김연아 _ 올림픽 금메달 노린다

All eyes are on Kim Yu-na

 

Women's figure skating is undoubtedly the highlight of the Winter Olympics for Koreans.

In Vancouver, sports lovers and the media are abuzz about the anticipated showdown between reigning world champion Kim Yu-na of Korea and her Japanese rivals.

Kim is the favorite for gold as she has been dominant for the last two seasons. The 20-year-old skater swept most competitions including the 2008 Cup of China, the 2009 ISU Four Continents Championship, the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championship, 2008 and 2009 Skate America, 2009 Trophee Eric Bompard, and the 2009 ISU Grand Prix Final.

Her only loss since the 2008 World Championship was the 2008 Grand Prix Final in Korea in which she put on a difficult show before her unbelievably boisterous hometown fans.

Kim not only topped the rest of the games, but also set monstrous new records. She became the first woman to top the 200-point mark at 2009 World Figure Skating Championship in Los Angeles with 207.71 points, then broke her own mark in the following 2009 Grand Prix Competition in Paris with an unbeatable 210.03.

It is no wonder that the media is focusing on Kim for this worldly event.

Time magazine chose Kim as one of the "Olympic Athletes to Watch" as did the Associated Press, reporting that "anything less than gold will be a surprise" for Kim.

British weekly newspaper "The Observer" included Kim as one of the "Vancouver 2010: Five to watch," saying she is "an absolute sure-thing to win gold."

"Her closest rival is Japan's Mao Asada, and competition should be intriguing between them in Vancouver, but Yu-na is the sport's undoubted queen," the paper reported.

If she wins this one she will be taking home Korea's first-ever Olympic gold medal in figure skating. At home, where Kim is a national superstar, nearly 50 million people are cheering for "Queen Yu-na."

It would be a dream come true for Kim and also her coach Brian Orser, a Canadian Olympic contender who came close to gold in 1988.

"Whenever I perform well in a competition, I say to myself, 'this should have been the Olympics.' I really want to see the words 'Kim Olympic Champion' in the news," she said in an interview last year.

Kim is currently in Toronto for some final training. She will arrive in Vancouver five days before her short program, which is scheduled for Feb. 24 for field adaption.

There are many others hoping to take Kim's crown. Including Kim, 30 female figure skaters from 21 countries will be competing in Vancouver this month. Among them, 2008 world champion Mao Asada and 2007 world champion Miki Ando, both from Japan, will be the biggest opponents for Kim.

Asada, Kim's longtime rival, suffered through many obstacles last year but regained her confidence after clinching the Four Continents title in Korea last month, just in time for the Olympics.

The two skaters of the same age have been competing ever since they were juniors. Asada was the winner of the same two games Kim had lost in 2008.

It was her famous triple axel jump that led Asada to the first victory and made her world champion. Now, with her triple axels looking polished again, Asada is a challlenge to Kim for the top spot.

Asada mentioned that she is 80 percent ready to win the gold in Vancouver in a recent interview.

"I was being chased after I first won the 2008 World Championship but now I'm the one who is supposed to chase. I usually charge towards new goals so going after someone on the top is OK for me. Right now Kim Yu-na is at the top," she said.

A bit overshadowed by Kim and Asada, but still a competent skater is Miki Ando. The 23-year-old is the only female skater who has ever successfully performed a quadruple jump in competition.

She recently showed a great performance in the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Final held in Tokyo in December 2009. She finished second, following Kim with a slim margin.

Ando's coach, Nikolai Morozov, claimed in a recent interview that his student can beat Kim.

"Miki can beat Kim Yu-na. She beat her in the short at the Grand Prix Final. She lost the free by a few points. They (Ando, Kim, and Asada) all have a chance; it depends on the preparation, it depends on who is healthy (and) if it all comes together on the day," Morozov said.

Though most expect the first three places to be dominated by Asian skaters, some Canadian and American skaters are also paving their way towards medals. Joannie Rochette, who will be enjoying a home advantage this year, is an example.

The 24-year-old Canadian won her sixth consecutive Canadian national title last weekend with a total score of 208.23 points. Though the event is not recognized by the International Skating Union, her clean performance was enough to surprise fans.

"I'm not putting on myself any expectation of winning the gold. Yes, I think if I do a program like this it's possible I can win, but I don't want to think about the end result. This is a sport where, the moment you start thinking, you miss," she told the press after her impressive game.

