Interview With Brian Orser

[Krunchii]

There are early articles from when Yuna said she didn't like skating and wanted to hang out with her friends instead but if she didn't like skating I don't see how she could have come so far. I thought that early in her senior career, in 2007 Worlds in El Tango de Roxanne she looked so happy on ice, if that's not passion I don't know what is. I'm just going to take it with a grain of salt, maybe he was talking about her source of motivation, I thought she was very happy on ice before but I felt like her motivation was to bring home the awards to make her country happy instead of skating because she really loved it, too much pressure on her.

Anyway I don't get why we're all talking about that one comment about Yuna. I'm glad he talked about transparency in judging and how it backfired, bleh, one of my least favourite parts about this sport. Also he said his favourite skaters are Robin Cousins, Stephane Lambiel, Janet Lynn and Kurt Browning. Not familiar with Robin Cousins but I very much approve of the other 3

 

[Meoima]

Robin Cousins was awesome! his postures were the best.

 

[nguyenghita]

God forbid Orser ever bring up Kim again. Her uber fans already want to write off him out of her skating career.

After that scandal Yuna never mentioned his name again, she just got over it.

I don't have any problem with him for bring up Yuna in his interview, but we just have one sentence from him, and that's not a compliment for his ex student. It's not even a question ask about Yuna, why bring her in then push her down? So yes, if he still want to discredit his ex student like that, I rather he just forget her name forever.

 

[Meoima]

I don't have any problem with him for bring up Yuna in his interview, but we just have one sentence from him, and that's not a compliment for his ex student. It's not even a question ask about Yuna, why bring her in then push her down? So yes, if he still want to discredit his ex student like that, I rather he just forget her name forever.

He said she was talented, if that is not a compliment then I don't know what is. And as Krunchii, Mrs. P, lilahozi have stated, they all remember Orser and Wilson both have stated multiple times that Kim was not a happy skater when they first met her. Of course people change, he might just say whatever came to his mind and he was talking about 15 year old Yuna. She is his first student after all.

 

[Ophelia]

After that scandal Yuna never mentioned his name again, she just got over it.

I don't have any problem with him for bring up Yuna in his interview, but we just have one sentence from him, and that's not a compliment for his ex student. It's not even a question ask about Yuna, why bring her in then push her down? So yes, if he still want to discredit his ex student like that, I rather he just forget her name forever.

The interviewer directly mentioned her name in the question he was responding to.

 

[nguyenghita]

He said she was talented, if that is not a compliment then I don't know what is.

I didn't sense that typical phrase "She/He is [add whatever good] BUT [add something bad]" is a compliment at all

That's all I want to say. I didn't like Orser much before too, so whatever

 

[Meoima]

I didn't sense that typical phrase "She/He is [add whatever good] BUT [add something bad]" is a compliment at all

That's all I want to say. I didn't like Orser much before too, so whatever

They have said that before, that she was not a happy skater when they first met her, it's not like he said "her work ethnic had some problem." She struggled a lot with pressure and the desire to compete, just as much as other skaters. I can see that Javi also has the same problem, Orser also said that about Javi. I don't think it's something bad, it's just saying whatever he remembered and it's not so new as Krunchii, Mrs. P, lilahozi have stated.

 

[Mathman]

May I quote myself from eight years ago, when the issue first came up?

(December, 2006) I agree with fscrit and blueham. This article was actually written more than a year ago [in 2005]. For some reason there were several newspaper stories at that time that pictured Yu-na as a poor little woe-is-me victim, everyone is forcing me to be a skater, I don't have any friends, I just train, train, train all the time. There was a famous quote to the effect that, "my only treat is that once every six months I get to go to the movies." There was a lot of discussion on the Internet about how scandalous it was that she wasn't going to regular school at the time.

This image was compunded when she went to Canada to train for a while. There, she was shy and homesick, she did not speak English well, and a lot of people interpreted that as her being unhappy with her life as an elite skater.

I think all that was greatly exagerated. I think she's just like all the other kids in the sport. Yes, they work hard and they make sacrifices. They also have unique opportunitites and experiences. It's a trade-off.

