Kim Yu-Na to Be Dethroned at 2010 Figure Skating Worlds?

Kim Yu-Na is not "queen" to me. Technically, Mao Asada is by far the better figure skater, even though Kim Yu-Na won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and even though "Queen" Yu-Na broke the point records for short, long and combined figure skating programs.

I am one of many people who believe that Kim Yu-Na is overrated as a figure skater. Before you point out to me that it's not all about the jumps, I agree! Figure skating is also about other required elements such as spins and spirals. Mao Asada can spin circles around Kim Yu-Na. The speed as well as positioning of Mao Asada's spins are superior to that of Kim's.

Additionally, Mao Asada has more extension to her spirals than does Kim Yu-Na. In fact, during the 2010 Winter Olympics, a figure skating commentator pointed out that Brian Orser, Kim Yu-Na's coach, had been having a hard time trying to get his athlete to work harder on her spirals, and that Yu-Na didn't like practicing spirals.

And it shows. And Kim Yu-Na also must not like practicing spins, because they are on the slow side, and there is nothing extraordinary about the positioning. A big deal was made about Kim Yu-Na breaking figure skating score records during the Olympics. What people fail to realize is that the figure skating judging system is relatively new, in place only since the previous winter Olympics.

So it's to be expected that records will be busted on a recurring basis. In fact, it won't be long before Kim Yu-Na's new scoring record will be broken again, perhaps by another figure skater, perhaps at the 2010 World Championships in Torino, Italy, March 20-29.

It's easy to think that Mao Asada's two triple Axels (one in combination) during the Olympic long free skate should have racked up more points than Kim Yu-Na's jumps, which included a triple Lutz, triple toe loop combination. But a commentator said that a triple Axel, double toe loop, is worth the same as the triple Lutz, triple toe loop.

But what about Asada's other triple Axel? I'm sure that got her some nice points, but I guess Yu-Na's complete jumping package edged out that of Mao Asada. However, that doesn't explain how Yu-Na ended up with so many more points. Perhaps it was little things here and there that simply added up, such as tossing in a third jump (a double) following a triple-double combo, in which one arm was up in the air, the so-called Tano jump?

Perhaps it was the footwork? I didn't see it. It couldn't have possibly been Kim Yu-Na's spins and spirals! So what was it? Was it expectations?

Perhaps it was a comment that Kim Yu-Na had made at some point prior to the long program (and perhaps prior to the short program). The comment was well-publicized, and to paraphrase it, she stated that if she failed to bring home the gold, her entire country would turn against her. (Some fan base, huh!)

Imagine feeling this way about your home country, and you're only 19 years old. And I'm sure that Kim Yu-Na was right, too; I bet indeed South Korea would have turned against her had she not won the gold. The judges knew this, and maybe that's why they scored Kim Yu-Na so high, because they felt sorry for her being under all that pressure from her entire country, the poor thing, even though in 2009, she collected over $8 million in endorsements.

That's a lot of weight to bear for a 19-year-old, and the judges perhaps decided to "give it to her," ensuring Kim Yu-Na's win by awarding her so many points. Whomever has the best long program in figure skating doesn't necessarily win; remember that it's the TOTAL points that determine the winner, and the short program obviously factors into this. But again, even considering that Kim Yu-Na's short program was superior to that of Mao Asada, I still don't see where the total point difference comes from, even when I consider that Mao made a few errors in her long program.

And I wish the voice-over would stop referring to Joannie Rochette's skating as "grace." That's an insult. Since when is grace the same as athleticism? Rochette is pure athleticism, on fire, and all she needs to do is tweak a few things here and there and she could be a serious threat to Kim Yu-Na.

I'm not saying that Yu-Na isn't a great skater. And I'm not even saying she shouldn't have gotten the gold. What I AM saying is that she is overrated, and the point spread between her and the silver and bronze medalists is highly suspicious. And why shouldn't it be? We all know what happened at the Torino Games, don't we? Figure skating judging is notorious for being unfair.

In fact, the 2010 Olympic figure skating commentators were aghast at how low the scores were for Johnny Weir's long program. But the commentators also spoke of Kim Yu-Na as though she had landed quadruples and tossed in a few triple Axels in the second half of her program.

American Mirai Nagasu, only 16, is on course for surpassing Yu-Na, easily; her spins and spirals rank well above those of Mao Asada! And come 2014 in Sochi, Russia, there's bound to be female figure skaters who will trump Kim Yu-Na -- figure skaters we haven't heard about yet, but who will roar onto the scene in the next few years and set new standards.