Published: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Keep an eye on South Korea’s Kim
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Shuji Kajiyama / Associated Press
South Korea figure skater Kim Yu-na has not lost a competition in almost two years.
When I was growing up outside Boston in the 1950s, my father bestowed upon me three sports heroes for us to share.
The first was Ted Williams, baseball’s greatest hitter and a bonafide war hero; the second was Bill Russell, centerpiece of the Celtics’ legendary basketball dynasty; the third was Tenley Albright who, in 1956, became the first American to win Olympic gold in ladies figure skating.
That we embraced a female athlete more than a half century ago doesn’t reflect any particular enlightenment on my dad’s part. Albright was our hometown girl and beyond her gold medal, would become a prominent surgeon. To my dad, she was the ultimate role model, setting me up to disappoint him on two fronts.
I did, however, succeed in falling in love with her sport and, one by one, with an extraordinary succession of American skating queens. I loved our Olympic golden gals — Carol Heiss, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tara Lipinski, Sarah Hughes — as well as others — Janet Lynn, Linda Fratianne, Rosalynn Summers, Debi Thomas, Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan — who had to settle for baser medals.
But America’s reign appears over. Our men have already abdicated the Olympic title — Brian Boitano was our last champion back in 1988 — and our women seem ready to follow suit. We no longer boast queens here, only pretenders to the throne. Five different women have worn the U.S. ladies crown in the five years since the last of Kwan’s nine national titles and none have realized greatness.
This year, after Sasha Cohen’s comeback fizzled, the U.S. team was left with two teens that, if melded, would make one terrific talent. At 17, U.S. champion Rachael Flatt is rock-steady with an exhaustive array of jumps; her style, however, is bland and, for all her big leaps, she seldom soars. Sixteen-year-old Mirai Nagasu can dazzle, but both her jumping and her emotions can be wobbly.
No American woman has medaled at worlds since 2006 and unless Flatt or Nagasu really steps up her act in Vancouver, our ladies could wind up off the Olympic podium for the first time since 1964. (Back then U.S. skating was still reeling after its team was killed in a 1961 plane crash en route to the world championships.)
But sports — like nature — abhors a vacuum. So the power in ladies figure skating has slid to the east — far east to Asia — where Japan leads the charge. In the ladies competition at the last three worlds, Asian skaters have won seven of nine medals.
This shift had its roots in the early ’90s with the emergence of Japan’s first skating stars, Midori Ito and Yuka Sato, at the same time a Japanese-American, Yamaguchi, ruled the ice. That spawned a skating boom and Japan — with its reverence for discipline, an honored tradition of dance and an abundance of young women perfectly sized for the sport — is now enjoying its fruits.
Shizuka Arakawa won Japan’s first Olympic figure skating gold in 2006. Two other Japanese skaters, Miki Ando and Mao Asada, captured world titles in 2007 and 2008. China too has surged since the ’90s saw its first star, Chen Lu, as well as the debut of Chinese-American sensation Kwan. (Most of China’s ensuing success, however, has come in pairs skating).
But the Japanese and Chinese, along with the Americans, will likely take a back seat in Vancouver to Kim Yu-na, the reigning ladies world champion and the first breakout Korean star. Kim is so popular at home that she twice has been chosen — in a Korea Times newspaper vote — South Korea’s “Person of the Year”, besting the nation’s last two presidents and a pop singing sensation.
Kim hasn’t lost a competition in almost two years and she holds every woman’s record under the scoring system implemented in 2004. Kim brings to the ice what is, arguably, an unprecedented combination of athleticism — she has landed three different triple-triple jump combinations — and breathless artistry. Kim has it all, even a Canadian connection that should garner crowd support in Vancouver; her coach, former Canadian star Brian Orser, famously lost the “Battle of the Brians” to Boitano at the 1988 Calgary Games.
I have already confessed my love for all those American ladies who have spun their majesty on the ice. Truthfully, though, my love for the sport transcends borders. Like many fans (and every guy I know), I fell hard for the East German star Katarina Witt in the 1980s. And the Ukrainian waif Oksana Baiul captivated me in the 1990s. Now I’ve got a feeling that we’re all destined to fall under Ms. Kim’s spell.
