Maybe I don't understand what trolling is. Could someone please explain this comment to me? I've seen posts on YouTube about various skaters that I couldn't even repeat to myself, let alone to other people, and I could immediately see that they were made by trolls. I see nothing approaching that on this thread. Perhaps I'm missing something.
What are Yuna Kim's strongest points as a skater?
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Maybe I don't understand what trolling is. Could someone please explain this comment to me? I've seen posts on YouTube about various skaters that I couldn't even repeat to myself, let alone to other people, and I could immediately see that they were made by trolls. I see nothing approaching that on this thread. Perhaps I'm missing something.
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Yuna fans think everyone who doesn't think Yuna Kim is the ultimate perfection is a troll.
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- Feb 27, 2012
Olympia, I think one form of trolling is stirring up the pot only for the sake of stirring up the pot -- finding satisfaction in provoking others, and saying something for no other purpose than to push their buttons.
I have not read much of this thread, but I recall that the second part of the original title was, "Why do we find her superior?" --which did strike me as presumptuous for a thread in The Edge (as opposed to Fan Fests).
I'm glad that the thread title was changed, per someone's valid request -- and that at least some of the posts have been sincere and thoughtful.
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- Dec 29, 2011
Olympia said:
I don't know if I can really help you with that, but I thought the entry post really had some trollish parts (like Yunas is superior because she wears longer skirts ect.). It's obviously not an argument for anything in this regard, but one might say it was meant to mock other skaters wearing shorter skirts like Carolina. Honestly, when I read the first post, I felt a little as if the poster wanted to mock Yuna and her fans, or better to say what he/she feels are uberish posts and arguments you sometimes read. Some parts just don't have any merit to them aside from making people feel offended.
It's however not such a drastic example, there are way worse examples of trolling pretty much everywhere around the internet. And after that, I think there are a lot of lovely, well thought out and completly un-trollish posts from different posters about Yuna and her strengths in regards to other skaters, and that's completly fine. So I wouldn't say that this is a troll thread either.
Thanks, everyone. I likewise thought that many people made some very thoughtful points and helped me appreciate the subtleties of all three of the top ladies' skating--and I enjoy all three to begin with.
To continue the discussion, one thing that I especially appreciate about the three major ladies is that they've stayed around for so long. This shows their determination, and it also allows us fans the luxury of watching their artistic and technical development across an arc of time. A quick rise and disappearance can be impressive (think of Tara), but a long career shows a mastery of the sport that to me is far more satisfying to watch.
To continue the discussion, one thing that I especially appreciate about the three major ladies is that they've stayed around for so long. This shows their determination, and it also allows us fans the luxury of watching their artistic and technical development across an arc of time. A quick rise and disappearance can be impressive (think of Tara), but a long career shows a mastery of the sport that to me is far more satisfying to watch.
Indeed, Olympia, and that is why I am SOOOOO excited that Kim Yuna is back for another Olympic cycle and in top form. I think Kim Yuna is truly blessed with a body that allows her to skate with such speed and jump so high. Watching her ice coverage live at worlds last year was just astonishing. Nevermind that she came back after hiatus is competitive skating and did so well against the odds.
I think gmyers is spot on when he says that her confidence in the technical abilities - assuming she is well trained - allows her to perform artistically. That is a huge advantage over the other skaters, who are not so consistent.
However, I have to say that Carolina's ice presence was also hugely impressive and she has a certain charisma of her own. I don't want to say she's more charismatic than Yuna, that is subjective, but some may think so. We all know her struggles with consistency and it has been a challenge for her to maintain her technical level during her long senior career. So that's obviously her challenge this year but given that it's an Olympic year and she'll be hugely motivated, I think we can expect her to be formidable. How exciting would it be to see Carolina win her first Olympic medal, of any color? Of the top lady skaters, her evolvement over the years in some ways has impressed me the most. She has lost the slight awkwardness of just a few years ago and has completely won me over. I am just as excited that she is also around for another Olympic cycle.
And Mao, too. She doesn't have the speed and ice coverage of other other two _ I was watching from very up high and it really stood out _ but she outclasses everyone else when it comes to her delicate style, extension, posture. Certainly Carolina and Yuna don't match her on that. I'll be thrilled for whoever wins the Olympics next year.
honestly, I was unpleasant in it
While skaters are working hard, She was not in competition. she had long hiatus and came back and easily won skaters who efforted much more than her
when look her attitude, it seemed she take her winning for granted... she did't even seemed too thrilled to result. As a long figure skating fan, I felt it's unfair.. dissatisfied in it.