 

[Icey]

Yu-na is not the only Korean skater Orser has coached. He coached Kwak Min-jeong from August to February of 2010. Could he be referring to her? She would have been around 15 or 16 then. He also worked with Yun Yea-ji for a short time in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

 

[chloepoco]

I didn't sense that typical phrase "She/He is [add whatever good] BUT [add something bad]" is a compliment at all

That's all I want to say. I didn't like Orser much before too, so whatever

You are waaaayyyyy too sensitive. And I'm sure when Yuna was out winning every competition she entered, including the Olympics, you liked Orser just fine....

 

[Icey]

Yu-na is not the only Korean skater Orser has coached. He coached Kwak Min-jeong from August to February of 2010. Could he be referring to her? She would have been around 15 or 16 then. He also worked with Yun Yea-ji for a short time in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Oh, reread and see he actually referred to Yu-na.

 

[nguyenghita]

And I'm sure when Yuna was out winning every competition she entered, including the Olympics, you liked Orser just fine....

No, I usually don't care much about her teammates: not Orser, not her Korean coaches ... they don't have much impact on me. The only Yuna's work partner I really like is David.

 

[chloepoco]

No, I usually don't care much about her teammates: not Orser, not her Korean coaches ... they don't have much impact on me. The only Yuna's work partner I really like is David.

Sure...

 

[nguyenghita]

Sure...

Of course, thanks

 

[Alba]

Context, all. Orser refers to Yuna as a 15-year-old. It wasn't any big state secret that she didn't enjoy competing. She's been quoted many times that she pursued skating because people saw her talent but that she didn't necessarily love skating.

If I can dig up some of those articles, I'll post them here.

For me this is news for example. Not everybody follows Yuna and all the news about her.
Knowing this now, what he said was most probably referred to that period, then. So I think it was not a dig on her.

 

[satine]

My first student was a fifteen year old junior skater from Korea. Her name was Yuna Kim. Of course she was talented, but unfortunately she lacked passion and joy for skating.

DEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS, BRIAN!


Just kidding. Although I do think a better phrasing of that would have been

My first student was a fifteen year old junior skater from Korea. Her name was Yuna Kim. Of course she was talented, but unfortunately she lacked passion and joy for competing.

edit: I hadn't read the whole thread and didn't realize there was so much drama about this quote I'm not taking his words to heart and I don't think he was purposely bashing Yuna or anything. It could have been phrased better but, meh. Sometimes sentences come out of your mouth and you wish you could go back and rephrase it a little to make it more true to your real feelings. It happens. No big deal.

 

[Violet Bliss]

So, satine94, when did Yuna confide in you so articulately? It must be in Korean.

Eta: Reading your edit after I posted made me LOL and edit myself. So true. Watch your words yourself!

 

[satine]

She never did confide in me of course. I've gotten a strong impression over the years from interviews she did not like the competing aspect so much, more so after she won OGM and then had blatant difficulty finding motivation to continue, which of course is typical of OGMs. Has she ever came straight out and said 'I don't really like competing'? No. But I think it's been implied a lot. And I think it's truer to say any skater dislikes competing as opposed to skating itself

 

[satine]

On a positive note, I liked that he brought up his thoughts on anonymous judging :yes:

Q: You really revolutionized the technical side of skating by being the first skater to perform a triple axel at the Olympics and the first to include two triple axels in a program. Looking at the IJS judging system we have today as opposed to the 6.0 system when you were competing, do you think technical innovation is being rewarded enough and what aspects do you feel need to be improved about the way skating is being judged today?

A: We (as coaches) have to embrace the system we have at the moment. My job as a coach is to be sure my athletes have all the tools to tackle any system. I actually like this system as it rewards a "well rounded" skater. I was trained as a well rounded skater and when I competed, it seemed the jumps were "king" of choreography. Spins were secondary along with quality of edges, turns and transitions. The big improvement I feel that is needed is in the transparency in judging. I realize the idea is to "protect" the judges so they can do what they feel without any external pressure, however, I think it has backfired.

 

[cooper]

actually orser was talking about the 15 year old yuna.. which at that time it wasn't a secret about her discontentment of competition.. i remember when she came to canada their first goal was to make her a "happy skater".. david was quoted about that..

the end..