Kim undecided on Worlds

I love what you said about skating's maybe being YuNa's destiny. I can imagine this serious young woman thinking of skating in this way.

Yuna's situation is different from that of most other skaters. First, she is rich. Money is not a factor in her life anymore. Second, she is multi-talented: a natural model, a good singer, a good TV-host/star, etc. The opportunities open to her are tremendous, skating is not the only thing she is good at. Needless to say, all these opportunities give her a lot of options. On the other hand, Yuna has said that she would like to just be a normal girl for change, maybe go to college etc. With all these possibilities on her plate coupled with her clear love of skating and all the clamor/love from her fan base, no wonder she is having a hard time deciding what to do with her life post OGM.

Dragonlady said:

Yu-Na Kim may or may not have decided whether she wants to skate at Worlds but I'm sure the Korean Federation will make up her mind for her before the entry due date. Without Yu-Na there is no second spot for Korean Ladies at Worlds. I got the distinct impression that Yu-Na didn't want to be there last year since she looked so unhappy on the ice.

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Are you serious? The Korean Federation is in no position to dictate her. South Korea is not an East Germany. They could beg her or try to persuade her, but it's her own call to be in for the season or not.

Anyway, as for the thread subject, there's no reason for her to declare early whether she'll skip the whole season or not, no?

lcd said:

From the observations made over the years, including those from before the Vancouver Olympics, there seems little question that skating is foremost for Yuna, a job. The joy and fun - while it may have gone out with the level of success she has had (probably inevitably) - but I agree with those who observe that she seems less and less willing to "fake" like she is enjoying herself. She has accomplished so much, given so much to her sport and national pride already, the pressures and the burden must be enormous. I suspect she has already decided in her own mind (though, of course, WHO KNOWS) but is largely saying she is undecided so that interest simply does not go away in terms of the prospect. That would be my guess.

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This is absurd and ludicrous. One does not attain the status of an Olympic champion in a field that one sees as simply a burden or "job". Passion is absolutely necessary to attain that level. To say Yuna achieved the success she did while "faking" enjoyment of skating is an insult. She may not have outwardly shown it as well as others, but it's an unfair judgement to draw from that. Yuna is a shy and reclusive girl. She still is despite having adapted to public and media exposure over the years.

Yeah, I also don't think she was "faking" her enjoyment. Pressure plays a big role in a skater's ability to project joy in their performances. Just look at Irina and Michelle. In their own ways, their skating displayed so much joy and passion. But with the pressure of big competitions like the Olympics, you could see that the added burden did affect the quality of their performances. (I refer to Irina and Michelle because they are among the most passionate skaters in recent memory, but certainly Olympic pressure seems to take the joy out of most performances I have seen.) Yuna was an exception to that; her Olympic performance was reminiscent of the pressure-free skates of Tara and Sarah, with the big difference being that Yuna was of course a heavy favorite. In defense of LCD, there is a component of "acting" to a good skating performance. I wouldn't call it faking, but certainly it is an added aspect to performing that can be difficult for someone shy and reclusive.

Krislite said:

This is absurd and ludicrous. One does not attain the status of an Olympic champion in a field that one sees as simply a burden or "job".

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IIRC at least one of Katarina Witt's Olympic moments were done more out of "need to/job" than "passion". just saying. I think Yuna has a passion for skating - but I think she seems happier without the pressure... the only time that seems to be a non-issue is when a gold medal is not on the line. I can't blame her. The expectations of her by the fans, and the way she has achieved Godlike status makes even the slighest stumble from the top seem like an unending pit.

with all the boards she is on; Uniceif, helping out Special Olympics, Olympics, plus her other skating shows, endorsement.
she is busy. so i don't know if she would have the time to really practice for worlds , plus pick out a new music, and choreography for her to skate with.
she would have to manage her time between what she does and practice and be ready for worlds even in march.she is one busy lady.
i wish her the best.

sunny0760 said:

5. I tremendously respect athletes who are dedicated to their sports. For example, Jang Miran has been the best weight lifter in the world for a long time. She is 28 and will participate in the London olys next year. She set all the world records at the Beijing olys but it was 3 years ago. She has been suffering from small injuries and a car accident. This year, a 20 year old Russian girl set new world records this year. Will Jang be able to win? People would think the 20 year old has better chance. I kind of agree. However, this situation makes me respect Ms. Jang even more.
Just wanted to add this because when someone in this thread said 'participation is a priviledge', it reminded me of Jang.

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Can you really compare Jang though to Kim. They are different people with different circumstances. For example Kim is now independently wealthy is Jang? It may be that Jang needs to continue weight lifting as long as possible. Also skating has other avenues besides worlds/olympics such as shows, does Jang's sport? The prize money for an Olympic silver may mean little to Yu-na but it might mean a lot ot Jang still.

I'd point out too that they issue for Yu-na may not be love of skating and it may not even be that she doesn't enjoy competiting. The issue for her may very well be the stress and expectations. She's a huge star in Korea and with that comes ridiculous amounts of expectations including that she wins all the time. It may be the fact that she feels her country won't regard participation as enough. I remember her stating that she wasn't congratulated for her world silver medal and it bothered her. If she was less of a star maybe she'd enjoy competiting more of course less means less money too.

At this point Yu-na may just want to experience other things in her life. She reportedly use to train long long hours and maybe now she wants to enjoy life for a little bit. Maybe after awhile she'll come back. Or she'll give back to her sport with shows/coaching.

I just don't think its fair to necessarily compare.

bekalc said:

Can you really compare Jang though to Kim.

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No. I did not compare Jang to Kim in the previous post and I agree with most of what you said about Yuna.
No, I don't think Jang's primary motive is money if you suggested so.
The best thing is that both Yuna and Jang are relatively healthy now without serious injuries even if they have minor ones.

As for the expectations and pressure... Yes, they are certainly there. But I don't think that most Koreans expect her to win at every single competition she may participate in. That's ridiculous. Last year's world? Yes, there were big expectations. But not now.

I remember how disappointed most people felt to see she bombed in the SP of the 2010 Worlds. They thought she might be off the podium for the first time of her life and had some doubts that she would rappidly lose her compatitiveness as an athlete like another past olympic hero they knew.

And about the result of this year's Worlds, I think people were a little disappointed too but I have never heard of harsh criticism about her like last year's SP. Well, she participated TWICE in the Worlds after her biggest accomplishment. She did her best to prepare the Worlds and to do the exellent activities for the Pyeongchang olys. She deserves making decisions of her own life. IMO, this is some kind of concensus.

International Figure Skating Magazine Facebook has this status

Yuna Kim keeps on giving back to the sport.

Media
www.olympic.org

As the Austrian city of Innsbruck celebrates 100 days to go until the first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games in January 2012, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pleased to announce that figure skater and Olympic champion Yuna Kim from the Republic of Korea is the latest Winter Youth Olympic...

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I thought it was cute. Looks like someone from the IFS magazine has been visiting this thread

Yap I totally agree :thumbsup:

I saw this video on twitter about youth Olys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjgbYdUXYr0&feature=player_embedded

congrats Yuna with your new role!