I've always loved ice skating, but I've never geeked out like this before about a figure skater. Or any athlete, to be brutally honest. I can't stop watching this girl- and she's not even American! She's Korean! When the Olympics roll around, I'm going to be a horrible American and root for Yu-Na Kim to win gold. It's unavoidable.
The ISU World Figure Skating Championships begin March 22nd, and I am already arranging my Friday schedule so that I can watch the ladies short programs live on March 27th. Saturday the 28th, same thing with free skating.
My fascination with Yu-Na is in part due to her intense rivalry with Japanese skater Mao Asada. These two girls are the best in the world. No contest. In terms of repertoire, the technical difficulty of their jumps, the beauty of presentation, these two girls blow everyone else out of the water. Ever since they emerged on the worlds stage, they've been neck in neck, edging ahead of each other in one competition or the other. They each have set records- Asada is the only woman to have landed two triple axels in a competition, and she holds the world record for best combined score in a competition. Both young women are held up as examples of Korea's and Japan's best female athletes and the two are national celebrities. Yu-Na Kim, in particular is a media figure of great national interest due to South Korea's limited supply of world-class athletes. Yu-Na is known as the "little sister of the nation" and "Queen Yu-Na"; Asada is spoken of as "Our Mao" and "Queen Asada."
The real question is, who will be the queen in Vancouver in 2010? I don't know! I can't wait to find out!
I have embedded examples of the beauty and glory that is Yu-Na Kim. Her most recent programs are towards the bottom, but all of these are fantastic. She's currently the world record holder for short program and free skate. She is a BAMF. Long story short.
Did I mention that they're both 18, and 5'5? Yeah, my height, practically my age, world champions. * Sigh *
Yu-Na Kim skating in the 2007 World Championships- Short Program "El Tango de Roxanne"
(This is the short program that held the world record for highest score under the ISU judging system until she beat it in 2009)
Yu-Na Kim skating in the 2008 Worlds Championships Gala- Exhibition "Only Hope"
(I. Love. This. Song. )
Yu-Na Kim skating in the 2009 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships- Short Program "Danse Macabre"
(This program currently holds the world record for highest scoring short program. She beat her own record.)
Yu-Na Kim skating in the 2009 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships- Exhibition "Gold"
AND- FOR COMPARISON-
Mao Asada skating in the 2008 Grand Prix Figure Skating Final- Long Program "Masquerade" (This is the one where she lands the two triple axels!)
Who do you like better?
~THEG
Showing posts with label love song. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love song. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Piscean Love Song
They never tell you the silly little things you'll miss about home when you head off to college. Like water. Moving water. Rivers and oceans.
Take today, for example. Horrible day. I'd rank it about a 7 on a shit scale. Started with my roommate going off on me at 3AM (I deserved it, but still...) and ended with the meeting from hell. Not to mention classes and normalcies of college life in below freezing temperatures in between.
In high school, on days like this I'd wait until my parents were asleep and climb out my window onto the kitchen roof. From there, I'd sit, wrapped up in a blanket, and watch the moon rise over the river. If it was a truly nasty day, I'd climb from the roof to the deck to the ground and walk out to the dock. I'd sit, my toes dangling in the water, until everything felt right again. Something about water has always soothed me. I miss that at school. I suppose it's nice that we have two lakes, but they always freeze over, and even during the fall and late spring, if you just stop and sit on a bench to enjoy the gentle sounds of water, the crazy jogging people give you strangely possessive looks as they run by. The lakes are not for those who wish to sit and contemplate life- they are simply obstacles to conquer, measures of distance.
Long story short, I miss the water. And if we can't have moving water, we should at least have bathtubs in the dorms. Nice, clean ones.
Take today, for example. Horrible day. I'd rank it about a 7 on a shit scale. Started with my roommate going off on me at 3AM (I deserved it, but still...) and ended with the meeting from hell. Not to mention classes and normalcies of college life in below freezing temperatures in between.
In high school, on days like this I'd wait until my parents were asleep and climb out my window onto the kitchen roof. From there, I'd sit, wrapped up in a blanket, and watch the moon rise over the river. If it was a truly nasty day, I'd climb from the roof to the deck to the ground and walk out to the dock. I'd sit, my toes dangling in the water, until everything felt right again. Something about water has always soothed me. I miss that at school. I suppose it's nice that we have two lakes, but they always freeze over, and even during the fall and late spring, if you just stop and sit on a bench to enjoy the gentle sounds of water, the crazy jogging people give you strangely possessive looks as they run by. The lakes are not for those who wish to sit and contemplate life- they are simply obstacles to conquer, measures of distance.
Long story short, I miss the water. And if we can't have moving water, we should at least have bathtubs in the dorms. Nice, clean ones.
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