Yuna Kim

When I was a kid a very famous female alpine skier, the best skier at that point in time (and very probably the most talented ever) suddenly stopped skiing during the season. She said that she just lost interest, didn't want to race any longer and was heavily criticised by the retired, probably best female alpine skier ever who also helped her in her career who said that she could have at least finished the season properly and that her talent was an obligation. I remember that I was confused, because I, as a kid, naturally would have wanted her to continue and finish the season, but I could also understand that she just didn't want to do it any longer. But the thing about talent and obligation kept me puzzled and it still does. The point of view makes the difference. I, as a fan, wanted to see her skiing, but I also wanted her to be happy. I have the same feelings when it comes to Yuna.
But David Wilson has invested his time and talent and was a crucial part in Yuna's development as a skater. And he loves figure skating. It's true that he has been paid for his work with Yuna, but I don't think that anyone denies that he was fully invested in the work with her and didn't do it for the paycheck only. He's driven. And he probably knows best what kind of skater she could still be in shows.
What I want to say is that people who were a crucial part in the development of a person are the ones who are allowed to be disappointed, and David Wilson is such a person. And let's face it, it's very unusal for such a highly decorated figure skater like Yuna to not do shows. It's not something that David Wilson could have forseen. I have respect for Yuna's decision as a fan, but then I have not invested my time and talent in her.
I've written this because I think that everyone who's now angry with David Wilson should at least try to look at it from his point of view. Nothing more.

psusanne said:

When I was a kid a very famous female alpine skier, the best skier at that point in time (and very probably the most talented ever) suddenly stopped skiing during the season. She said that she just lost interest, didn't want to race any longer and was heavily criticised by the retired, probably best female alpine skier ever who also helped her in her career who said that she could have at least finished the season properly and that her talent was an obligation. I remember that I was confused, because I, as a kid, naturally would have wanted her to continue and finish the season, but I could also understand that she just didn't want to do it any longer. But the thing about talent and obligation kept me puzzled and it still does. The point of view makes the difference. I, as a fan, wanted to see her skiing, but I also wanted her to be happy. I have the same feelings when it comes to Yuna.
But David Wilson has invested his time and talent and was a crucial part in Yuna's development as a skater. And he loves figure skating. It's true that he has been paid for his work with Yuna, but I don't think that anyone denies that he was fully invested in the work with her and didn't do it for the paycheck only. He's driven. And he probably knows best what kind of skater she could still be in shows.
What I want to say is that people who were a crucial part in the development of a person are the ones who are allowed to be disappointed, and David Wilson is such a person. And let's face it, it's very unusal for such a highly decorated figure skater like Yuna to not do shows. It's not something that David Wilson could have forseen. I have respect for Yuna's decision as a fan, but then I have not invested my time and talent in her.
I've written this because I think that everyone who's now angry with David Wilson should at least try to look at it from his point of view. Nothing more.

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It's interesting, isn't it? These great athletes who seem to retire too soon. And then there are the athletes who stay too long. I feel David's frustration but I disagree with his inference of her disappearing. To be a little poetic, she may be gone but her shadow remains and will for awhile I suspect. And I admire her desire to give back to the sport and her home country in ways that are frankly more generous and less glamorous than if she did skating shows like David wishes. That Asian work ethic of hers is so damn admirable.

Just for fun, I was watching this video about the 10 most beautiful Asian women and what do you know? Yuna's name popped up. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5hGfJ9t18I

like i said, to be fair, Yuna's career (including shows) is long, how much more outings you wanna she to give then... Yuna had a long career, and retired at an appropriate time too. Most importantly, everyone of her outings are high quality outing.
As for whether Yuna will involve in things directly involve FG in the future like shows, or choreo or tech coach or commentator etc. we still dont know yet, but she is for sure still indirectly involved in FG sports.
Kimme, recently started to do shows after maybe 5 years break, because, she wanted to return to ice again.
Yuna may also do that in future as well.
Asking Yuna fans to think from David's perspective is one thing. Did David think from Yuna's perspective then?
She always said in every interview that is "17 years of FG", why she emphasize that? why skating is not so much fun for her at certain time of her life (it should be a very fun sport).
Did people think about this from Yuna's perspective. or just use it as yet another excuse to bash her.
Bottom line is Yuna has given way more than she should to FG and this world.

