Oh, Canada. Hosting the Winter Olympics, but their medal count and overall results thus far are not what they have been hoping for.
So, when you don’t have many Olympic heroes, if you are the Toronto Star, you adopt one. Of the many articles written on Kim Yu-na lately (particularly on how much “pressure” she’s going through), I like the Toronto Star’s take. Kim Yu-na, the “Korean superstar [that] skates with the soul of a Canadian.”
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
those damn dirty Canadians trying to steal our 연아…
Must resist urge to snark…
Hey, Americans are guilty too. I think I saw like 4 different NYTimes articles on YEONA not YUNA in a span of 2 weeks.
10 medals and 5 golds, not too shabby.
What a nice article! Without Canada where Kim started her talent, there would be no Kim Yuna. The facilities where she trains is in Canada, the coaches were and are Canadians, the programs she enrolled while she learned her sport were Canadian. The only Korean thing about her is that her nationality is Korean and her home is in Korea. That’s about it. She’s more of a byproduct of Canada’s figure skating world, then Korea’s.
It’s more like Korea trying to claim Kim Yuna as their own, only after Canada gave her the opportunity to excel in this sports, and she became a star.
WTF are you talking about? She started training in Canada only a couple years ago. She already had the basics and learned all the triple jumps (minus the triple axle) from Korean coaches, before the move to Canada.
And by your logic, any athlete who doesn’t train in their own country is a by product of where they train? So all those Russian, Japanese, Chinese and any other foreign athletes who train in North America should all be representing NA instead of their home country?
All I know is when Yuna gets her medal, it will be the South Korean flag, not the Canadian flag, that will be raised up…
I will add some enlightened profound comment that just came up to my mind: i think Yu Na is pretty hot
#5. Is that right? I didn’t know that. I thought she started out in Canada.
I didn’t follow her career, and I don’t know much about figure skating. I just heard all the hype from Korean press which I skimmed through.
Hmmm….claiming characteristics of a superstar in order to co-opt some share of their success or attribute it to native mindset….where have I seen that before?
So to summarize: Damn you Canadians for claiming Yuna has the soul and spirit of a Canadian! But Kobe has the work ethic, focus, and toughness of a Korean. Hines Ward has the fleet feet and sure hands of a Korean, and Toby Dawson has the speed and agility of a Korean. Almost forgot Michelle Wie’s innate Korean concentration and power, as well as the natural Korean intelligence and studious nature that John Yoo and Harold Koh possess. Finally we’ve got the purely Korean creativity and artistic talent of John Cho, Joe Hahn, Rick Yune, Grace Park, and Bobby Lee among others.
Damn, who can represent our mindset and natural characteristics? Ah yes….Cho Seung Hui with the seething rage and murderous nature of an American! Take that Korea!
Wow… IHBB… bad day at the office? Ate another one of those “Kang Ho-dong and Fernando Valenzuela raping my throat” Korean tacos?..
IHBB: that’s a poorly chosen example as Korean authorities and common Koreans expressed their shock, grievance and sense of guilt over Seung the wacko deeds, when in fact he was a pure product of Western alienation…and notice i said Western and not American as episodes like that are multiplying in Europe too.
Nah, he was doing really well until after the Toby Dawson example then he ventured into incoherent “rantsville” for which reason I do not know why… He’s usually so logical too.
On a non-sarcastic note, I think Yuna is handling everything perfectly thus far. Staying and training in Canada — away from the rabid and invasive Korean media — is the smartest thing she can do as long as she’s competing. She can go back to Korea a couple times a year for a few weeks to sign the endorsements, shoot the commercials, and collect the checks, and that should be sufficient to maintain her Korean icon status while staying away from the ridiculous amounts of pressure and media attention that come with her position.
She actually has the talent and potential to be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) figure skaters of all time, and nothing has more potential to tear that future down than the do-or-die media pressure and weight of the entire nation that is the standard in Korea.
Leave her alone, let her train with the waegooks, and watch the gold medals and world championships roll in for the next decade. I think the best explanation of her natural talent was an announcer that compared her to Shaun White. He basically said that if you’d never seen snowboarding at all and had no knowledge of the sport, you could watch Shaun White and a few of his competitors make a run and immediately recognize that he was on a completely different level than the rest of them.
Yuna has that same ability.
By my logic too, those athletes are to a certain extent a byproduct of where they train. The weather and training facilities in Florida definitely played a role in the development of Maria Sharapova, for example.