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- Sep 22, 2010
And this is her fault?
A skater wins on how they perform in competition, now how much effort they put before the competition.Besides, you have no idea how much work Yuna actually put into her comeback. Suffice it to say, she worked just as hard in the months leading up to London, as any other skater who showed up for Worlds. In fact, if her practices at Worlds compared to other skaters were any indication, she put in much more effort. Her competitors were practically absent and seemingly relaxing while she was killing the practices everyday. So who exactly put in more "effort"?
And this is her fault?
I didn't said it's her fault.
Just that situation is really annoyed meWell it's not like she sat out one season because she wanted to be lazy while others were training, but because she didn't know what direction her life should turn after the Olympics. In interviews she made clear, that after her Olympic dream came true, she asked herself, what she wanted to do in the future. She seriously considered retiring from competive skating completely and used her off-season to graduate from college and put some more time into her job as UNICEF ambassador, as well as aiding the Special Olympics in 2013.
It was only after this break, that she the competitive fire came back to her and she told the world, she wanted to show and skate more programms, that touches the audience. She also clearly stated in an interview, that she wanted to compete in Sochi, but never took this for granted, or even win Gold. Whenever journalists asked her prior 2013 worlds (there were too many interview after 2013 worlds to follow them all, so I can't be sure about them), if Gold is her goal in Sochi, her answers were hestistant and she often said that she just wanted to skate and perform to the fullest capability without regrets and that a medal would be great, but she also knows how hard it's going to be and that there are excellent competitors out there.
As for your feelings of her seeminly easily winning over skaters, who have worked very hard to come this far: Well, I don't think coming back was as effortless as her skating seems. I'm sure Yuna put a lot of work into her comeback and though there may well be skaters, who worked harder than her, she's fully aware of that fact and is thankful for the talent, she was born with. In an interview after 2013 Special Olympics (competition for mentally disabled), were Yuna participated with an GALA skate together with Michelle Kwan, she said: Seeing all the athletes really impressed her. Many have overcome prejudices and hardships, and seeing them is really heartwarming.
I'm not comparing her comeptitors with mentally disabled, but what I wanted to say, is, that as far as I've followed Yunas interviews and attitude, she talks respectfully of her competitors and doesn't take any of her winnings or natural talent for granted, but sets high standards in work ethics for herself.
Plus, I sometimes feel that she is too lucky. I remember she had many clean Short Program. but small mistakes in long program.
And She first made that two cleans at Olympic. Olympic is the biggest and important competition. So all the skaters receive so big pressure than in any competitions.
but she made what she couldn't made in other competitions, in Olympic. Weird
I think she has definitely great ability, but also I feel she always receive the help of luck.
It is another reason that I'm annoyed about her
And She first made that two cleans at Olympic. Olympic is the biggest and important competition. So all the skaters receive so big pressure than in any competitions.
but she made what she couldn't made in other competitions, in Olympic. Weird
I think she has definitely great ability, but also I feel she always receive the help of luck.
It is another reason that I'm annoyed about her
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- Sep 22, 2010
[...]
As for your feelings of her seeminly easily winning over skaters, who have worked very hard to come this far: Well, I don't think coming back was as effortless as her skating seems. I'm sure Yuna put a lot of work into her comeback and though there may well be skaters, who worked harder than her, she's fully aware of that fact and is thankful for the talent, she was born with. In an interview after 2013 Special Olympics (competition for mentally disabled), were Yuna participated with an GALA skate together with Michelle Kwan, she said: Seeing all the athletes really impressed her. Many have overcome prejudices and hardships, and seeing them is really heartwarming.
I'm not comparing her comeptitors with mentally disabled, but what I wanted to say, is, that as far as I've followed Yunas interviews and attitude, she talks respectfully of her competitors and doesn't take any of her winnings or natural talent for granted, but sets high standards in work ethics for herself.
Great post, Eclair! I can't see how anyone would accuse Yuna of taking her winning for granted. She had put so much training and practice to get back in the game, knew very well that ice was slippery and never assumed she would win. Her public goal was always to win TWO spots for Korea--a mere top ten finish at Worlds. In her interviews she's always commented on how she *hoped* for good results, cautioned that unexpected conditions on the day of the competition could lead to mistakes, and prepared as well as she could so that there would be no regrets.
