Yuna Kim to Compete at Golden Spin of Zagreb, Croatia, Dec 5-8 | Page 18 | Golden Skate

Yuna Kim to Compete at Golden Spin of Zagreb, Croatia, Dec 5-8

Sara

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
I've heard that somewhere else also, but isn't the stadium brand new? How can it be small, especially for the Olympics, wouldn't that be a disqualifying thing for an Olympic venue?

The rink of Iceberg Palace in Sochi isn't small (30x60m), I think it is normal size. For example the Fukuoka rink and TEB rink are also 30x60. The Vancouver Olympic rink was slightly bigger (30x61).

I think Yuna had difficulties in adjusting her speed and jumps to the small rink in Zagreb. It was only 28m x 58m. The size of the rink can make a huge difference.
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Like the freeskate, thought it was overscoreed by 8pts or so, but what can you say? Mao is definetly looking better technically, Yu Na didn't try a 2xel-3toe and has 3 salchows, which get minimum points. I think she she think about doing a second triple flip in the second half, as a three jump combo and add the 2axel 3 tor again.
 

PftJump

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Like the freeskate, thought it was overscoreed by 8pts or so, but what can you say? Mao is definetly looking better technically, Yu Na didn't try a 2xel-3toe and has 3 salchows, which get minimum points. I think she she think about doing a second triple flip in the second half, as a three jump combo and add the 2axel 3 tor again.

Technically, Mao has a UR issue on almost her every jump.

She can't be better before correct that.
 

Krislite

Medalist
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
Before anyone read too much from this competition and say she's doomed, I'd say consider:
*The Grand Prix series in 2009: she had a meltdown at Skate America LP, then made numerous stumbles in the GPF leading up to Vancouver.
*2011 Worlds when everyone thought Yuna was done, beaten by Miki Ando
*Early in her return, her performances at NRW Trophy were flawed and in Korean Nationals SP she fell and popped her opening 3/3.

In all cases she learned and rose to unparalleled heights from those mistakes. Yuna has learned to peak at the right time: Worlds before Olympics, and Olympics. I'm cautiously optimistic she can do it again.

She spoke rather candidly in the post-competition interviews about what she needs to work on: stamina, steps, spins, choreography and expression. She mentions having had just a short time to fully "digest" her LP and so she will continue to work on it to make it better.

And yes, she even mentioned her costumes still need work! :laugh:
 

Sara

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
Before anyone read too much from this competition and say she's doomed, I'd say consider:
*The Grand Prix series in 2009: she had a meltdown at Skate America LP, then made numerous stumbles in the GPF leading up to Vancouver.
*2011 Worlds when everyone thought Yuna was done, beaten by Miki Ando
*Early in her return, her performances at NRW Trophy were flawed and in Korean Nationals SP she fell and popped her opening 3/3.

In all cases she learned and rose to unparalleled heights from those mistakes. Yuna has learned to peak at the right time: Worlds before Olympics, and Olympics. I'm cautiously optimistic she can do it again.

She spoke rather candidly in the post-competition interviews about what she needs to work on: stamina, steps, spins, choreography and expression. She mentions having had just a short time to fully "digest" her LP and so she will continue to work on it to make it better.

And yes, she even mentioned her costumes still need work!


:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

:)
 

cheerio2

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
As Krislite said, Yuna almost never performs that well in the run up to major comps. She knows how to peak, and she's the type of competitor who gets motivation/energy instead of pressure/anxiety from the most important comps. If Yuna looked kind of passionless or bored here, she probably was! This is absolutely normal in Yuna-land.
 

Peach

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 30, 2013
Like the freeskate, thought it was overscoreed by 8pts or so, but what can you say? Mao is definetly looking better technically, Yu Na didn't try a 2xel-3toe and has 3 salchows, which get minimum points. I think she she think about doing a second triple flip in the second half, as a three jump combo and add the 2axel 3 tor again.

