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Kim Yu-Na on path to gold

The Canadian Press
By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press Posted Wednesday, February 24, 2010 2:12 AM ET

VANCOUVER - When world champion figure skater Kim Yu-Na of South Korea reached the ice Wednesday night, she was revved up for a fight.

Her biggest rival, Japan's Mao Asada, had just delivered a spectacular short program just moments before and the gauntlet had been thrown down.

With some jazz-inspired moves set to a medley of James Bond tunes, she glided effortlessly through her routine with her usual verve, speed and connection to the music. Kim ended it with her hands clasped together in a sly gun gesture, the competition blown away.

When it was over, Kim had set a new short-program world record of 78.50 points. She sits in solid contention for the gold medal after Thursday's long program, what would be the first for South Korea in figure skating.

"She's a very fierce competitor, so when she sees someone has skated well she steps up to the plate," said her coach Brian Orser, two-time Olympic medallist for Canada. "I was the same way when I competed."

Kim is a bona fide A-lister in South Korea, where she is chased relentlessly by paparazzi and fans.

At the Pacific Coliseum on Wednesday, South Korea reporters dashed from every corner of the arena to try and get some words with her after her skate. A South Korean television crew was stopping Canadian reporters earlier in the week outside the building to ask what the thought of Kim and Asada.

One excited fan shouted out, "You are so beautiful!" as she prepared to start her performance Wednesday.

She has found some peace and quiet training north of Toronto since 2006, alongside Orser, choreographer David Wilson and assistant coach Tracy Wilson.

Orser said she might not be so anonymous in Canada after this Olympic performance.

"She's a beautiful skater and she shares it. Her emotion when she skates, there's nothing selfish about that," said Orser. "It reaches everybody, it reaches everybody around the world..."

Of her rivalry with Asada, Kim would only say that she was happy for the two to go head-to-head at an Olympic Games. Both are 19 years old, and she said she felt they had matured over the years of competing against each other.

Asada, now in second place going into the free skate, echoed the sentiment.

"She's my rival, but in a good way, because we are kind of friends as well," said Asada. "We have been skating together for a long time and we are the same age, but once you hit the ice and you start skating you just concentrate on your own skating."

But at least one veteran skater, former Canadian medallist Elvis Stojko, suggested that Kim's marks were too high. He noted that Asada had successfully landed a triple Axel - she's the only woman who executes them regularly in competition - and got fewer marks than Kim's easier triple Lutz.
The argument is similar to the one over whether American Evan Lysacek should have won the gold medal without having landed a quad like his competitor Evgeni Plushenko.

"Yu-Na Kim is way too far ahead. I don't agree with that," said Stojko. "She skated great. Don't get me wrong, she's awesome. But for Mao to do an awesome triple Axel like that, a triple [Axel] is worth way more than a triple Lutz, triple toe."

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Comments (10)

victoria552
Feb 25, 2010 | 5:26 AM ET

Maybe we should have a sport called "Jumping on the ice" for those people who do not understand figure skating is not just about jumps...
Paula123
Feb 25, 2010 | 2:26 AM ET

Seriously would Elvis just shut up already! He needs to just stop being interviewed, for someone who was a top figure skater he knows nothing it's embarressing and quite frankly annoying!
cw_pianoman22@yahoo.ca
Feb 24, 2010 | 2:23 PM ET

Stojko is WRONG again! I can't believe how he's embarassing himself with his commentary. Asada's triple Axel-double toe combo is worth LESS than Kim's triple Lutz-triple toe combo. In fact for the GOE(Grade of Execution), Asada only received .60 extra for ther opening combo last night whereas Kim received 2.00 bonus for her's. Get the facts straight Elvis and STOP being so biased toward the technical degree of difficulty in the jumps. The jumps ain't the be-all-end-all in figure skating these days! If you were a TRUE analyst, you would be able to see that Asada didn't have as much speed and coverage of the ice as Kim did. That's what Jen Robinson pointed out during her commentary last night for CTV alongside Liz Manley and Rod Black.
hohoho323
Feb 24, 2010 | 12:16 PM ET

triple axel itself does have higher score than triple lutz, but Mao combined it with double toe loop while Yuna Kim's combination was triple-triple. And she executed it way better than anyone else. Just doing one difficult jump doesn't make a great skater. How you do it also matters. Yuna Kim's program is higher difficulty overall, therefore has higher basic score than anyone else's program. And she got higher execution mark for the quality. If Stojko wants to see more jump, he can go to Cirque du soleil. Stop insulting a quality program and great effort of other athlets.
at1212b
Feb 24, 2010 | 12:07 PM ET

There's a reason why 'Elvis' NEVER won the BIG one. Also, if you heard the commentators, they specifically said a Triple Lutz/Triple Toe is worth 9.5 pts vs 8 points for a Triple Axle = Yuna>Mao. Plus, as they also pointed out, its the speed, quality and coverage of ice that makes Yuna stand out from all the rest. She glides all across the rink as if she could transport all across with ease vs others (including Asada) that seem to often focus on one corner of the ice, and have a choppier transition in trying to gain speed to skate towards the other side.
Siguy
Feb 24, 2010 | 11:09 AM ET

wow, Kim Yu Na is a superstar beauty the likes of which you can only find in Asia.
anni
Feb 24, 2010 | 10:25 AM ET

Elvis stop already. One jump does not make a program. We love you but you are getting tiresome. Even with the old 6.0 system we had technical and component marks If you remember you scored high on Technical but not so well on components for a long time Stop being so bitter
starryhandfish
Feb 24, 2010 | 9:13 AM ET

Keep talking, Stojko. Your constant whining about how the new system scores things has made it so I can't respect anything you say. It's like a low buzz in my ear now - irritating, but I can ignore it.
baloosma
Feb 24, 2010 | 8:31 AM ET

I'm tired of Elvis Stojko complaining that the jumps should get better marks. I've been fan of Canadian, and indeed world figure skating for many years, and yes I agree the jumps are great, but they aren't the only thing. A quality program is one with everything, not just jump after jumps. That's just boring and dull. Quality landings, great choreagraphy, wonderful footwork, and those little things that make it complete are what give someone watching pleasure. Kurt Browning was a champion of the "whole package", and unfortunately I can't say the same thing about Mr. Stojko. If he had more creative choreagraphy throughout his career, (rather than a rehash of martial arts moves, year after year), he could stand in the same light as Browning, Lysachek, and Kim. The new judging system has proven that there is a need for everthing, not so much an emphasis on 'just' the jumps. Get with the program Elvis. As to your endorsement of Plushenko having gold, he obviously didn't deserve it, in spite of the quad. Almost every jump he landed was wobbly, his choreography and footwork uninspired and simple, just not up to snuff. I didn't think he deserved silver either. Good thing I'm not a judge eh?
pegb12
Feb 24, 2010 | 7:19 AM ET

Here is an argument for not needing the big jump afterall. There was a clear clear difference between the way Yu Na Kim skated and the way Asada skated. In this case, Yu Na Kim was, let's be frank, jaw dropping. She did not need the triple axel, the quality of her entire skate was obvious. If Lysacek had skated like Yu Na Kim, then I wouldn't have had an issue with him either. Lysacek's program was lacklustre, but it deserved the Gold considering what the others were putting out there from a quality perspective. The triple axel should be worth more, but when you have a skater like Yu Na Kim competing with you, anyone with a triple axle and just a piece of parsley as the so called garnish, will be left in the dust. So increase the marks for the triple axle, won't matter in this case.
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