“Queen” Kim Yu-Na‘s popularity and support from fans continues to skyrocket as shown through her past three sold-out shows. In a recent interview with TIME magazine, she expressed her gratitude toward her fans, shared how she, like everyone, hates Mondays, and revealed her excitement for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Regarding her first initial reaction to Pyeonchang’s win, she told TIME‘s Clara Kim that it was “relief”:
The Korean delegation worked so hard for 10 years to host the Olympics. I joined the team at the last minute, but the bid came to mean more when I saw from up close how much the rest of the delegation invested in it. I started thinking, ‘This really has to happen!’ It could not be any other way.
She also shared why she thinks she has been so successful:
I think I’m a born athlete. My coaches have told me my muscles and body structure are perfect for skating. I was born with a good instrument, maybe more so than the talent. I was lucky my coaches noticed early on and helped me develop that. A lot of people don’t know they are born that way.
Kim Yu-Na will soon be leaving Seoul to continue her training in Los Angeles.
In hopes of hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics, South Korea’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Bid Committee announced on Sunday that one of their final presenters will be Toby Dawson, the Korean American skier who won the bronze medal for the United States in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Expressing his commitment to the bid, Dawson promised: “I will do my best to open the Winter Games in the nation where I was born.”
The Korea Times reports that the bid is especially meaningful for Dawson, who was born in South Korea but was adopted into an American home after losing his birth parents in a marketplace when he was three-years-old. After winning the bronze medal in Turin, Dawson announced with his rusty Korean, “Mom, Dad, I miss you,” immediately attracting much attention in Korea. He began his search for his biological parents and finally reunited with them in 2007. According to Chosun Ilbo, the story of his search was made into a documentary that aired in the U.S. in April.
Along with other committee members like Olympic figure skating gold medalist Kim Yu-Na, Dawson seems to be a perfect addition to the team. His inspirational account of loss and discovery fits in perfectly with the team’s slogan, “New Horizons,” and many are hoping that Pyeongchang’s third attempt at the bid will be a success.
According to UPI.com’s recently reported list of “10 of the Highest Paid Female Athletes,” pro golfer Michelle Wie earned a sum of $12 million, with Olympic champion Kim Yu-Na trailing close behind, raking in an impressive $9.7 million. Wie and Kim are ranked among other talented female sports stars like Maria Sharapova and Venus and Serena Williams.
Wie—who is playing in her second round of the LPGA State Farm Classic tournament today (fingers crossed!)—has reportedly been shopping around for a new contract, and it’s rumored that she might be signing with IMG Worldwide after her departure from William Morris Agency. However, it’s still too early for any definitive news.
“Queen” Kim Yu-Na has also been keeping busy with her new figure skating variety show, Kiss & Cry, which aired in Korea last month. The show features a line-up of Korean actors and singers who battle it out for the chance to skate in Kim Yu-Na’s Ice Show in August.
[Photo of Michelle Wie: Chris Trotman/Getty; Kim Yu-Na: Heinz Kluetmeier/SI]
And the awards just keep coming in, even months after the Winter Olympics. Kim Yu Na took home the Sportswoman of the Year award for 2010 which is awarded by the Women’s Sports Foundation; founded by tennis great Billie Jean King back in the 70′s. She becomes the first Korean – but not Asian – to win this prestigious award, which had previously been awarded to the likes of Lorena Ochoa and Bonnie Blair. What will she do next?
Every year, the Women’s Sports Foundation recognizes an individual and team Sportswoman whose performances over a 12-month time span have been exceptional. Criteria is based on new records and world championships won.
The perfect skater-coach marriage of Kim Yu Na and Brian Orser has turned into a nasty divorce. Apparently the management team of Kim Yu Na, headed up by her mother, has dismissed Brian Orser and apparently Orser has now broken a cardinal rule in figure skating and that was revealing the song to her new long program for 2011. There’s some sniping going on between the two parties. This is pretty unfortunate because they seemed like the right dynamic for a winning pair. Making things even more awkward is the fact that Kim Yu Na is still practicing in Toronto at the same rink that Orser is coaching other pupils. This is like dating where you work and you see each other in the cafeteria. Awkward!
Kim Yu Na came across the Pacific to attend Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential gala in New York. She was one of the luminaries in attendance at this very prestigious gala. It’s pretty cool that such a young girl from Korea could make so many people around the world smile. Former figure skating champion Michelle Kwan shares her thoughts about Kim Yu Na.
I couldn’t have been more surprised or honored last summer when Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na told me that as a 7-year-old, she was so inspired by my skating at the 1998 Winter Games that she memorized my skating routines, pretending to be at the Olympics. Twelve years later, she no longer had to pretend. I have never seen a skater with such a combination of artistry and athleticism. From the first notes of her sassy James Bond medley to the closing Gershwin strains, Kim’s inspiring performances in Vancouver changed the face of figure skating forever. Those 6½ minutes on the ice left not only a mark in the record book but also an indelible impression on millions of young girls around the world. For Kim, the dream that began as a 7-year-old has been realized. For these girls, thanks to her, a dream and journey are just beginning.
Time Magazine released their top 100 list of most influential people in the world and there are two Koreans who are in the top 100. Kim Yu Na captivated the world with her elegance and power at this past Winter Olympics. She had the pressure of a country on her shoulders and she not only survived but she triumphed wonderfully with a near perfect performance that brought everyone to tears.