Haaa.. this is so cute! (I am also a little worried for her safety) Has this been posted?

From the Russian figure skater Valeria Danitskaja.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_KnIwYKkAo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKP7fen3s8k

^^aww, that is just tooo cute, OS you made my day!:luv17::

yyyskate said:

Bottom line is Yuna has given way more than she should to FG and this world.

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A very true statement but I don't think she gave enough to herself. Towards the end she was skating for her country and their pride rather than her own. Which makes me sad because she must have felt very lonely. She wrote as a teenager that when she gets a silver medal she feels like no one from country congratulates and they only want gold.

It was always sad for me to see the people that were supposedly her biggest supporters also happened to be the people who could make her feel the most inadequate. I remember when Sochi happened all of my Korean friends were complaining about the results. The biggest problem was none of these knew anything about figure skating. There was no appreciation for the actual sport, just protests that their country was robbed of a gold medal. I don't care if you think the decision was wrong or not, but if you don't know about figure skating I don't see how you can comment on who should win.

lyndichee said:

A very true statement but I don't think she gave enough to herself. Towards the end she was skating for her country and their pride rather than her own. Which makes me sad because she must have felt very lonely. She wrote as a teenager that when she gets a silver medal she feels like no one from country congratulates and they only want gold.

It was always sad for me to see the people that were supposedly her biggest supporters also happened to be the people who could make her feel the most inadequate. I remember when Sochi happened all of my Korean friends were complaining about the results. The biggest problem was none of these knew anything about figure skating. There was no appreciation for the actual sport, just protests that their country was robbed of a gold medal. I don't care if you think the decision was wrong or not, but if you don't know about figure skating I don't see how you can comment on who should win.

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Wow… Have you met her personally? How could be so sure about her? Yuna had more fans who defended her than people who blamed her in Korea at that time. I think international fans don’t need to worry about her. Korean people adore Yuna than other countries. ATS is a korea based country. Now she is getting all the supports from her fans and her people from Korea.

So are you content with the Sochi results then?? Again don’t say as if you know her fans in Korea. There is a figure forum in korea also. Many Korean fans with expertise also blame sochi results. Dick button also said Yuna was the winner. Does Dick button know nothing about figure skating? The public can say what they feel. They have every right.

lyndichee said:

A very true statement but I don't think she gave enough to herself. Towards the end she was skating for her country and their pride rather than her own.

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But judging from David Wilson's sentiment, even doing professional shows would not even give her the freedom of personal enjoyment. He was not just expecting her to participate in shows around the world like other retired skaters but he envisioned bigger and brighter things like doing skating movies, tv specials and even more innovative shows that would not happen without her star status (and thus sponsors and funding). So she would have been going from being expected to win gold all the time for her country to somehow now save figure skating from further extinction. That's a hell of a burden to put on someone and I don't blame Yuna for maybe feeling as if skating is more a burden than something she can take pleasure in. I'm also pretty sure that he is not the only who thinks this way or who have talked to Yuna about continuing to skate.

I often wonder if the results in Sochi and how it transpired is actually a blessing in disguise for Yuna. If she won gold how much pressure would she have faced to continue skating or to even compete for the next Olympics in Korea (especially now with Mao and Caroline back to competing). By getting silver the way she did, there is maybe less desire from fans and maybe even the Korean federation to pressure her to make a come back since it looked like the direction where ladies figure skating is going is unfavorable to her. But also she gave two wonderful performances and retired from skating on a high note.

skaterr said:

Wow… Have you met her personally? How could be so sure about her? Yuna had more fans who defended her than people who blamed her in Korea at that time. I think international fans don’t need to worry about her. Korean people adore Yuna than other countries. ATS is a korea based country. Now she is getting all the supports from her fans and her people from Korea.