As for her reaction after her skate and after her score, she's won everything already. She's been there, done that. What did you expect? Nevertheless, she had a beaming smile and a stunned reaction (she clasp her hand over her mouth and afterwards was shaking her head in disbelief as she approached the Kiss-and-Cry) which to me showed that she certainly did not expect or took for granted her winning in such a manner.
What enables her to perform cleanly, is her high succuss-rate in her jumps: I would have to search for the exact numbers, but she lands her 3lutz-3toe in practice cleanly 80 - 98 % of the time. It only takes a 'small' portion of luck in competitve situations to land them cleanly too.
While other skaters may only have a 60-70 % success rate in one or two of their jumping passes. For them it takes 'a lot of' luck, to land them cleanly in competion.
Therefore I don't believe yuna is a lot more luckier than anyone else, but she has good basics and as we've seen from her practices: if somebody is skating her program cleanly time and time again, it doesn't need much luck to repeat that in competition.
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- Jun 21, 2003
Only spectators talk about luck. An athlete either brings her A game or does not.
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- Aug 21, 2012
It's obviously your prerogative to like/dislike Yuna, but I'm going to point out that there's no such thing as "luck" in elite sports.
"Luck" is finding a winning lottery ticket in the gutter or getting to work on time despite heavy traffic. EVERY athlete -- figure skater, gymnast, swimmer, sprinter -- must rely on years of agonizing, often torturous training. And on competition day, "luck" plays no hand in how you perform. Was Michael Phelps "lucky" to win eight gold medals in Beijing? Was McKayla Maroney "lucky" that she landed a perfect vault at the perfect time in London?
Either you show up in the correct mental state, or you don't. Either you bring it, or you don't. Yuna knew the importance of the Olympics and finally performed like she practiced; she did it again at 2013 Worlds. I must also point out that it's extremely difficult to skate two flawless programs under the COP; between them, you have ten jumping passes and more than fifteen jumps. So far, the ONLY lady under the current scoring protocol who has had near-perfect consistency for a few seasons is Rachael Flatt.
Can you imagine what figure skating would look like if every jump was a hit-or-miss, flying-on-a-prayer attempt? Well, THAT'S luck.
Yuna may be fortunate to have her body type and mental strength, but she isn't "lucky." Luck implies chaos; that you don't control how you perform. Yuna and many others have proved, time and again, that the opposite is true.
Yes, indeed. There's a saying that you make your own luck, and another one (attributed to Thomas Edison, who ought to know) that genius is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration. YuNa clearly works plenty hard in order to achieve consistency, so that she can count on her muscle memory at the time when it counts the most.
She is indeed fortunate to have the right body type and the right temperament for skating, as you point out. But as you also say, that's where her good fortune ends. The rest is up to her, and it calls for hard work and training. There's no luck involved in showing up day after day, going over the same elements again and again until you could execute them in your sleep. That's what all skaters need to do, and YuNa seems to do this better than almost anyone else most of the time.
No competition is a foregone conclusion, no matter how good a skater is. YuNa certainly knows this. She has ended up on the podium in every one of her senior competitions, isn't that right? But she hasn't won every one of them. So she knows she can be beaten, and she can be beaten by the very ladies who will likely be competing against her in Sochi. So she can't depend on luck, and clearly she doesn't plan to.
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- Nov 10, 2009
Yes. Definitely her fault. How DARE she be lucky without putting in the effort that everyone else put into their training and programs? How dare she jump so effortlessly through her luck? How dare she skate so fast all through luck?
How dare she? How dare she? HOW DARE SHE?
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- Aug 21, 2012
Still adding to Eclair's comment, Yuna actually said that one of the hardest parts of contemplating a comeback was deciding whether or not she wanted to put herself through the pain and struggle of training again.
To us, Yuna seemed back to her old self in the blink of an eye. To her, the months upon months of getting back into competitive shape were agonizing. I remember watching a documentary about Nadia Comaneci, the great gymnast, who wanted to return to the international stage after a year away. Her coach at the time said that the training and practices were quite literally torture.
Yuna's return was by no means an easy decision to make or to stick to, and however one may feel about her skating, she is to be commended for her incredible determination and work ethic.
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- Mar 23, 2010
it's not like yuna was spending in the island and just having a time of her life..
you have no idea how she worked her butt off just to be in competitive shape.. what makes you think it's unfair??? so much whining.
