Kim Yuna coasts to gold medal in women's figure skating
She sets world record with 228.56 points;
Mao Asada of Japan wins silver, Joannie Rochette of Canada bronze.
Kim Yuna of South Korea performs a spin during her free skate on Thursday night in women's figure skating at Pacific Coliseum.
Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / February 25, 2010 Reporting from Vancouver, Canada - They already called her "Queen Yuna" in South Korea.
And her omnipotent reign over the women's figure skating world officially began in the Olympic women's figure skating final Thursday night.
Kim ended a streak of three Olympics that had not been kind to the women's figure skating favorite, instead becoming the first South Korean to win a figure skating medal of any color.
Michelle Kwan of the United States had fallen short of the gold medal she was expected to win in both 1998 and 2002, as Irina Slutskaya of Russia did in 2006.
So here was Kim, who began the season as an overwhelming favorite for the 2010 title and justified that status with a brilliant performance in Tuesday's short program, even as she bore the weight of a nation's hopes.
But she had a lead of less than five points over Japan's Mao Asada going into Thursday's long program, which lasted 90 seconds longer, plenty of time for the expectations to lead to crushing mistakes.
Not this time.
When Kim cried after finishing her free skate, they were tears of joy, the kind that comes with winning an Olympic gold medal.
There were three skaters left, including Asada, but this was game over.
The South Korean national hero may have been a little tight on some of her early jumps, but she was flawless on all and floated through the accompaniment of Gershwin's Concerto in F like a feather in the wind.
``If this was track and field, we just watched an 8-second 100 meters," said Jamie McGrigor, a skating analyst doing in house radio commentary.
The judges thought so. They gave her a free skate score of 150.06 which was an astonishing 13 percent higher than her previous world record of 133.95. That gave her a total of 228.56 and what would be victory over silver medalist Asada by 23 points.
"I still can't believe the score that I received, I'm really surprised," Kim said.
"In the past, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do what I wanted, but I am really happy that I was able to show everything I did in training."
The two successful triple axels Asada landed would not have made a difference even if she had not had a downgraded jump and a huge error, turning a triple toe loop into a single, later in the program. She is the first woman to have landed two triple axels in an Olympic program.
"The nervousness didn't kick in," Asada said. "Halfway through I just decided I had to go for it and finish strong."
It was hard to imagine the long program could produce more brilliance and drama than the short, when Kim followed Asada's lights-out performance with one that set a world record and Joannie Rochette fought through the pain of her mother's unexpected death three days earlier to skate flawlessly and take third.
Rochette held together again, winning the bronze medal despite a stepout on one jump.
Mirai Nagasu of the United States stamped herself as a contender for the 2014 Olympic title with a clean free skate that jumped her from sixth to fourth place, 12 points behind Rochette.
U.S. champion Rachael Flatt, fifth in the short program and 7 points behind Rochette as she took the ice as the first skater in the last group, did exactly what everyone expected: a seemingly solid program. But both of Flatt's triple flip jumps were downgraded to doubles, which cost her nearly 12 points and dropped a place in the standings to 7th.
"I was a little disappointed having both my flips downgraded," Flatt said.
The pressure may have been worse for Kim in Tuesday's short program, where a major mistake could have cost her enough points to put the gold medal all but out of reach.
"When the pressure is gone, there is a lightness to her skating," Orser said of Kim. "There's still some (weight) left, but most of it is gone. I think she is just going to soar after this."
Kim had such a big lead over Asada in the short program at the 2009 worlds - more than 10 points - the South Korean got away with reducing a planned triple salchow jump to a double and still won easily.
Of course, it helped that her Japanese rival - then the reigning world champion - had an error-laden long program that left her 19 points behind Kim in the final standings.
Asada is the only skater to beat Kim in the past two seasons - and she did it in South Korea at last year's Grand Prix Final.
Then the two were separated by less than a point after the short program, which Kim won. Asada took the long program by 2.76 points.
Asada, 19, had struggled so badly all season it had seemed unlikely she could seriously challenge Kim, but she did by becoming the first woman to land a triple axel in an Olympic short program. When she followed it with a triple toe loop, Asada also had become first to land a triple axel combination in the Olympics
"I knew Asada would show up here in top form," Orser said. "I never counted her out."
Most would have counted out Arakawa after the 2005 season, which she began as world champion and ended with a 9th at the worlds.
Arakawa's free skate at the 2006 Olympics was underwhelming, but she capitalized on sloppier skating by short program winner Sasha Cohen of the United States and Irina Slutskaya of Russia.
Sarah Hughes of the United States had no U.S. title only one world medal - a bronze - on her resume when she came from fourth after the short program to overtake Kwan, Cohen and Slutskaya.
Kwan's stunning performance at the 1998 U.S. Championships made her the Olympic favorite over Tara Lipinski, then the reigning world champion, but Lipinski's boundless joy and pair of triple-triple jump combinations made her the champion.
Both Kim and Asada have one less difficult jump than the triple axel missing from the repertoire - Kim the relatively simple triple loop, Asada the triple lutz, considered the second most difficult triple.
