has shown that even prodigiously talented skaters such as Michelle Kwan can fail to obtain an Olympic gold medal, but I am confident that Yu-na can overcome nerves and give a superior performance in Vancouver.
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