Putting aside the fact that North America is not a country — it’s not like North Korea — the affirmative answer to your first query hardly leads to the same in the second.
This board is full of unlikely figure skating fans…i remember i saw the White kid during the Turin 06 edition and couldn’t absolutely tell what was so special about him, but admittedly i can’t tell my nose from my ass crack
Canada population 30 million . 10 medals
USA population 270 million . 25 medals
Germany population 80 million . 24 medals
Norway population 5 million .14 medals
When you look at the pool of potential athletes, how much money is spent on the Olympics and training…I think Canada is in 2nd place right now, behind Norway.
Oh come on. I was making fun of the hypocrisy of complaining about a Canadian article giving Canada credit for Yuna’s success when in fact that tactic is the standard for every Korean-American success story ever.
Ok i know i should get over my honeymoon with a country i barely know (the only Korean i got to know well spent most of her worklife abroad) but i’ll add that overall it’s not a bad thing that they are so proud of their succesful immigrants, that’s pretty healthy comparin to the attitude we have here where the descendants of our immigrants are treated like garbage when they visit the old country
Hahaha… I got a mental picture of a “Vinny” from Hoboken, New Jersey dressed in a T-Shirt, flip flops, a backpack and shorts visiting the “old country” speaking archaic, heavily accented and broken Italian and using exaggerated hand and body motions essentially pissing off everyone he comes into contact with.
Yes I know they expressed a sense of guilt (and don’t forget the sense of fear they also expressed that Americans would be carrying pitchforks, looking for Koreans to slaughter), and it was completely unnecessary and ridiculous.
Oh please. His family and relatives have all said that he was alienated, shy, withdrawn, and suffered mental problems before they even moved to the states. In fact one of his relatives even said that one of the reasons that they moved to the US was because it was a more open society and they hoped it would be a better environment for he and his problems.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1613417,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/us/22vatech.html
IHBB: AH ! How we react to different environments is really a mystery, maybe wacko boy, if he stayed in Korea, would have ended up killing himself or bumming the streets of Seoul like a homeless looser instead of spraying dozens of people.
And maybe Yu Na in North America will relax a little too much and will loose interest in the gruesome life of a pro figure skater over some new found interest in, say, modeling or acting.
Who knows ? Sometimes it takes only one fucked up moment to change our life for ever, i find it a really fascinating subject.
Wangkon: LOL well let’s say that if some yahoo here actually had the guts to go around demanding to be addressed as “The Situation” or “Snooki” or “Sweetheart” chances are they would end up spending a few quality nights in a 100 sq. ft. room with Dimitri, Mohamed and Pablito
i wish yuna all the best.
Meanwhile, Lee Seung Hoon wins a gold medal in 10000m speed skating after Netherland’s gold favorite Sven Kramer gets DQed in a heartbreaking manner (read: dumbass coach can’t tell which lane is which). Awesome job by Lee, but absolutely devastating for Kramer… what kind of a coach makes that kind of a mistake at THIS level of competition?!
@ 23: he had too many fun nights at the coffee shop ?
Ok it was a cheap shot
@13
Agree completely. It’s an extremely smart choice for her to stay away from Korean media’s rabid scrutiny. I’m already worried for her that the pressure put on by the Korean public may affect her performance tonight and on Thursday. Didn’t she say that having too many Korean supporters in the spectator section actually screw with her performance?
At this point, the only one who can realistically challenge her for the gold is Asada Mao. In any case, it should be interesting how the competition plays out.
‘I’m already worried for her that the pressure put on by the Korean public may affect her performance tonight and on Thursday.’
i’m worried too. i just wonder why koreans can’t back off. if she loses, she should still get korea’s praise but something tells me she won’t.
The Olympics is about money or propaganda nowadays. Take your pick.
I say money. Hey, the Cold War is over.
Apologies… but I can’t resist!
http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/comment/article/459619–editorial-cartoon-for-february-23-2010
The best thing Yuna can do is to take up Canadian citizenship and represent Canada. If she does that, she’ll have a longer successful career, unlike the other Korean sports stars who tends to burn out from all that pressure to represent the Korean minjok.
I see that Lee Seung Hoon won a surprise gold in the 10,000m long track skating, beating a heavily Dutch skater. The Dutch skater’s time was 4 seconds faster than Lee’s, but he skated out of bounds and got disqualified. So is this mean Koreans are going to give back the gold because Lee doesn’t really deserve the gold? Remember, we’re strictly going by Korean standards that went on display when Anton Ohno got a silver when two Korean skaters wiped each other out, preventing a Korean medal sweep of the race. Maybe the Dutch will make Lee Seung Hoon the number one enemy of Netherlands?
