By Cho Jae-hyon
Staff Reporter
What’s on the horizon for Olympic champion Kim Yu-na, post-Vancouver? Will she continue to compete or turn professional? That’s a question that even the figure skating queen herself cannot answer right now.
Kim failed to defend her title at the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships in Turin, Italy, Sunday. Despite her first-place finish in the free skate, she lost to her longtime rival Mao Asada of Japan due to a seventh-place performance in the short program.
For Kim, the color of her medal seems less important than the fact that she has finally been relieved of some of the burden on her slim shoulders.
Until the last minute, she was unsure about whether she could compete in the free program in Turin.
“Before starting the warming up, I had the thought that I would leave the rink if I couldn’t perform well. But I thought that if I could overcome this difficult moment, it would be more meaningful for me,” Kim told reporters after the last competition. “I didn’t know it would be so difficult after the Olympics. I dreaded the thought that I would perform poorly as an Olympic champion.”
Her remarks show how difficult and how stressful it is for her to stay at the top.
But she seems more than happy to have the 2009-2010 season behind her.
“I am so happy right now that I just finished. It’s really great to live without the stress of competition or Olympics in my head,” Kim said.
After the Olympics, she has been asked by reporters about her plans for the future and her answers have been anything but articulate.
Of course she feels enormous gratitude to her fans despite the pressure coming from them. That’s one of the key reasons why she couldn’t call it quits at Turin so easily.
After achieving her dream of winning the Olympic gold, she’s finding it hard to get motivated.
All in all, Kim needs more time to ponder her future.
“My future course could go one of two ways _ either to continue to compete or do ice shows while studying,” said Kim, a sophomore at Korea University.
“If I decide to continue to compete, that’s because of the thought that I will be able to remain as competitive as I am now. And if not, that’s because of the stress I have to take on whenever I compete.”
For now, Kim, exhausted physically and mentally from the long Olympic journey, deserves some respite from the pressure.
She returns home Wednesday and is scheduled to perform for her fans at an ice show from April 16 to 18.
“I would like to meet my friends and eat as much as I want. Don’t make fun of me if I gain weight,” she said laughing.
Asked about her future 10 years from now, Kim said, “I might be skating. As coach Brian Orser also did ice shows before becoming a coach, I might skate as long as I don’t gain weight. I have never thought of marriage.”
Kim also showed interest in coaching her juniors as an assistant coach.
Kim said figure skating is everything for her regardless of the course she will take.
“What’s figure skating for Kim Yu-na? It’s my life. I will continue to remain in the figure skating circle _ without it I would be nothing.”