S Korea hails new skating prodigy, 11

[skaterr]

She is very talented. When I first saw Nathan Chen and Karen Chen I saw future world and Oly medalists. Then Russia exploded. I suspect with all the parents in Korea try to mold the next Yuna Kim we will see a few more child phenoms. Skating is so crazy now no one can stay on top. At11 it's fun. By age 15 she may hate the pressure and quit. Orser said when Yuna came to him she did not enjoy skating. I think we saw that. Her mother pushed her all the time. This girl may be a future world and or Olympic medalist. If so great but people she is a child of 11. I hope she isn't pressured by Korea the way Yuna was. Yuna doesn't even do shows anymore she is so done with skating. That's too bad for her fans.

Her mother did not push her all that time. What do you about her mother? Do you know even her name? Orser is not a almighty. Do not believe what he said blindly. I think David Wilson is the one who really deserved to be praised. He made her express herself.
I love Young You. I saw her skating at the korean nationals in person. She was really amazing indeed. She had to wait a little longer than other skaters because there was some errors from computers. Also, a few lights were gone strangely. But she had done a clean program. I think Her mentality is something different.

 

[mrrice]

Well I completely disagree, every skater who's amazing should be "over"hyped before they hit puberty. Then re-evaluate when the time comes. Completely disregarding their achievements at a young age is not very constructive and there's really no point in doing so either. Having an "oh well puberty will get her anyway, why even bother?" attitude will make you fail every time instead of only sometimes. And I also think that it would be better for the sport in general if young skaters were cared about much more before they become seniors or get to juniors worlds and they had meaningful tournaments. Empty JGP stands become depressing. Time feels much slower when you're younger so it can be very difficult to get motivated for something 3 years ahead of you when you are 11 years old, and if only then you are being paid attention to it can be very overwhelming as you aren't used to it.

Well, maybe being a strong Junior is a bigger deal in Korea than it is in Russia, Japan, or the US. I had heard of Evgenia Medvedeva when she was a Junior but she wasn't portrayed as the next big thing. She was another in a long line of talented Russian Skaters. I realize it may be a bigger deal in Korea but, that doesn't vault her ahead of the rest of the up and coming skaters in the world.

 

[Ophelia]

Skating is so crazy now no one can stay on top. At11 it's fun. By age 15 she may hate the pressure and quit. Orser said when Yuna came to him she did not enjoy skating. I think we saw that. Her mother pushed her all the time. This girl may be a future world and or Olympic medalist. If so great but people she is a child of 11. I hope she isn't pressured by Korea the way Yuna was. Yuna doesn't even do shows anymore she is so done with skating. That's too bad for her fans.

This. I hope I don't see the joy disappear from Young You due to hype. If she does indeed maintain her form over the next few years, she needs to move to training overseas to keep her sanity in check.

 

[mrrice]

This. I hope I don't see the joy disappear from Young You due to hype. If she does indeed maintain her form over the next few years, she needs to move to training overseas to keep her sanity in check.

I actually think training overseas is a very good idea. It will help to keep her head on straight and allow her to focus on training. God forbid she'd have a bad day training in Korea and have it splashed in the tabloids or on Korea's version of TMZ.

 

[skaterr]

There is not much hype about Young You. So fans Don't worry about it. Figure skating is not the main sports in korea. Korean TV usually do not broadcast figure skating. There was no korean national live broadcasting in korea. DON'T WORRY. YUNA KIM is just a different case. There is no such thing not yet.

 

[xie_vely]

YEs! I understand that korea makes great younger skaters, but i don't really see any Korean skaters in senior categories that are making big names at international competitions, i know of park so youn and kim hae jin, but those are the only ones that i know of and i wish Korea would pay more attention to the skaters that are in highschool and eligable to compete in senior internationally. Because to me it seemed like when i was skating in korea, kids like me who were a little older or had gone through puberty and were having trouble regaining their jumps weren't really favoured by coaches. Wow i can actually go on a rant here... anyways, I wish korea would stop obbessing over the little kids and paid more attention to the ones that can actually compete in senior level. because you REALLY don't know what happens to them in 3,5, years, take Julia from russia as an example. Even if she still has amazing jumps, she had lots of trouble after her body changed, which not only happens to her but to any female athlete in the world.

 

[YesWay]

Well I completely disagree, every skater who's amazing should be "over"hyped before they hit puberty. Then re-evaluate when the time comes. Completely disregarding their achievements at a young age is not very constructive and there's really no point in doing so either.

Exaggerate much?
"Completely disregarding their achievements at a young age"?
Who is saying that?

I'm not aiming the following at anyone in particular, but:

Let's not forget that skaters are in fact, human beings.
Each one is a unique and different individual.
They are are not commodities, pets or cattle.
There is no "one size fits all" with regard to how much pressure and attention each one can handle.
They should be treated with respect.

 

[ranran]

Saw her during the summer and thought she's amazing. But for me what I'm worried about someone being hype so young is not them fulfilling the potential but more of how the federetion responds when she failed to deliver in the future. She's young, and praise when she delivered. She deserve it. But don't hype as the next big thing yet~ let her grow at will.