So are you content with the Sochi results then?? Again don’t say as if you know her fans in Korea. There is a figure forum in korea also. Many Korean fans with expertise also blame sochi results. Dick button also said Yuna was the winner. Does Dick button know nothing about figure skating? The public can say what they feel. They have every right.

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No need to attack me thank you. Please do not interpret my post as an attack on Korean fans. Let's have a rational discussion here okay?

I have not met her personally. Yuna wrote herself that sometimes she felt very lonely in her memoir before the 2010 Olympics. I am not saying that South Korea does not support Kim Yuna. They support her the most of all nationalities obviously but sometimes she felt inadequate not winning the whole competition because they did not congratulate her. I am speaking to what Yuna wrote, not what the fans are saying.

I am not content with the Sochi results but I think life moves on and Kim Yuna of all people want to put the ordeal in the past. When I spoke to her loneliness, it is a separate issue from the Sochi results so don't bundle it all together. My observation amongst my friends who were arguing on social media that the results were wrong did not know anything about figure skating. If you cannot support your point, I don't see why you can go around telling people they are wrong. They don't know that Kim Yuna's signature combination is the 3Lz-3T. They do not know what an axel is. In my eyes one of her legacies was solidifying that a 3-3 is necessary to be a champion. They don't know anything about the sport yet they went around attacking people.

Please don't interpret my post as a generalization. I am speaking to the 20-30 people friends and acquaintances who publicly protested.

The public can say what they want, but these examples I have used clearly said what they want based on nationalism, not because they knew about the sport. I am not impeding on their freedom of speech, but pointing out the irony.

kiara_bleu said:

But judging from David Wilson's sentiment, even doing professional shows would not even give her the freedom of personal enjoyment. He was not just expecting her to participate in shows around the world like other retired skaters but he envisioned bigger and brighter things like doing skating movies, tv specials and even more innovative shows that would not happen without her star status (and thus sponsors and funding). So she would have been going from being expected to win gold all the time for her country to somehow now save figure skating from further extinction. That's a hell of a burden to put on someone and I don't blame Yuna for maybe feeling as if skating is more a burden than something she can take pleasure in. I'm also pretty sure that he is not the only who thinks this way or who have talked to Yuna about continuing to skate.

I often wonder if the results in Sochi and how it transpired is actually a blessing in disguise for Yuna. If she won gold how much pressure would she have faced to continue skating or to even compete for the next Olympics in Korea (especially now with Mao and Caroline back to competing). By getting silver the way she did, there is maybe less desire from fans and maybe even the Korean federation to pressure her to make a come back since it looked like the direction where ladies figure skating is going is unfavorable to her. But also she gave two wonderful performances and retired from skating on a high note.

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Yeah it makes me sad for her. I hope whatever Yuna does in the future, it makes her happy.

I unfortunately have to disagree that it was a blessing in disguise. Her last competitive skate was smeared with a crowd who was clearing waiting for her to mess up at any moment. Subsequently, it erupted in fights between fans. I still see people posting really mean comments on Adelina's instagram photos. Yuna went through a lot of hardships during those Olympic days.

Kim Yuna is fortunate that she doesn't need to rely on shows to make a living and she has her own sports company where she can call the shots. Regardless of what medal, she could make her own decisions after her retirement so I don't think a silver medal meant she could lead a life as she does now.

It’s very convenient to say it’s all from nationalism. How about figure fans who made all the materials to say the sochi results was wrong? Yuna fans did amazing jobs to prove her win.

I think Yuna has been generous and royal to just one choreographer. She has every right to explore new options. She can continue to skate in near future without a help from David. Maybe she does not want to work with him anymore.

OS, omggg. Like I don't know if I find those performances funny or awesome or what Hahaha! But I gotta give it to Valeria though for going all-out for her love for Yuna. It's like a tribute to the highest level of tribute to her idol. :agree:

Whoa! Just a few days away and I miss this bombshell of an interview. Very insightful!