Mark Starr has been a national sports correspondent for Newsweek since 1982 and has attended 10 Olympics. Look for his columns each Sunday in The Herald leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Games.
The first was Ted Williams, baseball’s greatest hitter and a bonafide war hero; the second was Bill Russell, centerpiece of the Celtics’ legendary basketball dynasty; the third was Tenley Albright who, in 1956, became the first American to win Olympic gold in ladies figure skating.
That we embraced a female athlete more than a half century ago doesn’t reflect any particular enlightenment on my dad’s part. Albright was our hometown girl and beyond her gold medal, would become a prominent surgeon. To my dad, she was the ultimate role model, setting me up to disappoint him on two fronts.
I did, however, succeed in falling in love with her sport and, one by one, with an extraordinary succession of American skating queens. I loved our Olympic golden gals — Carol Heiss, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tara Lipinski, Sarah Hughes — as well as others — Janet Lynn, Linda Fratianne, Rosalynn Summers, Debi Thomas, Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan — who had to settle for baser medals.
But America’s reign appears over. Our men have already abdicated the Olympic title — Brian Boitano was our last champion back in 1988 — and our women seem ready to follow suit. We no longer boast queens here, only pretenders to the throne. Five different women have worn the U.S. ladies crown in the five years since the last of Kwan’s nine national titles and none have realized greatness.
This year, after Sasha Cohen’s comeback fizzled, the U.S. team was left with two teens that, if melded, would make one terrific talent. At 17, U.S. champion Rachael Flatt is rock-steady with an exhaustive array of jumps; her style, however, is bland and, for all her big leaps, she seldom soars. Sixteen-year-old Mirai Nagasu can dazzle, but both her jumping and her emotions can be wobbly.
No American woman has medaled at worlds since 2006 and unless Flatt or Nagasu really steps up her act in Vancouver, our ladies could wind up off the Olympic podium for the first time since 1964. (Back then U.S. skating was still reeling after its team was killed in a 1961 plane crash en route to the world championships.)
But sports — like nature — abhors a vacuum. So the power in ladies figure skating has slid to the east — far east to Asia — where Japan leads the charge. In the ladies competition at the last three worlds, Asian skaters have won seven of nine medals.
This shift had its roots in the early ’90s with the emergence of Japan’s first skating stars, Midori Ito and Yuka Sato, at the same time a Japanese-American, Yamaguchi, ruled the ice. That spawned a skating boom and Japan — with its reverence for discipline, an honored tradition of dance and an abundance of young women perfectly sized for the sport — is now enjoying its fruits.
Shizuka Arakawa won Japan’s first Olympic figure skating gold in 2006. Two other Japanese skaters, Miki Ando and Mao Asada, captured world titles in 2007 and 2008. China too has surged since the ’90s saw its first star, Chen Lu, as well as the debut of Chinese-American sensation Kwan. (Most of China’s ensuing success, however, has come in pairs skating).
But the Japanese and Chinese, along with the Americans, will likely take a back seat in Vancouver to Kim Yu-na, the reigning ladies world champion and the first breakout Korean star. Kim is so popular at home that she twice has been chosen — in a Korea Times newspaper vote — South Korea’s “Person of the Year”, besting the nation’s last two presidents and a pop singing sensation.
Kim hasn’t lost a competition in almost two years and she holds every woman’s record under the scoring system implemented in 2004. Kim brings to the ice what is, arguably, an unprecedented combination of athleticism — she has landed three different triple-triple jump combinations — and breathless artistry. Kim has it all, even a Canadian connection that should garner crowd support in Vancouver; her coach, former Canadian star Brian Orser, famously lost the “Battle of the Brians” to Boitano at the 1988 Calgary Games.
I have already confessed my love for all those American ladies who have spun their majesty on the ice. Truthfully, though, my love for the sport transcends borders. Like many fans (and every guy I know), I fell hard for the East German star Katarina Witt in the 1980s. And the Ukrainian waif Oksana Baiul captivated me in the 1990s. Now I’ve got a feeling that we’re all destined to fall under Ms. Kim’s spell.
Mark Starr has been a national sports correspondent for Newsweek since 1982 and has attended 10 Olympics. Look for his columns each Sunday in The Herald leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Games.
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