 

[begin]

She is very talented. When I first saw Nathan Chen and Karen Chen I saw future world and Oly medalists. Then Russia exploded. I suspect with all the parents in Korea try to mold the next Yuna Kim we will see a few more child phenoms. Skating is so crazy now no one can stay on top. At11 it's fun. By age 15 she may hate the pressure and quit. Orser said when Yuna came to him she did not enjoy skating. I think we saw that. Her mother pushed her all the time. This girl may be a future world and or Olympic medalist. If so great but people she is a child of 11. I hope she isn't pressured by Korea the way Yuna was. Yuna doesn't even do shows anymore she is so done with skating. That's too bad for her fans.

If Yuna 'hated skating' it was because she was chronically injured from 2005-2008, not because of external pressure from her mother.

This is much ado about nothing. Has everyone seen the rest of the Korean ladies? Something like the top 6 girls had clean triple-triples (including Yerim's 3Lz-3Lo-2Lo). When Yuna competed, she shouldered the burden of being the only contender from Korea. From the looks of things now, that probably won't be the case for You Young. She's considered a wonderchild and a joy to watch, but the Korean media hasn't proposed anything about her future other than her dream to win an Olympic medal one day. That's not overhyping by most standards.

 

[karne]

The impression I got of her though is that she herself wants to be the next Kim Yuna more than anyone.

Yes, and Artur Gachinski wanted to be the next Evgeni Plushenko more than anyone when he was 11 years old, too.

Eleven is so young. Good grief.

 

[bara1968]

If Yuna 'hated skating' it was because she was chronically injured from 2005-2008, not because of external pressure from her mother.

Yeah, it is funny to see people still talk about this imaginary "hatred" and think of all sort of things which have never been confirmed anywhere. Yuna sometimes said she got bit "sick of" skating during her interviews, but usually it was nothing serious. In general she was referring to the hard training (which she did 6 hrs/day) or the difficulties she went through, not figure skating itself. I guess there was some kind of misinterpretation while those words were translated or quoted.

Anyways, it is good that these Korean youngsters including Young, Yerim, Eunsu are getting some praises and media attention. I hope that this can help out to improve their training conditions at least little bit.

 

[treeloving]

Wow , she is amazing.

 

[da96103]

Hyping up young skaters before they deserved it?

Caroline Zhang, anyone?

 

[MiRé]

So many debbie downers on this thread.

 

[andyjo24]

Hyping up young skaters before they deserved it?

Caroline Zhang, anyone?

But she's very different from Caroline Zhang and Yulia Lipnitskaya.

She actually has solid technique (no mule kick, correct edges, no URs), which will serve her very well in the long run.

 

[andyjo24]

because you REALLY don't know what happens to them in 3,5, years, take Julia from russia as an example. Even if she still has amazing jumps, she had lots of trouble after her body changed, which not only happens to her but to any female athlete in the world.

As much as I like Yulia, she did and does NOT have amazing jumps...

 

[chuckm]

Liza Tuktamysheva has always had solid technique, but that didn't save her from the puberty monster and it hasn't saved her from the sophomore slump of this year, either. Then there's Anna Pogorilaya, who seems to suffer from periodic 'fallitis' for no apparent reason.

You have to wonder if these girls aren't affected by the constant pressure that is on them to deliver the gold medal performance every time out, and the knowledge that there is a plethora of talented youngsters waiting in the wings to take their place if they don't.

 

[Ophelia]

^ Liz has a heavier body build that she had to manage through puberty. Young You is so lanky she'll be more like an Asada or Kim. plus, having good technique helps with post puberty.

 

[Crossover]

^ Liz has a heavier body build that she had to manage through puberty. Young You is so lanky she'll be more like an Asada or Kim. plus, having good technique helps with post puberty.

Liza was very skinny when she was very young like a feathery fairy. After I've seen how Mirai turns out after puberty, I can't be sure of girls' body changes even though skaters of Asian heritage tend to get affected by puberty much less than Caucasians. Yuna and Mao were skinnier and taller than Young You, IIRC. So Youn who seemingly past her puberty still struggles with inconsistency. Probably her body changes are not finished yet I guess.

Anyway, it is still remarkable that such a young girl can accomplish that much at the age of 11. I was more impressed by Eun Soo Lim who has better jump techniques and postures though. She, 3rd at the Nationals is only one year older than Young. The next Nationals will be fierce for sure, so Young can't be easy at herself. Who knows what future the youngsters can have? I'm not even sure of the current top senior ladies' prospects after this season is over including Medvedeva whose body hasn't changed much yet.

It is also exciting to see that we can see talented youngsters from a country other than USA, Russia, Japan, Canada, all of which have strong federation and infrastructure capable of nurturing good skaters dominate the current figure skating field. I somewhat doubt that if other girls older than Young had earned the national title, they could've drawn attention from people like this.

 

[sloveniangirl]

But she's very different from Caroline Zhang and Yulia Lipnitskaya.

She actually has solid technique (no mule kick, correct edges, no URs), which will serve her very well in the long run.

Are you sure?