I have to say while I understand Wilson's feeling of "disappointment", I think he's being a bit unfair to Yuna who must feel such a burden by all these expectations, not just to win by her own country, but even the burden from Wilson and Orser to somehow continue beyond Vancouver and "give" even more. Putting myself in Yuna's shoes I can definitely see why she'd want to extricate herself from that situation. Heck, I'd be angry. I'd say to them: after all these titles and medals, what more do you want from me? You want me to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals AND THEN "save" figure skating?!

Wilson's big hopes of "reviving" skating's glory days and putting them squarely on Yuna's shoulders made me realize what an oppressive atmosphere she had to live with all this time--from her mother, her coach, her choreographer, her country, and her fans. It's no wonder she quit even her own ice shows.

I get his sentiment, though. I do wish--as a big fan of hers--that she had done more competitions and would continue with more shows. But I definitely don't wish this over her own well-being or her own autonomy. It is her life, no one else's.

orangejacket said:

OS, omggg. Like I don't know if I find those performances funny or awesome or what Hahaha! But I gotta give it to Valeria though for going all-out for her love for Yuna. It's like a tribute to the highest level of tribute to her idol. :agree:

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I actually started taking figure skating lessons not so long ago, and I dream about participating in the adult figure skating competitions some day. And if it really happens I'll definitely use some of Yuna program as a basis :yay:

skaterr said:

Dick button also said Yuna was the winner. Does Dick button know nothing about figure skating? The public can say what they feel. They have every right.

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I don't want to go into this, but I have the need to correct you on this one. Button did not say that Yuna Kim was the winner, he said that she was a true champion. His sentiments regarding that particular competition and IJS are quite clear when you followed his twitter account. Where he also wrote that David Wilson was an extraordinary choice as a choreographer for Yuna, that he understood her weaknesses and her strengths.

^^
Sorry my English is not that good. I don’t know the differences between two sentences. It sounds very similar to me. I didn’t say David is not a good choreographer. Yuna has a right to work with other excellent choreographers. Just like 4cc gala in Seoul, Korean choreographers can do good jobs. She can feel more comfortable with Koreans because she lives in Korea now

skaterr said:

It’s very convenient to say it’s all from nationalism. How about figure fans who made all the materials to say the sochi results was wrong? Yuna fans did amazing jobs to prove her win.

I think Yuna has been generous and royal to just one choreographer. She has every right to explore new options. She can continue to skate in near future without a help from David. Maybe she does not want to work with him anymore.

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Speaking to the people I knew who argued the case the most. Yes it was nationalism. They wouldn't have cared about Kim Yuna had she not been Korean. Remember I am speaking to the observations I made about my friends and acquaintances.

There are many different type of Yuna fans. I am speaking to the ones who were her fan but didn't know squat about the sport. Kim Yuna dedicated her life and sacrificed a lot for the sport, yet these fans couldn't bother learning anything about the sport and picked fights based on what they felt was right.

Without Kim Yuna I would not have learned about figure skating. I just wish more people learned to appreciate the sport before throwing accusations.

about Korean fan's literacy in FG. I think we cannot just generalization based on individual experience, e.g. a few Korean friends around us, protested out of patriotism even they really don't know much about FG.
I think in Korean FS community, there are also tons of very knowledgeable fans or FG practitioners (and Yuna fans), some of the best analysis of Sochi scandal are coming from Korean fans, (together with all other great analysis of international FG fans not only Yuna fans).

But Yuna is indeed a national hero in Korea, and Sochi scandal is indeed a scandal, when Sochi scandal happened, there of course will be not only FG fans but all kinds of people,
Also, I would not rely on which one person said what (like what Dick Botton said), I will reply on the knowledge of FG and the rules of FG at the time and the general collective knowledge/opinion of FG community. I think it is a HUGE scandal.

