Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010

NEW YORK (AP) Olympic champion Kim Yu Na has split from her coach, Brian Orser, in a move that has taken many by surprise — Orser included.

Free agent: Olympic champion Kim Yu Na has split from Canadian coach Brian Orser. AP PHOTO

Three weeks after Kim's mother, Park Mi Hee, informed him he was no longer the coach, Orser said on Tuesday he still doesn't know the reasons behind the decision. He doesn't even know if the decision was Kim's.

A statement from Kim's management company, AT Sports, didn't explain why the South Korean star left Orser, instead implying Orser left Kim.

The statement said relations between the skater and coach had been "uncomfortable" since May and that Kim has since been "more or less" training without a coach.

"In early August, Kim's agency and Orser agreed for the two taking some unofficial time off and since then, Kim has been training alone and working on her new program with David Wilson as her choreographer," it said.

"Kim and her management were taken aback when Orser announced on Aug. 23 that he would no longer be able to care for Yu Na Kim, which Kim's agency understood as Orser's decision to step down as Kim's coach," the statement added.

Kim, who turns 20 on Sept. 5, was not at the Aug. 2 meeting featuring her mother, Orser and fellow coach Tracy Wilson, and she continues to train at the Toronto rink where she's worked with Orser since 2006.

"Tracy and I had a meeting with Yu Na on her own last Thursday just to say we're a little confused about what's happening. She just looked at us and said she's confused, too," Orser said. "I don't know how much she was involved in these discussions."

Kim fired back at Orser in a message posted on her Twitter account Yunaaaa, saying she knows "exactly what's going on now."

"Would you please stop to tell a lie, B? I know exactly what's going on now and this is what I've DECIDED," Kim tweeted Tuesday.

AT Sports official Kim Sun Young confirmed Yunaaaa is Kim's official Twitter account and that the skater posted the tweet, though added it was quickly deleted. The official did not provide a reason for the tweet being taken down.

Kim had said after the world championships she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue skating competitively, and Orser and Wilson gave her space this summer to make the decision. Wildly popular in South Korea — her nickname is "Queen Yu Na" — she ranked fifth on Forbes.com's list of the world's highest-paid female athletes this month with earnings of $9.7 million the past year.

But Orser saw hints of trouble last month, when Kim announced she was skipping this year's Grand Prix season and would instead focus on the worlds — without telling Orser beforehand. He then got a call from Shae-Lynn Bourne, who said she had been asked to choreograph Kim's short program.

Kim's programs are usually choreographed by David Wilson, who works with Orser and Tracy Wilson at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club.

We welcome your opinions. Click to send a message to the editor.