South Korean figure skater Yu-Na Kim set another new world record last week at Trophée Eric Bompard (TEB) with her Long Program to Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F. "I was stunned watching it (the score)," said Kim. "I didn't think about renewing my personal best again here...More
South Korean figure skater Yu-Na Kim set another new world record last week at Trophée Eric Bompard (TEB) with her Long Program to Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F. "I was stunned watching it (the score)," said Kim. "I didn't think about renewing my personal best again here...More
What I don't understand is why doesn't she work on a 3A? Seriously, she's got the best jumps out there ~ height, distance, rotation, speed, et al, perfect ~ so why not even take it one further: the 3A? She could easily do it. All her triples are fabulous, especially her 3/3 combos.!!!!!!
I hope to God she doesn't quit after the Olympics, but rather stays on for another 4 yrs. like Katarina Witt did. This lady is too special to just retire. Stay on & match Michelle Kwan's numerous World Titles & then go one further & match Katarina Witt. Become the Sonja Henie of this era.
She has it all ~ she's the ONE the skating world has been waiting for ~ Nicole Bobek/Sasha Cohen/Oksana Baiul/Michelle Kwan/Irina Slutskaya/Tonya Harding/Midori Ito/all the greats throughout figure skating history combined into O-N-E!!!!!!!
That would honestly be a shame because it's obvious she hasn't maxed out her jumping potential at all. She makes those 3/3 combos. look like child's play & she doesn't even break a sweat. Just think what more she could accomplish, so much more. I hope/pray that she stays in for the long term. Maybe take time off after Olympics & Worlds, rest her body, do tours like Sasha Cohen did, and then come back for 2014.
Oooooh, she's talking about the zone.As I'm preparing, I build momentum and confidence until I reach a peak of concentration. It is the moment that I feel my best.
Maybe if she wins the Olympics, she might decide that she has nothing to lose and then why not learn a harder jump... Because then she'll have a lot less to lose. But at this point, she's not willing to risk everything she worked for, for a jump she doesn't necessarily need. Frankly a quadtoe might be something she could realistically work on too. Her triple toe technique is just so good. However, the issue there becomes what if it throws off her timing and hurts her 3/3s.
even if she decides to learn the jumps, she will have to sacrifice some of her programs' artistic touch because maintaining the jumping skills requires so much attention and time. Asada this season and joubert, plushenko with their quad may be good examples. I would much rather watch an all-around yu-na than a 3a yu-na with less focus on artistic side.
Kim looked really stressed out at GPF last year. The girl has been under huge amounts of pressure her entire Senior career. And she had huge expectations when she was healthy at 2009 Worlds.Come to think of it I really don't think we've seen Kim perform under real pressure...
By googling I found an article about Yu-Na's 3A practice scene in 2006 with some comments.
http://www.koreanfs.com/standard/home/?document_srl=346
You can see from the video that she almost did it and it was huge. Too bad she had to quit practicing it due to injuries!