FG is an elite sport, we as FG fans in this board may know better than general casual viewers, but even professionals, coaches, rule makers, they disagree on many things, the rules changes all the time. so to expect everyone to understand the tiny bit of everything about fg is not possible. Although I believe that Korean fan's knowledge of FG has improved quite a lot collectively because of Yuna. I wish this trend can continue in the future.

but according to the rules at the time, if judged correctly Yuna should have won. people may disagree on UR, Wrong edges, or stsq, or performance quality (but there should be rules or consensus at the time to base on for the fair judgement, based on those, Yuna should have won, and Sot is ridiculous and wrongfully favored), Sot's score skyrocketed in just one month is a fact that needs no knowledge of FG to see.

a couple of negative comments on Sot's insta is really not a big deal need to be brought up to discuss, Yuna also had her share of enormous amount of bash as well. although some of those bash is more subtle and in a more strategic way.
Yes, I support Korean fans to continuing protest about Sochi scandal (maybe in a more effective way), people can move on, but a scandal is a scandal, move on does NOT equal to erase it in history book.

Like OS said, Love is mutual, if you wanna Yuna to elevate FG, and you may want to give Yuna more love, which is kinda impossible, since maybe FG fans and David and true FG lovers/purist treated Yuna as a global treasure, a gift for this whole world and can transcend beyond nationality and borders.
but some FG consortium has other own business and interest and market to protect.

FG is not only purely FG, it is a game and a show. "A show must go on....."

Kinda like ava, I started FG myself one month after I saw Yuna's 10 performance. My love towards Yuna is purely FG based, there is absolutely no other affinity aspects involved.

EDIT: wanna add, any FG fans for whatever reason get into FG, will eventually gravitate towards Yuna, if they are truly a FG fans, because, Yuna is indeed a very rare God gifted skater, maybe one in a life-time skater, like David said in the interview, Yuna is the only one in his whole career so far.

lyndichee said:

Speaking to the people I knew who argued the case the most. Yes it was nationalism. They wouldn't have cared about Kim Yuna had she not been Korean. Remember I am speaking to the observations I made about my friends and acquaintances.

There are many different type of Yuna fans. I am speaking to the ones who were her fan but didn't know squat about the sport. Kim Yuna dedicated her life and sacrificed a lot for the sport, yet these fans couldn't bother learning anything about the sport and picked fights based on what they felt was right.

Without Kim Yuna I would not have learned about figure skating. I just wish more people learned to appreciate the sport before throwing accusations.

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Please do not blame Korean fans about nationalism. Every country has their own nationalism. Korean fans at least cheer for other figure skaters during the competitions unlike Russians when you watch 4cc. The scandal was huge even IOC do not promote the events with the current Olympic champion. Like yyyskate said, Sot’s score skyrocketed in just one month is a fact that needs no knowledge of FG to see. I would rather enlighten my friends instead of complaining behind their backs.

skaterr said:

Please do not blame Korean fans about nationalism. Every country has their own nationalism. Korean fans at least cheer for other figure skaters during the competitions unlike Russians when you watch 4cc. The scandal was huge even IOC do not promote the events with the current Olympic champion. Like yyyskate said, Sot’s score skyrocketed in just one month is a fact that needs no knowledge of FG to see. I would rather enlighten my friends instead of complaining behind their backs.

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Again I am not blaming ALL South Korean fans. I am blaming the people I observed specifically. The problem is they did not want to be enlightened. They want to hunt down everyone on social media and fight with them. I stopped engaging them because they wanted to argue with me and saying that I wasn't doing enough to reverse the decision.

Don't take my comments as a generalization, I am speaking to an experience and a specific set of fans. I think you are misreading my meaning here. I think I am finished discussing this issue with you because you clearly feel attacked by a misinterpretation.

Let me phrase it this way:

There are so many ways to appreciate Kim Yuna. The way in which I have observed a specific group of people was not a good way of appreciating her. Kim Yuna did not just skate for herself and her country, but she skated for the love of sport and what a shame that some could not appreciate the sport side.