Not many, including Americans, expect U.S. skaters Rachel Flatt, 17, or Mirai Nagasu, 16, to bring back the country's reputation as the most powerful country in women's figure skating. It seems impossible for the young and less experienced skaters to break the Asian Big Three - Kim, Asada and Ando.

However, some spectators are counting on U.S. champion Flatt in the case that one of the Asian skaters falters. As the Associated Content said, Flatt has "nothing to lose but everything to gain".

The Washington Post said "She (Flatt) also holds the distinction of being the only woman to top Kim in a program this season; on a rare off night for Kim at Skate America in November, Flatt scored better in the long program."

The women's skating single short program is to be held on Feb. 24 and the free skating program on Feb. 26, both at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

(claire@heraldm.com)

By Park Min-young

한국 쇼트트랙 -

Korean short track team hopes for repeat

 

Korea's biggest gold medal winner at the Winter Olympics has always been the short track squad.

It has brought home 29 medals, including 17 gold, out of the 31 overall medals the country has earned at the event so far. It had 10 short track medals, including six gold, at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

This month in Vancouver, eight gold medals are available in short track speed skating. Korea is modestly aiming for three of them, with three-time gold medalists Ahn Hyun-soo and Jin Sun-yu absent due to injuries.

And it is the men's team - composed of Lee Ho-suk, Lee Jung-su, Sung Si-bak, Kwak Yoon-gy, Kim Seung-il - that the golds are expected from. Hopes are high for the world's strongest team in the 1,000-meter, the 1,500-meter and the 5,000-meter relay.

Lee Ho-suk, the oldest on the team, is a top contender for gold. The 24-year-old skater is the veteran on the team with two previous Olympic experiences.

Though he played his part in clinching the gold in the 3,000-meter relay in Turin, Lee had been overshadowed in individual races by Ahn and had to settle for two silvers. This time, with Ahn out, Lee has to skate with all the expectations and pressure on his shoulders.

Seong Si-bak, 23, and Lee Jung-su, 21, are also expected to top the individual races. Another interest would be who of the three would bring home the most medals. AP recently predicted Lee Jung-su to win a triple crown this year, based on last year's short track world cup records.

The women's team - composed of Kim Min-jung, Cho Ha-ri, Choi Jung-won, Lee Eun-byul and Park Seung-hi - however, faces stiff competition against China. The two countries have been rivals in this sport for quite a long time now.

Although the Korean team had swept three golds out of four in Turin, it had to give up its world champion title to the powerful Wang Meng-led China team in most events held during the last two years.

Many expect that the top two spots in women's individual races in Vancouver will be dominated by China's Wang, 25, and Zhou Yang, 19, both world No. 1 in the 500 meter and 1,000 meter, and the 1500 meter, respectively.

So instead, Korea is focusing on the 3,000-meter relay. When it comes to the relay, the Korean ladies have been unbeatable since 1994.

"I want to win gold in the 3,000-meter relay and record five consecutive victories. Winning the gold medal in the relay is the priority right now, not individual races," said Cho Ha-ri.

But the team did not get to practice much on relay ever since they arrived in Calgary earlier this month because of some Chinese strategy analysts who often visited to spy on the Korean team. They even recorded the team's training sessions on video, stated the athletes.

"We couldn't train hard for the relay because if our strategy gets revealed, it becomes useless. We just had to settle with individual practices," said Kim Min-jung, 24, the oldest on the women's team.

Though time is not measured in short track speed skating, the good news is that all the Korean skaters have been breaking their own lap time records in Calgary, especially the women's team. They have been racing against the men's team, imagining they are the Chinese.

"Our athletes' personal lap times are getting shorter and shorter. It could be because of the good quality of ice here, but anyhow it means that their conditions are getting better and better," said the team's head coach Kim Gi-hun.

The men's 1,500-meter final is to be held on Feb. 14, the 1,000-meter final on Feb. 24, the 500-meter final and 5,000-meter relay final on Feb. 27. The women's 500-meter final is to be held on Feb. 18, the 1,500-meter final on Feb. 21, the 3,000-meter relay final on Feb. 25 and the 1,000-meter final on Feb. 27. The venue is the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver B.C.

(claire@heraldm.com)

By Park Min-young