- Joined
- Nov 11, 2009
"Web Is Bringing Skaters’ Lives Uneasily Close to Fans’ Obsessions"
When Brian Orser received an e-mail message last fall from an admirer of his star figure skater, Kim Yu-na of South Korea, he wrote it off as another piece of fan mail.
The fan, a Canadian teenager, gave his name and attached his photograph, asking Orser for his help in setting up a rendezvous with Kim, the gold-medal favorite at the Vancouver Olympics. Orser, Kim’s coach, wrote back and said thanks, but no.
“I quite regularly get e-mails from people sending Yu-na their support or best wishes,” said Orser, a two-time Olympic medalist for Canada. “And this one seemed fine, until a few more e-mails came from the same e-mail address, but now the guy was using a different name each time. He was professing his undying love for her and that he would do anything to meet her.”