VANCOUVER, CANADA – Kim Yu-na, although having more pressure than most because of her World Champion title, remained calm and unaffected during the Women’s Figure Skating Short Program as well as the Women’s Figure Skating Free Skate. By the end of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics she came out with the first gold medal South Korea has received in Figure Skating. According to CNN.com, Yu-na was recently quoted as saying, “I waited a long time for the Olympics, and it feels like a large weight has been lifted off.”



Ever since 2005, Mao Asada of Japan and Kim Yu-na have competed for number one. The Figure Skating Olympic medal is only the latest prize in their rivalry, with Yu-na pulling ahead with this huge win. Both countries, Japan and South Korea, have always been in competition with each other at least concerning athletics, but usually this tension manifests itself in soccer or baseball. According to the Time Magazine website, both Yu-na and Asada have gained a large amount of publicity, with an Asada doll and the earrings worn by Yu-na during the short program available in stores. Not only that, Yu-na also had to deal with the tremendous pressure put upon her by South Korea. During her free skate performance, many schools and businesses paused to watch her, holding their collective breath. According to the Korea Times, the Kookmin bank even promised a 0.5% increase on interest rates for those holding the “Figure Skating Queen Yuna Love” account if Yu-na won the gold medal. In fact, Yu-na has even earned the name “Queen Yu-na” back home, in South Korea.



Yu-na began skating at the age of seven years old with her sister. Her coach strongly recommended to her mother that she continue to skate, and predicted that she would be a world class skater. She holds the 2010 Olympic Championship title, the 2009 World Champion title and the 2006 World Junior Champion title, all for ice skating. In 2009, Forbes Korea named her the No. 1 celebrity in South Korea and in 2008, the Korea Times named her as the Person of the Year, over Barack Obama and other influential figures.