I couldn’t have been more surprised or honored last summer when Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na told me that as a 7-year-old, she was so inspired by my skating at the 1998 Winter Games that she memorized my skating routines, pretending to be at the Olympics. Twelve years later, she no longer had to pretend. I have never seen a skater with such a combination of artistry and athleticism. From the first notes of her sassy James Bond medley to the closing Gershwin strains, Kim’s inspiring performances in Vancouver changed the face of figure skating forever. Those 6½ minutes on the ice left not only a mark in the record book but also an indelible impression on millions of young girls around the world. For Kim, the dream that began as a 7-year-old has been realized. For these girls, thanks to her, a dream and journey are just beginning.
Kwan is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history
David Chang is the genius chef who makes kimchi butter and drizzles it onto one of his famed dishes that even impress chefs of the world. David runs the Momofuku empire in New York and has served dishes to some of the most famous people in the world. His inventive cooking is truly influential.
The cold pink fluff looks like cotton candy and seems entirely tasteless. But soon it begins to melt, seducing your mouth with such creamy richness, it is impossible not to gasp. Beside it sits a fragrant fruit, smooth as pearls. Only David Chang would grate frozen foie gras and serve it with lychees.
When Chang, 32, opened Momofuku in New York in 2004, he reinvented the casual restaurant and changed the game. Turning his back on the high-end kitchens in which he had been working, he started off with a bare-bones place his peers could afford. At first he offered a few simple dishes — pork buns so soft they practically swallowed themselves and memorable ramen made with organic ingredients — but Chang soon began pushing the boundaries, combining a passion for Asian food with his classic European training and serving the kind of challenging dishes once relegated to expensive establishments. He trusted his customers — who trusted him. Whipped tofu with sea urchins and tapioca? Bring it on!
The profane, irreverent Momofuku cookbook, published last fall, brings Chang’s exuberant style right into your kitchen. What he’s feeding is an appetite for adventure, and the ride has just begun.
Reichl, a former restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, was the last editor of Gourmet magazine
K-pop singer Rain and Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na are among 200 candidates for this year’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.
Rain has been on the candidates’ list every year since 2006. Although he has ended up placing first or second in the online poll each year, he has appeared on the final 100 list only once, in 2006.
“Rain has long been a phenomenon in his native South Korea, but his popularity in the U.S. is growing after a successful international concert tour in support of his latest album, ‘Rainism,’ included several U.S. stops,” Time said. “He has crossover appeal too — he showed his acting chops with recent roles in ‘Speed Racer’ and ‘Ninja Assassin.’”
On Kim, the magazine reported, “Kim earned South Korea’s first ever Olympic figure skating medal, a gold one at that, during the Vancouver Games. Her graceful command of the ice — her Olympic programs earned the highest scores from judges since a new scoring system was instituted in 2006 — is single-handedly making skating the sport to watch in her golf-obsessed nation.”
The Winter Olympics have officially ended and the big story for Koreans around the world was Kim Yu Na’s gold medal winning performance in ladies’ figure skating. She broke the scoring record by holding nothing back in the free skate and in the end, she won the hearts of millions as she finally let tears flow. She was one of the great stories of the winter Olympics, having arrived in Vancouver with the highest of expectations and the weight of South Korea to win its first medal in figure skating. She performed to perfection and walks away from Vancouver knowing that she executed perfectly and lifted a nation. There have been thousands of articles written about her performance and you all witnessed her breathtaking performance, so we leave you with not just one thought but many thoughts and visuals of Kim Yu Na. Enjoy!
Admit it. You cried while watching Kim Yu Na skate and we all cried when we saw Kim Yu Na let her emotions go soon as she finished. It was the first time we saw the raw emotions of a 19 year old girl and it was just as beautiful as her performance. Queen Yu Na became a king at the Winter Olympics as she shrugged off the pressure and threw down an incredible performance to win the gold medal in ladies’ figure skating. One of the TV commentators said it best when she said that was one of the greatest performances in Olympic history.
Kim Yu Na destroyed the old record with a world record score of 228.56 and won the gold medal. Her final overall score, 228.56, was about 10 points better than what Jeremy Abbott, the two-time U.S. national champion, managed here — and would have put her ninth in the men’s Olympic competition. The men are allowed to do one more jump in their free skates than the ladies — which makes what Kim Yu Na did all the more impressive.
“I still can’t believe the score that I received,” Kim said. “I’m really surprised. It’s almost as close as the men’s score.” “I have accomplished the biggest, most important goal in my life,” she said. “I am going to enjoy this moment for a while.”
Ladies’ figure skating is the crown event and all eyes were on the reigning world champion but pressure and history were against her as the previous three ladies’ figure skating favorites had failed to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Kim Yu Na is special for shrugging that all off of her and just competing like the athlete she really is. Kim Yu Na was the perfect person to win a gold medal for South Korea. It’s a country that could be considered chauvinistic with a workforce dominated by men, but it was a female teenager on Thursday night that took South Korea on her shoulders and brought pride to a proud nation. Of course Korea took pride in their gold medals in speed skating and other sports, but this gold medal lifted a nation. The last glorious sporting win that captivated South Korea was the World Cup in 2002, and they didn’t even win the world cup. They reached the semi-finals and took pride in their greatest World Cup performance. Since then, South Korea has come up short in sports like the World Baseball Classic. Even this week, there was the disheartening disqualification of the short track speed skating team in the 3,000 meter relay race. They lost the gold medal after having dominated the event for the last four Olympics. But this is special…. really special. A young lady put South Korea on her shoulders and she made them proud. She is now King Kim Yu Na! Bravo Yu Na! Bravo!
Check out her gold medal winning performance (video) at NBCOlympics.com. Also, check out the analysis of Kim Yu Na’s score by the New York Times.
