Kim to sit out entire season

I don't have much to say except I hope she will do great what she does.

russell30 said:

YuNa probably the greatest the sport has seen in the Ladies discipline, it is very hard to come back after winning the top prize in sport, you cannot better it and only match it and that comes every 4 years when up and coming skaters come along. Best of luck to her for the future.

PS I know this is another topic, but hope they make Team Asia for Japan Open (like we see for europe and North america) we should see the likes of YuNa skate there.

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My thought exactly!

I was pleasantly surprised to see this year's Japan Open mainly because of Jeffrey and Joannie. Jeffrey doing 3A and Joannie skating great! Why? I think they did like they did because it was a competition not just an ice show. Figure fans and skaters need this kind of or various kind of competitions even if it is not eligible.

JO represents some aspects of current figure skating.
1) Figure skating world needs Japan's money and audience who are willing to pay expensive fees. I don't see any other country can hold this kind of event, at least for now.
2) Most top single skaters belong to Japan, Europe and North America. One of very few exceptions is Yuna.

Will this trend continue and do Japanese maintain this format for JO? If so, Yuna will never skate in JO.
However, I am mostly certain that Chinese single skaters will suffle the current structure in the near future. Well, I hope there will be another prodigy or champion who is NOT from Japan, Europe or North America. If Chinese or other Asians arise in the world arena, JO will have to make Team Asia.

I imagine maybe in 2017 there will be JO where these skaters compete. (Mind you, just my imagination)
Team Japan : Takahashi(pro) and others.
Team Asia : Han Yan(current Worlds champion), Yuna(pro), Li ZiJun(current Worlds bronze) and others.
Team Europe : Russian lady(current Olympic champion), Lambiel(pro) and others
Team North America : Chan(current Olympic champion and current Worlds bronze), Abbott(pro) and others.

Who cares if Takahashi, Yuna, Lambile or Abbott do not win here? Even though they are beaten by younger skaters because of the TES, the audience and the figure fans in the world will love to see them. It will be more exciting because it is a competition but it will not really taxing for skaters because it is not a very serious competition.

I think it won’t happen.

The Japanese fans, media, sponsors and their federation are happy playing buddies with the Europeans and the North Americans, and showcasing their own skaters. They don’t need other Asian skaters to be a part of it.

Even if they add an ex-Japan Asian side to the event, I doubt Yu-Na would participate. She has never appeared in any Japanese event/show since 2007 (except for 2009 ISU GPF). Japanese right-wingers don’t like to see her steal the spotlight on their soil, and Yu-Na knows it. Besides, is there anything for her to promote there as far as figure skating goes? It isn’t worth her time and effort. The Japanese generally are not that appreciative of her anyway (just look around these boards).

Oh bummer for us but good for Yuna. Glad to hear this decision makes her feel free and easy and I hope she has a better year than last year! I too hope she keeps performing in shows. She has nothing left to prove but who knows? Maybe she will decide she misses competing after all and we'll get to see her in Sochi.
It'll be interesting to speculate this season without the great Kim Yuna!

I completely agree with lowtherlore. Why on earth would Yuna skate in Japan at all, and especially for a pointless fluff competition like the Japan Open? She doesn't need the money. After seeing the nastiness from some of the Japanese on Youtube, the fact that they seem to not like her because she competed directly with their top skaters, and the fact that they made such a big deal out of comments she made, I would personally advise her to avoid Japan completely.

Yuna should've quit after Olys.Gone out on huge victorious note. She was a disappointment, in the following outings. Not the real Yuna with passion/fire to win..... really, no spark. Better had she gone out on high note. I never beleived she be back. Like seeing her compete much more than those fluff shows.

Since Yuna Kim is retiring, does that mean the Yuna-bots also go away since there is no reason to follow figure skating anymore?

I don't know whether I'm a Yuna fan, but I'm a huge fan of hers, and I think her departure from skating (if this is a departure) will be a tremendous loss for skating for many reasons. Ladies' skating is in a trough right now because no one is putting out the awesome moves that create excitement.

By the way, I'm also a huge fan of Mao Asada's, so it is possible. (What exactly makes someone a bot, anyway?) I think that enthusiastic fans can be a good thing, and if YuNa brought new fans into skating, great! I hope they stay and learn more about skating. I suspect that a lot of them are very young, and this is what young fans sound like--just listen to Justin Bieber fans. We shouldn't be trying to weed out fans of skating, people! We should be inviting more fans in. They'll figure out to behave with some experience.

What I hope even more is that YuNa's efforts to put Korea on the skating map don't go in vain, and that other Korean skaters rise to the occasion. What I selfishly hope for the most is that YuNa remains in skating, whether competitive or exhibition skating. In fact, pro skating might be a better path for her, because she's in a position to revitalize it in several countries with artistically innovative programs. Wouldn't it be grand if there were more pro programs (possibly including pro competitions) available to watch or to attend?

brightphoton said:

Since Yuna Kim is retiring, does that mean the Yuna-bots also go away since there is no reason to follow figure skating anymore?

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NOPE! This YuNa-bot is staying! Neener, neener.

And every season I'll be hoping she comes back to skate, maybe for 10 years like fans of another skater... But, as always, her life and happiness first. I am glad she did not just disappear after her Olympic victory. Her LP last year was the highlight of the season for me (in true YuNa-bot fashion. )

It would be nice for the pro-skating thing to be a proper artistic venue, like ballet or opera or orchestra.

The sad thing about figure skating is that people tend to fall down a lot. It's sometimes hard to watch pro-shows or even exhibitions because you're always crossing your fingers for them to stay upright, or not cut each other with the blades. Show skaters should really learn non-risky but still impressive moves, like split jumps, or delayed jumps, or hydroplaneing, or that fast twirly series thing that Tara Lipinski always does.

brightphoton said:

It would be nice for the pro-skating thing to be a proper artistic venue, like ballet or opera or orchestra.

The sad thing about figure skating is that people tend to fall down a lot. It's sometimes hard to watch pro-shows or even exhibitions because you're always crossing your fingers for them to stay upright, or not cut each other with the blades. Show skaters should really learn non-risky but still impressive moves, like split jumps, or delayed jumps, or hydroplaneing, or that fast twirly series thing that Tara Lipinski always does.

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Agreed. Or amazing footwork that really brings out the music, like Kurt Browning's. (Well, not like Kurt Browning's. I don't think anyone alive can equal him.) In a way, pairs and ice dance couples have an advantage in this kind of skating, because they can create an emotional mood and do lifts and holds. It would be interesting also to see some sort of group or corps work. That's always impressive in filmed dancing or in ballet performance.