- Joined
- Oct 19, 2009
Very much agree with this point. She is so dedicated, and a perfectionist. I was surprised to hear that she was so nervous about it.It would have been quite easy for her to take it easy, assuming that her role was just to broadcast charm by her mere presence. But it's clear, just from seeing the quantum leap in her English and presentation skills, that this girl worked hard to do the best job she could possibly do.
I still maintain (like some others here) that her greatest contribution was herself, as an example of how much one outstanding individual can change the way a sport is received in his/her respective nation. Following in her wake, S. Korea has done a 180 in how it and its fans now follow figure skating. It is not a huge leap of faith to suggest that the implication of a similar effect happening in other winter sports to Korea and the rest of Asia was a part of what made this PyeongChang bid successful. I am happy that S. Korea had the breakout in long-track skating in 2010 as well, but without YuNa that would still look like relatively small participation compared to the many other winter sports there are in the Olympics. S. Korea is still recognized as primarily a short-track powerhouse, and in all objectivity, whether it was S. Korea or another nation, I wouldn't feel confident in giving a country the opportunity to host when they only specialize in 1 discipline. I really think it was the promise of more YuNa's that really gave PyeongChang clout, in both this bid and the previous bid.