Forgive my sarcasm, I’m just nauseated by all the Korean nationalism that seems to get worse in every Olympic.
Heavily Dutch?
North America is not a country — it’s not like North Korea —
????????????????
cm,
Longer career in Canada? Maybe… maybe… but would she get $8.5M in endorsements?
Will somebody tell NBC to stop showing goddamn bobsledding and put on figure skating…what in the world are these people thinking. Are people really all that interested in bobsledding?
#31,
I meant “heavily favored Dutch”
#33,
Probably not, but at least she’ll be a lot happier. Money isn’t everything.
By the way, the national anthem of Canada is “O Canada.”
The Korean (#14):
“Putting aside the fact that North America is not a country — it’s not like North Korea . . .”
North Korea is a country?!
And all this time, I was thinking it a fiefdom . . .
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
Ohno’s superior genes helps him be an elite Olympic skater!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022203641_2.html
If it’s in the WP, it must be true!
Sounds like something a Korean publication would say…
World record for Yuna.
Congratulations!
I think the strongest skater left is Miki Ando, right?
I love bobsledding. But the skiing events rule.
Will somebody introduce JW to his testicles? And knock that tiara off his head while you’re at it.
Figure skating?! What is the world is he thinking?
@ seouldout
My favorite winter olympics sports atm are:
1. Ski cross (Fuck. Yes.)
2. Figure skating
3. Short Track
4. Skeletons (the women’s Skeleton athletes have more balls than all of us here at Marmot’s Hole combined)
5. Hockey
I guess in my case, my testicles are the ones wearing the tiaras?
That’s funny seouldout… BUT… in JW’s defense, NBC ran WOMAN’S bobsledding during the figure skating competitions.
I’d hazard to say that given a choice, most hetrosexual men would watch women figure skate in skimpy outfits than watch butch women try to bobsled.
You know, when they came out with this freestyle ski cross thing I was very excited to see an actual race that involves more than one person in a skiing event, but pretty soon I realized that it’s well nigh impossible to catch up and pass the guy in the lead and thought, what kind of bullshit race is this?
Yes, i agree taekwondo can get real boring too. And please for gods sake take curling out of the olympics.
The only introduction to one’s own testicles has already been accomplished by you know who and besides, according to NetizenKim, only white folks like doing that kinda thing.
@JW
No dude! It’s very possible for athletes to pass one another. Check out Women’s Ski Cross Semi-Final #1 on nbc.
Oops, of course there is the marathon skiing events, which I totally respect and find enjoyable to watch…
Sorry, bum, it’s just not possible enough for me to consider it a legitimate race. Once the guy gets a lead, its VERY tough to pass him, and anyone looking at a couple races can see that.
very tough by the nature of the event that is
A wise choice. A bobsled, whether occupied by males or females, still trumps dancing on ice in a sequined tutu.
C’mon, #2 really is out of place. Who you jivin’? I suspect your real list is this:
1. Ice dancing
2. Figure skating
3. Rythmic gymnastics
4. Dancing with the Stars
5. Watching Liberace on youtube.
Kim Yuna must be, (next to my wife and daughter), the most beautiful woman in the world.
Favorite Sports this time around:
1. Curling (A great combination of strategy, teamwork, and performance!)
2. Short-track
3. Figure Skating
4. Board Cross
5. Aerial Ski Jumping
“those damn dirty Canadians trying to steal our 연아… ”
You can have her back all to yourselves when she stops living in Toronto and fires Brian Orser.
“WTF are you talking about? She started training in Canada only a couple years ago. ”
She started training in Canada exclusively in 2006…So, no, it’s not just a couple of years ago.
You have to understand that she’s being coached by a Canadian national hero…So, it’s only natural that Canadian fans of figure skating feel a certain connection to her.
Korean women’s 3000m relay short track team gets DQed after crossing the final as first place. Expect shitstor- *ducks to evade the said shitstorm*
Korean women’s 3000m relay short track team gets DQed after crossing the final as first place. Expect shitstor- *ducks to evade the said shitstorm*
“i’m worried too. i just wonder why koreans can’t back off. if she loses, she should still get korea’s praise but something tells me she won’t. ”
Well, that would be a shame. She’s the world champion, after all. Anyone who knows anything about figure skating will tell you that few win both.
You must log in to post a comment.