Kim Yu-na Set to Dominate Figure Skating World

[fiercemao]

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2008111788008

Figure skating star Kim Yu-na is well on her way to dominating her sport, leaving her rivals in the dust.
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After struggling with jumping errors last season, Asada prepared for this year’s events by training under Russian icon Tatiana Tarasova, who has produced the most world and Olympic champions by any coach.


Tarasova’s guidance, however, did not translate into a stellar performance for Asada. The Japanese skater received a disappointing 58.12 points in the short program and a mere 109.47 in free skating. She earned additional points for only three of seven jumps after falling once.

Back in Korea, rising figure skating star Kim Na-young, who is second only to Kim Yu-na in the country, will compete in the Cup of Russia, the season’s fifth event.

The Korean union also denied a rumor that Kim Na-young got to enter thanks to help from her fans. The rumor had it that when fans found out about the two cancellations, they asked the Korean union to have Kim Na-young as one of the replacements.

When the Korean union showed a lukewarm response, her fans allegedly made a direct request to the organizing committee and the international union, resulting in Kim Na-young receiving the invitation

 

[berrycute]

This may be a superficial analysis, but I kind of see the Asada/Kim rivalry as having a lot in common with the Kwan/Slutskaya rivalry in the early 2000s before Salt Lake City. (Asada as Michelle Kwan and Kim as Irina Slutskaya). Irina was the champ of the GP circuit, she consistently beat Kwan there, but Kwan put in the showstopping performances at Worlds. In the same way, I'm predicting Kim will take out the GP Final again but fall to Asada at Worlds. What's more, like Kwan, Asada's real strength is her artistry (she has the 3A but her technique on other jumps is not consistent), while Kim to me is not as impressive artistically but like Slutskaya has jumps that can't really be beat. It's kind of like history repeating...

 

[bekalc]

This may be a superficial analysis, but I kind of see the Asada/Kim rivalry as having a lot in common with the Kwan/Slutskaya rivalry in the early 2000s before Salt Lake City. (Asada as Michelle Kwan and Kim as Irina Slutskaya). Irina was the champ of the GP circuit, she consistently beat Kwan there, but Kwan put in the showstopping performances at Worlds. In the same way, I'm predicting Kim will take out the GP Final again but fall to Asada at Worlds. What's more, like Kwan, Asada's real strength is her artistry (she has the 3A but her technique on other jumps is not consistent), while Kim to me is not as impressive artistically but like Slutskaya has jumps that can't really be beat. It's kind of like history repeating...

It's a completely different scenario. Yu-na Kim has come to the worlds injured for the past two years. It's pretty clear in both cases that she ran out of steam in the long programs. A healthy Yu-na Kim would have very likely won the last two worlds.

Irina faltered in a lot of cases not because of injuries but because of nerves.

And in Mao's case. Well Mao didn't win in 2007 because of her own consistency issues. And in 2008, Mao was "hardly" dominating in her win.

The point is let's wait and see how Kim skates at worlds when she's healthy.

 

[qoo]

It's a completely different scenario. Yu-na Kim has come to the worlds injured for the past two years. It's pretty clear in both cases that she ran out of steam in the long programs. A healthy Yu-na Kim would have very likely won the last two worlds.

I really disagree. I thought Kim's LP 2 years ago was really great. Lots of in between movements and it was beautiful. But she didn't seem to have a stamina to go through everything. So if she happened to be healthy, I don't think she would have skated clean.

I also noticed that during GP circuit Kim's score appeard to be very inflated. But her worlds score was more suitable and she even looked surprised to see her low score there.

 

[bekalc]

I really disagree. I thought Kim's LP 2 years ago was really great. Lots of in between movements and it was beautiful. But she didn't seem to have a stamina to go through everything. So if she happened to be healthy, I don't think she would have skated clean.

I also noticed that during GP circuit Kim's score appeard to be very inflated. But her worlds score was more suitable and she even looked surprised to see her low score there.

Yu-na didn't need to skate it clean to win in 2007. If let's say Yu-na had landed her 3lutz/2toe/2 loop and had not added a double toe to her salchow (she lost points for her salchow) Yu-na would have scored a 126.22 in the free skate, which would have been more than enough to win the world championships...

 

[qoo]

Yu-na didn't need to skate it clean to win in 2007. She could have won with a fall.

But she only got a bronze two years in a row right?

 

[bekalc]

But she only got a bronze two years in a row right?

Yes, but once again that's because the girl was not healthy. It was quite clear that she ran out of steam both times, although it was worse in 2007. Her injuries took away training time.... She wasn't close to 100%. She held it together better in 2008, she said by the time she hit her footwork she wanted to die. She had serious injuries and the fact that she was able to win the free skate in 2008 was amazing.

The point of the matter is let's wait and see if Yu-na can be healthy at Worlds. Because if Yu-na is healthy, Mao is not going to be able to get away with the mistakes she made at both world championships. And frankly Yu-na's performance at GPF, coupled with the higher PCS she got for her worlds long would have been enough for her to win the title over Miki (barely) but it would have been enough.

Please don't get me wrong, I think if Mao hits everything in her program, Mao wins...But that remains to be seen (if she can do that )