Yuna has 2 salchows in her LP, not 3. Also, how was it 8 points overscored? Maybe a couple but not 8? Also, I love Mao, but her LP yesterday doesn't make me think that she is technically better than Yuna. She doesn't need to change her layout... if she performs perfectly, her scores will be incredibly high. Did everyone just forget her 2013 Worlds performance lol?
 

elee63

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 22, 2013
An interesting comment by Yuna got me thinking.
(And I know that some athletes are a bit fake to the press, but Yuna's used to reporters by now, and she seems to be able to organize her thoughts well, even on a minutes notice)

She said something along the lines of:
"After the first mistake, I was on edge (no pun intended) and was more conscious of the rest of my jumps. I feel that because of this, the overall performance (expression-wise) wasn't as good as it could be."

Expression is what Yuna's known for, and what everyone's really been complaining about for the last couple pages (lack of "killer instinct," her being "distant," not INTO the program, "I didn't FEEL it," yada yada yada...)

What she says actually makes quite a lot of sense. If you miss the biggest jumps in your arsenal, you're not going to want to miss any others (especially another double axel), even if it means sacrificing the delivery and SPARKLE.

We KNOW she can land these jumps, just as we KNOW she can emote. Just like Mao CAN land her triple axels (especially during practices; It really is quite uncanny how they both managed to perform at similar levels this weekend). Might I add that most of the ladies in the top flight made quite a few ungracious falls in their first couple outings with their new programs.

Instead of overreacting (as skating fans are prone to do), let's really try to look at the big picture.
 

KwanIsALegend

Fly On
Medalist
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
There is something off about this program, it doesn't come together IMHO and it didn't really hold my attention. I liked the Les Miserables program and feel that is better for the Olympics.
So weird to see her fall. First Chan, now Yuna, yikes!
 

Ophelia

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
^I would take Homage to Korea over Les Miserables. It's a pity that Homage to Korea didn't get more usage.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Les Miserables was an incredible program. Yuna and David did an exceptional job with that one there.
I can never decide whether I like Les Mis or Gershwin better, and that's saying something, because Gershwin is as good as you'll ever see.

Every time I watch I never fail to be in awe of the standing ovation she gets 20 seconds before the program ends. I mean, turn up the volume a little bit, and you can hear hundreds if not thousands of people screaming uncontrollably in the middle of the program. It's unheard of.
 

elee63

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 22, 2013
There is something off about this program, it doesn't come together IMHO and it didn't really hold my attention. I liked the Les Miserables program and feel that is better for the Olympics.
So weird to see her fall. First Chan, now Yuna, yikes!

People didn't really like Les Miserables after her first time at NRW. It became a totally different program at Worlds. Which just makes more sense for people to be open-minded until her next competition.
 

andyjo24

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
People didn't really like Les Miserables after her first time at NRW. It became a totally different program at Worlds. Which just makes more sense for people to be open-minded until her next competition.

Yes, and some people didn't really like it at Korean Nationals either although all the jumps were clean. But at Worlds, she just blew everyone away both performance and technical-wise. If she refines her programs like last year's, she will be almost unbeatable.
 

ordinary person

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
She'll make history if she wins in Sochi. She would not only just be the first back to back Ladies Olympic Champion in over 20 years, she'll also be the first woman to win without a blue dress in the FS in over 20 years.

It's no surprise Yuna will win in Sochi.

Hmmm, speaking of dresses, i don't really give a hoot about it anyways, i'll start caring about dresses when i see less trashy skin-color tights and more classy colored tights.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
It's no surprise Yuna will win in Sochi.

Hmmm, speaking of dresses, i don't really give a hoot about it anyways, i'll start caring about dresses when i see less trashy skin-color tights and more classy colored tights.

Are you kidding? The color tights look tacky, or like something a 10 year old girl should be we wearing.

(black being the exception with some outfits)
 

Krislite

Medalist
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
Yuna is back in Korea, and in a press conference held at the airport, she said among other things that she is considering competing at Korean Nationals, though it is not decided yet. However, she did rule out 4CC.
 

thinspread

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Yuna is back in Korea, and in a press conference held at the airport, she said among other things that she is considering competing at Korean Nationals, though it is not decided yet. However, she did rule out 4CC.

That makes sense. 4CC schedule is pretty close to Olympics, so timing for the peak and travel arrangement would be problematic.
 
Top