KB (Kookmin Bank) Gold and Wise - An Interview with Yuna Kim.
**2015 - To Live like Yuna Kim**
At the end of last year the sports journalists announced “The Top 10 News of the Year.” Among the news a story about Yuna Kim’s retirement caught my attention. Suddenly I was curious. Whether she has freedom, is she happy, and what kind of new dreams is she dreaming about.
What kind of changes has happened in her life.
*First Winter after Retirement*
For the past years, winter meant it’s the season of Yuna Kim to us. We watched her, who seemed to be gracefully dancing on ice, and we were moved. We cheered for her. We were happy.
Yuna Kim retired at the end of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
New Winter. After her retirement I wondered how Yuna spends her first winter. I met her and asked if this winter gives any unusual meaning. I thought of Yuna Kim we know was living a different new life. I was curious about how someone who has experienced as the top of the field thru her own efforts was spending her time. But the reply was nothing I had expected.
“I go to the Taereung Ice Rink almost every day. I go to school to study since I’m a graduate student, and when I have time, I go to the Rink to check up on my juniors. It’s been a steady work since last summer. I watch them and offer advice on things to complement/compensate (weaknesses) or pay attention to. That doesn’t mean I act like their coach since they have their main coaches. I don’t meddle in their business from beginning to end. I just tell them this and that kind of stories from the side. They’ve all practiced with me since young so I’m just unni and nuna (older sister) to them.”
In all honesty, as I cover her interview I expected her answers to be something dramatic like ‘I can’t leave because I just love the ice rink’ or ‘I really can’t stand it now.’ However, still poised as ever, Yuna brightly laughed and said,
“I don’t have feelings like I especially hate the place or can’t stand it. It’s not that I can’t get away from the ice rink because I’m too familiar with it, it’s just fun to check up on the skaters. I've enjoyed watching them in training for a long time. Before my retirement, even after I stopped competing I thought of offering them advice while watching them like this if conditions allow. That is an immensely ordinary task for me. I enjoy doing it and it’s also rewarding because the juniors are doing great.”
So, to Yuna Kim retirement does not mean of something a big, fundamental change. Simply because she’s ending a competitive skating life, it does not mean she begins a new life.
“It doesn’t mean there’s no change. Having no physical pains is a significant change. I became more comfortable. We use our bodies so we have to treat our bodies carefully even while not training. Watching my diet, and also you’re not really free from pains. That’s why you can’t really relax and have fun even when you have time. You’re always in a state of tension. Just breaking free from that was a significant change. I also have spare time. During my competitive years I was busy sleeping from exhaustion after training, but these days I have time to breathe so it is a big change. Isn’t it a big change? I think I’m living an extremely different life, haha!”
*Things I Could Do*
Whether the temperature rises or drops, winter is same as it ever was just like Yuna’s life. Although she has wrapped up her figure skating career, she’s been silently doing her part as a pillar of the Korean figure skating world.
“I can’t say for sure, but it looks like I’ll be living a life that’s related to figure skating. What’s encouraging is that figure skating event has become more promising than the time I was skating. I often see some very young skaters who are so talented and skillful. It feels good to watch them, but on the other hand I know how the life of figure skating is like so I do feel so bad for them. But I want them to work hard and participate in the competitions. Of course they all are doing great so I’m very thankful of their efforts. As long as they work hard, I’ll be doing my share of work that I could do as their senior. I’ll also tell them things I learned from my experiences in the international competitions.”
*The Know-how of Becoming the Best*
If I were her junior(following her footsteps), I said her ‘concentration’ is the skill I’d most want to learn from her; however, she replied back, ‘but don’t people do that when they’re working on something?’ Of course, people do concentrate in whatever the work is. But as you know, Yuna’s concentration is something uniquely special.
“I think it’s not that much different from what office workers would do. Maybe it might look somewhat more demanding because it’s about the momentary battles of figure skaters? You must get back on the track in a nick of time. If there’s a different thing about me, I don’t know, it’s not really about concentration but perhaps I’m much more able to quickly rebound and get my ‘messed-up concentration’ back. For example, if you make a mistake during a skate, the whole mechanism of rhythm breaks and get messed up. You must quickly get back on track in such moment. You should not let the entire performance be about mistakes. I’m rather a simple-minded person so I’m not the type who thinks too much, and that’s why I could forget those things quickly and rebound.”
Yuna Kim, who so humbly mentions that all people work hard and she’s not much special from them. She added,
“I think it’s important to be dedicated in the present time. Even when I was competing I didn’t think far ahead. I only thought of what I was doing at the moment. ‘Let’s do this right. If I did this, then on to the next one, and the next..’ That’s how I focused on things that were before my very eyes. I too falter many times. But things those are ahead, when I think way too far ahead, my head becomes crowded and even messes up on things that’s in the present. It helped tremendously to be dedicated at the moment.”
Ah, that’s it. The reason Yuna Kim became Yuna Kim of today.
This moment Now, being dedicated in the present. Come to think of it, weren't we all following a distant dream? We didn’t search for an answer in the life that unfolded before our eyes but acted as if it was in another life.
*The Goal of Yuna Kim is to Live Happily*
Whatever she does, Yuna said her goal is to live happy. And she thinks she’s happy now. When I asked her the reason, ‘I particularly don’t think I’m unhappy’ she replied briefly.
Yuna Kim who’s so happy with her life right now wants to get a driver license this year. She would be happier if there’s a growing interest in the winter sports among people for the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics, because PC Olympics is simply not an event just to be held in Korea but is a festival for all the people around the world. She respectfully requests that there’s a bit more profound interest for the festival to gleefully take place in the host country.
She didn’t forget to add her word of blessing to all readers that the year 2015 brings only full of many great things.
Ring in the new year. What would it be like to live like Yuna Kim in 2015. It’s not to change everything just because a new year has begun; it’s to invest and live in the present, not for the future. You don’t have to be a gold medalist or the best in the field like Yuna Kim, but at least I think we all could live happily for the rest of the year.
Recently I've been so in-awe of how she treats her little Korean skaters! She's so nice! And so beautiful! How can someone be so perfect 
Something I had been willing for Polina Edmunds to do when she screwed her combination in SP one too many times.
