Is there a scenario where Yuna might change her mind for 2018?

[RABID]

I noted that Yuna's primary goal for this last Worlds was to give other Korean ladies a chance to experience the Olympics. Wouldn't that be even more so for 2018? What happens if there is still a perceived vacuum with the Korean ladies program come 2016? With some urging by a worried Korean Olympic committee could she do a repeat of 2013 Worlds doing 2017 Worlds to once again get spots for the Korean ladies in that Olympics? And you know that if she goes she is going to go hard. And what if this next Olympics is a bust, for what ever reason? I just think, giving what her age will be and that Korea will be the host country that Yuna might be "encouraged" to reconsider her decision to retire. There must be other scenarios as well.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I could see that happening, if she stopped competing came back for the 2017 worlds and 2018 olympics she has already proven she can do it. Its not she will have concerns over qualifying.

 

[gmyers]

Of course! If she wins Sochi by 20 or 30 points of course she would consider coming back. It means nothing had changed in 4 years and maybe it could happen again because no one even on the horizon can hope to be better than her. No one has proven to be anywhere near her talent from 2010 to present!!! That is so crazy!!! No one in the whole of ladies skating was anywhere near Yuna in 2010 and again in 2013.

 

[Krislite]

Certainly, though it may mean a rather boring ladies field for the next quad leading to PyeongChang. During the latest quad, no women's skater came to dominate in a way that closed the door to any hope of a comeback. None of the world champs since Vancouver have dominated the field--not Mao, not Miki, not Carolina. No young talent has stepped up to fill that void either. This left the field wide open, and with Yuna still in shape, it was just enough I think to nudge her mind back into competition.

Her mind, though, is almost 100% made up to retire after Sochi, regardless of what happens in the years leading up to PyeongChang. I actually think she would be more likely to return for a third time, were the 2018 Olympics NOT held in Korea. Home ice isn't an advantage for her--only added pressure.

There is a non-zero chance, though, she might be back for PyeongChang. After all, almost everyone assumed that Vancouver was the end of the road for her, and yet here she is going for another Olympics.

 

[Jammers]

I can't see Yuna wanting to continue to skate beyond 2014. She will be 4 years older in 2018 and the current younger skaters will be much better by then not to mention the 13, 14 year olds who are still in Juniors might be even better then Gold, Osmond, Adelina etc etc.

 

[chuckm]

Stranger things have happened. Heck, if Plushenko can come back for a 4th Olympics, YuNa could come back for a 3rd. She will be 27 in 2018; look at all the medals Suzuki has won in the past two years, and Akiko doesn't have anywhere near YuNa's talents.

 

[ehdtkqorl123]

I strongly think that possibility is 0%.

 

[Eclair]

I'm pretty sure this Olympics will be the last time we'll see Yuna skate in competition. Why? Because when she announced her 'break' after Worlds 2011, she named what it was: A break. She never said that she's definitly retiring, but always let the possibility of returning open.
In contrast, she's already definitly said that Sochi will be her last Olympics. Since out of experience, Yuna always did what she said, is very careful in what she promises and never announced anything that didn't happen (no exaggeration here, she really always did what she promised, like when talking about the planned 3lutz-3toe in the 2009/2010 season).
The decision the retire after Sochi is already done, no matter the outcome and she's already announced it.

 

[BlackPack]

Three-time Olympic Champion? If anyone can do something seemingly impossible, it would be Yuna. Her wealth allows her to be set for life. After Sochi, what else will give her the same thrill, adrenaline, and glory than Olympic competition? Becoming a world-class actress? I don't know. What other goals can give her the same rush? We tend to laugh at the possibility of skaters staying on for multiple Olympics, but it's been done many times before. There will be many comebacks in Sochi, and there will be comebacks in 2018. Not everyone gets to win gold at every Olympics, but just making it to the Olympics is already an accomplishment.

 

[lcd]

Well, money won't be an incentive unless the number of zero's is on the order of magnitude of like,.... 8
Girl will be pushing Oprah out of the way on the Fortune list of $$celebs

 

[Robeye]

Girl will be pushing Oprah out of the way on the Fortune list of $$celebs

I'm as big a fan of Yuna as anyone, but somehow I doubt that .

