LOS ANGELES — Kim Yu-na practically sprinted through the short program and away from a strong field Friday at the World Figure Skating Championships.
With coach Brian Orser mimicking her every move by the sideboards, the two-time Grand Prix champion from South Korea built a stunning 8.2-point lead over Canada’s Joannie Rochette. Her 76.12 score was the best ever for a woman, and it had Orser doing his own sort of triple jump — three leaps in the air, arms held high — when she finished.
“I probably got a plus-3 on that,” Orser said. “I can’t help myself, I am so excited and so proud for her.”
The 18-year-old Kim, whose previous best was a 72.24, covered her mouth and screamed when her monstrous number was posted. She earned it with huge jumps, precise spins, flowing spirals, superior presence and surpassing artistry.
And she did it all at breakneck speed. Fast and elegant at the same time is a tough combination to beat.
“At a world championships, this stage brings out the best in the best,” Orser said. “Yu-na was competitive, she was on the attack, she was very fierce and she knew what her job was. At the same time, she shared it with the audience.
“It’s one of those moments in skating people will always remember.”
Defending champion Mao Asada of Japan was third heading into Saturday’s free skate, and her countrywoman, 2007 world champion Miki Ando, was fourth. They have a long way to go to even challenge Kim.
And the Americans almost certainly have too far to go to secure three spots in the Vancouver Olympics field. They need a combination finish equaling 13 or lower, but Rachael Flatt came in seventh Friday, and U.S. champion Alissa Czisny was 14th.
“It is ideal for us to get three spots back. We’ll see what happens,” Flatt said. “I think it’ll be a good challenge for us … so I’m ready to do a good long (program).”
Kim’s talent has really blossomed under Orser, the 1984 and ‘88 Olympic silver medalist — he barely lost the Battle of the Brians to American Brian Boitano in 1988. He practically climbed on the ice with her during the short program, twisting and bending and leaping while almost exactly shadowing Kim’s every movement.
“He really knows what I feel in the competitions because there was Brian-Brian and I am doing that now,” said Kim, who has an intense rivalry with Asada.
“I’ve been doing clean programs in practice, so I felt like I was practicing on the ice. Every element in my performance was great.”
Rochette, 23, has been down this slippery slope before. She was second in the short program at the 2006 worlds in Calgary, sending Canadian hopes soaring for their first women’s world champ since 1973. Instead, Rochette plummeted to seventh.
Rochette’s long, graceful spirals earned her enough of a boost Friday to get to second place, albeit barely in the same stratosphere as Kim.
“That’s always been my strength, to fight,” Rochette said. “I fight for everything all the time. I felt all I was missing (in the past) was a little bit of spark and to show my joy for skating.”
Her fellow Canadians took plenty of joy from Rochette’s routine, standing and proudly displaying their maple leaf flags as she waved to them.
Asada’s lyrical performance to “Clair de Lune” was almost forgotten in the wake of Kim’s magnificent routine. Asada was a budding lilac during an exquisite combination spin and sublime spirals. But she also cut a triple lutz to a double, an unusual error that was enough to drop her to third.
Ando’s grace and maturity showed throughout her program, even though she’s been plagued by a left thigh problem. Her only significant error was on her second jump in a triple lutz-triple loop combination, which was under-rotated. That sloppiness, even though it came on a particularly difficult combo, was enough to drop the 2007 winner to fourth.
Czisny continued her struggles since January’s nationals. She was awful at Four Continents, finishing ninth, and Friday was nearly as dismal. Her performance to “The Swan” pretty much was all wet after Czisny fell on her triple flip when she got too close to the end boards. She also went down on a double axel, a true no-no for an elite skater.
“I don’t train to skate like that,” she said with a blank gaze. “Today is disappointing because that’s not the way I’ve been practicing. I have higher expectations of myself and today it just didn’t happen.”
Rachael Flatt, the runner-up at nationals, was much superior to her countrywoman, although she stepped out of her opening triple flip. But Flatt was clean the rest of the way, with a soaring flying spin to finish.
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