By Maggie Hendricks South Korea's Yu-Na Kim skated into Olympic history with a record-breaking gold medal win in Vancouver on Thursday night, while Canadian skater Joannie Rochette skated into a special place in the story of Olympic spirit, winning the bronze. Kim skated early, and left no doubt that she deserved the nickname of "Queen." Her jumps were spot on, but the routine was so much more than jumps. It was a complete package of perfectly executed spins, footwork, spirals and jumps. "This is the best routine I've ever seen in an Olympic competition," said NBC commentator Sandra Bezic. After she finished her routine, Kim broke down in tears, overwhelmed by the moment. Her long program score of 150.06 broke her own scoring record. The inspirational story of the Olympics, Canadian Joannie Rochette, skated another graceful, elegant routine. Just four days after her mother's death, Rochette hit every part of her skate, starting off aggressively with a triple Lutz/double toeloop/double loop combination. From there, she skated well, save a small step on one jump. Her free skate score of 131.28 earned her a bronze medal. After the skate, Rochette let out a deep sigh, and teary-eyed, blew a kiss to her father. During the medal ceremoy, she smiled through tears. Winning silver, Japan's Mao Asada made a mark of her own, landing three triple Axels. In doing that, she became the first woman to ever land three triple Axels in the Olympics. But she made a few small errors in her routine, keeping her from knocking off the near unstoppable Kim. American Mirai Nagasu took fourth. She was in a tough position, the last skater of the evening. But she did not back down, hitting every jump, winning the crowd over with contortionist-like spins, and earning high marks on execution. Though she did not win a medal, she seemed pleased. Fellow American Rachael Flatt skated the best routine of her season, landing every jump and skating with an energy and maturity beyond her 17 years. Unfortunately, two of her triple jumps were downgraded to doubles, hurting her overall score. |
Kim Yu-na wins Olympic gold with record score
AOL-AP News:
Kim Yu-na of South Korea won the women's figure skating gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics on Thursday, delivering an elegant program in royal fashion.
Known at home as "Queen Yu-na," Kim soared to a world-record 228.56 points and shattered her previous mark by more than 18 points. It will go down as one of the greatest performances in figure skating history, and is South Korea's first medal at the Winter Olympics in a sport other than speedskating.
Kim has made a habit of spectacular performances, but even she was dazzled by this one. She said "Oh my god!" when she saw the monstrous score _ a mark her top competitors can only dream of _ and coach Brian Orser pumped both arms, shaking his clasped fists over each shoulder.
Kim's longtime rival, Mao Asada of Japan, won the silver medal, but it was no contest _ even with Asada landing both of her triple axels, one in combination with a double toe loop.
Joannie Rochette, skating four days after the sudden death of her mother, Therese, won the bronze, giving Canada its first women's medal since Liz Manley's silver in Calgary in 1988.
Kim came in with almost incomprehensible pressure on her. Not only was the reigning world champion the most overwhelming favorite since Katarina Witt in 1988 _ she's lost just one competition over the last two seasons _ she carried the weight of an entire nation on her slim shoulders.
The most popular athlete in South Korea, Kim needs bodyguards whenever she returns home from her training base in Toronto. Anything she does creates a frenzy, and even a simple practice draws a rinkful of photographers.
Kim seemed to shrug it all off earlier this week, saying after the short program that it felt like any other competition. But it was clear Thursday that it meant much more.
There were simply no flaws in her performance, from her skating to her expressions to a lovely cobalt blue dress. While other skaters slow down as they approach their jumps to steady themselves, she hurtles into them at full speed, yet touches down with pillow-like softness.
Her connecting steps are like performance art, and her edge quality is so fine there is not even the slightest hint of a harsh scrape, just the sound of her crisp edge. Her spins are centered so perfectly the tracings look as if they were made with a protractor.
But what really makes her transcendent is her performance skills. Kim breathed life into Gershwin's "Concerto in F," moving across the ice like notes on a score. As the music lifted the first time, she put one hand on the small of her back and gave a flirty little smile that set shutters clicking throughout the building.
When she finished, you could almost see the pressure fall away as Kim bent over and covered her mouth. The tears continued to flow no matter how hard she tried to blink them back, and she held up her hands helplessly when she reached Orser. So many stuffed toys and flowers littered the ice the full complement of sweepers had to be deployed _ not once, but twice.
It almost wasn't fair that Asada, skating next, had to try and better that. She couldn't. It wasn't even close.
Asada, who has swapped titles with Kim since their junior days, is one of the few women who even tries a points-packing triple axel, and she did two Thursday. But she melted down later, stumbling on the footwork into her triple toe and forcing her to cut it to a single.
Asada looked stone-faced as she waited for her marks, and she didn't even crack a smile when she got her silver medal.
For Rochette, the medal is a culmination of "a lifelong project with my mom." Therese Rochette, 55, had a massive heart attack just hours after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter skate, and Rochette has been the picture of courage this week.
Supported by her father, Normand, and longtime coach Manon Perron, Rochette decided to go ahead and compete. Her performance Thursday wasn't perfect; she two-footed and stepped out of a triple flip, and had shaky landings on a couple of other jumps. But she made up for those errors with an emotional and expressive portrayal of "Samson and Delilah."
Unlike Tuesday, when Rochette broke down and sobbed when she finished her short program, she managed to contain her emotions. Her eyes were wet, but her smile seemed genuine, not forced.