 

[kwanatic]

I just don't see it happening. What? Are they going to force her to compete just to get spots? At some point the rest of the Korean skaters will have to step up and earn their spots themselves. Yu-Na put Korea on the map in the figure skating world but it's not her responsibility to keep it there. The federation needs to do what it can to improve the skaters it has and get them to where they need to be. I think they already have two very lovely ladies that they should be investing their time and effort into: So Youn Park and Haejin Kim.

I imagine Yu-Na will take the Shizuka Arakawa route rather than the Sarah Hughes route when it comes to skating after retirement. Shizuka maintained her form and jumps for years after she retired and probably could have returned to competition if she wanted to. Sarah OTOH basically lost all of her jumps within the span of two years and was/is reduced to doing nothing but doubles. I think Yu-Na's natural ability will allow her to maintain her jumps but I don't think she'll want to come back in 2018.

The landscape is already different this time around. Heading into Vancouver, there were no up-and-comers putting pressure on the vets. The only "newbies" were Mirai, Rachael, Alena and Ksenia. This year and looking forward toward the 2014-2015 season, there are considerably more ladies coming up through the ranks and entering the field: Gracie, Kaetlyn, Adelina, Zijun, Elizaveta, Julia...plus girls who have yet to debut on the senior GP: Courtney, Angela, Elena Radionova, Polina Edmunds, etc. And that doesn't even include the girls who haven't even made it to the JGP yet.

Unlike last time there is a lot of talent coming up. I don't think we're going to have another 4 years of the same ladies from the past two quads shuffling around on the podium. Especially with the majority of them retiring, we're moving into a different era in skating with a new generation of skaters. Hopefully another skater will rise out of Korea for this new generation and continue on the path Yu-Na has paved.

 

[spikydurian]

There seems to be an obssession here and elsewhere whether Yuna will skate in 2018? Fear? Love?

 

[bebevia]

There seems to be an obssession here and elsewhere whether Yuna will skate in 2018? Fear? Love?

Fear: Need; the field remains slow like the last three years that we really need Yuna to make up for that (again).
Love: Want; we want more of her!

One possibility is where another whowereyouagain politician suddenly opens up a figure skating youth scholarship event/program and threatens her he would cancel it if she doesn't attend. Happened.

 

[aftertherain]

There seems to be an obssession here and elsewhere whether Yuna will skate in 2018? Fear? Love?

Possibly selfishness as well.

 

[kwanatic]

Possibly selfishness as well.

People are going to find it really hard to accept that she isn't coming back. It's a gradual process of letting go but eventually they'll get there...

 

[Krislite]

People are going to find it really hard to accept that she isn't coming back. It's a gradual process of letting go but eventually they'll get there...

Wait, Sochi isn't over until next year! We can't start the process of grieving yet...

In all seriousness, I think the likelihood is "practically" zero, but the original poster did ask for a hypothetical "is there a scenario...?", rather than what is almost certain to be the case (i.e., permanent retirement). Yuna, of course, is always free to change her mind. I won't be holding my breath, though.

 

[gmyers]

I think she'll keep a close eye on the situation. After she wins a second gold in Sochi and no up and comer steps up after Sochi as none did after Vancouver then she will look at it! Why should she turn down a third gold medal? I posted this earlier but she may announce total retirement but maybe she will stay a little a curious.

 

[kwanatic]

I think she'll keep a close eye on the situation. After she wins a second gold in Sochi and no up and comer steps up after Sochi as none did after Vancouver then she will look at it! Why should she turn down a third gold medal? I posted this earlier but she may announce total retirement but maybe she will stay a little a curious.

She doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would want to come back just to beat a whole bunch of younger skaters just for the sake of saying "ha ha, I'm still the best." Yu-Na doesn't seem to have a that kind of ego. Her reasons for coming back this time are largely selfless. Yes she still wants to compete, but at the same time she made it very clear that part of the reason she was doing this was for the younger skaters in Korea to have an opportunity to participate in Sochi.

 

[aftertherain]

I think she'll keep a close eye on the situation. After she wins a second gold in Sochi and no up and comer steps up after Sochi as none did after Vancouver then she will look at it! Why should she turn down a third gold medal? I posted this earlier but she may announce total retirement but maybe she will stay a little a curious.

If she comes back for 2018, I think it would be more on the KOC's or KSU's insistence (and persistence) than of her own volition.