Kim Yu-na' left, with then coach Brian Orser at last year's Grand Prix final in Tokyo.
KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS
Forget about the smoke clearing on the Kim Yu-na/Brian Orser breakup. It’s thicker right now than the haze from the B.C. forest fires.
The figure skating soap opera was reignited Thursday with charges from Kim’s camp that Orser intentionally undermined the 2010 Olympic women’s champion by divulging confidential information about her new long program.
In particular, they’re outraged that her now former coach told the Agence France Presse news agency that the music for the program would be the Korean folk song “Arirang”.
Giving out this kind of information without permission is seen as high treason in the sport, particularly in the Kim camp. They preciously guard such nuggets as part of their marketing plan, keeping a South Korean public which reveres the skater in suspense before unveiling them at just the right moment.
It also puts Orser into conflict for the first time in this fiasco with choreographer David Wilson of Toronto, who chose the music and conceived the program for Kim. Insiders say Wilson had been trying to act as a mediator between the sides.
Wilson declined an interview Thursday, but in the statement released by AT Sports, the agency started by Kim’s mother Park Mee-hee, Wilson was said to be in “shock and bewilderment at the news.”
“I was not aware Brian was going to reveal information about the program to the media,” said Wilson. “He did not discuss with me at all what he was going to do during the interview.”
So where does it all go from here? Those who care about figure skating hope Orser will finally enter the cone of silence. They think he’s taken on a battle he can’t win.
No one seems to know why exactly Orser and fellow coach Tracy Wilson were fired Aug. 2 by Kim’s mother and management team. Kim, in a statement, hinted at things Orser did that caused him to lose his job, but there have been no specifics, which is surprising given that they seem ready to unload any ammunition available.
One long-time figure skating observer suspects a clash of cultures, that Orser did something that offended the Kim camp of which even he’s unaware. There is a strong sense Orser was fed up with having to kowtow to Park, a formidable presence who inspires the fear that accompanies the dreaded words: skating mother.
This has all been uncharacteristic for Orser, who never courted controversy as a skater. He’s always been a class act and a straight shooter. Before this blew up, he was adored in South Korea, including receiving honourary citizenship in Seoul in an April ceremony attended by Kim. But he also has the strong character that goes with being a former world champion, someone who is used to having the last word. Even if he gets it in this instance, one has to wonder if it will have been worth it.
There is a 19-year-old skater in the middle who is clearly devastated by this public battle. In the words of one sage coach, Kim’s age in the real world may be 14, given the insular orbit these athletes inhabit.
The truth undoubtedly lies somewhere in between, especially when it comes to skating parents and coaches. These are often disparate worlds. Both sides clearly share blame.
As an example of how to handle things right, insiders point to the breakup of five-time world champion Michelle Kwan and longtime coach Frank Carroll. The split came off looking pretty amicable in public, but behind the scenes there was serious conflict between Carroll and Kwan’s father, Danny. That’s held up at the gold standard in figure skating bustups.
This one? It definitely qualifies as dross.