TOKYO (AFP) — The teenage rivalry between Japan's Mao Asada and Kim Yu-Na of South Korea is hotting up with mind games underway ahead of next week's world figure skating championships.
Kim, who upstaged reigning world champion Asada at the Four Continents contest last month, made a stunning recent comment which was interpreted to mean Japanese rivals had obstructed her warm-ups before competitions.
The controversy adds spice to the world championships in Los Angeles, which the 18-year-olds are expected to turn into a preview of their gold medal showdown in their Olympic debut at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Kim, known for her bright and thoughtful manner, talked about the interrupted warm-ups in a television interview at the weekend.
"Particularly at this year's Four Continents championships, I felt it was a bit terrible ... too much," she told Korea's SBS network without naming names.
"I am trying to find a way to deal with it."
A voice-over said it was always Japanese skaters that crossed Kim's path.
Asada and teammates Fumie Suguri and Akiko Suzuki competed at the Four Continents at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum, the Olympic figure skating venue.
Japanese media reacted this week with headlines declaring that Kim blamed Japan for obstructing her, with the Sports Hochi daily describing her remarks as "'Japan-bashing' without warning."
"It is true that several times she felt obstructed during her warm-ups," Kim Wonmin, an agent for Kim Yu-Na, told AFP.
"But she never singled out any country in the interview with SBS. It's news media that mentioned Japan. If this situtation continues, we may have to lodge a protest."
The Japan Skating Federation said it had yet to receive any protest.
"Skaters seriously practice for competitions and they can, in no manner, intentionally obstruct others," said Hidetoshi Ito, head of the federation's figure skating commission.
However, he explained that six skaters work out in each pre-competition warm-up and that it was "natural" that they sometimes almost collide.
At the Japanese national championships last year, 2007 world champion Miki Ando injured her right foot when she crashed with Suguri in practice.
Figure skating is not free from rivalries gone wrong.
Tonya Harding was banned for life after her ex-husband and associates attacked and injured US national champion Nancy Kerrigan after a practice session at the US trials for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics.
The Asada-Kim match-up is seen as one of the hottest rivalries in figure skating since American Brian Boitano and Canadian Brian Orser, now Kim's coach, dueled at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Boitano won gold and Orser silver.
Asada and Kim, both born in September 1990, have each won three and lost three in their six head-to-head encounters at the senior level.
With her inimitable jumps including the 3.5-revolution triple axel, Asada regained the Grand Prix Final title in December after Kim won it for two straight years.
But Kim stole Asada's title at the Four Continents.
"If the two of them skate perfectly, I believe Asada wins by a small margin," said Nobuhiko Yoshioka, technical director of figure skating at the Japanese federation.
He also cited Ando, 21, the only woman ever to have landed a quadruple in competition, as another potential challenger in the singles at the world championships opening on March 24.
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