World Class Coaches Help Kim Yu-na Top World
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
A new 4-member coaching team has been organized to help South Korean figure skating star Kim Yu-na top the world.
Along with current Canadian coach Brian Orser and choreographer David Wilson, former Calgary Winter Olympic bronze medallist Tracy Wilson and 20-year veteran Astrid Shrubb joined the team to help coach the 16-year-old Korean.
Kim flew to Toronto three weeks ago and has trained eight hours a day with the coaching staff at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club for her second senior season.
``World famous coaches instruct Kim,'' her management agency, IB Sports, said. ``Kim is preparing systemically for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics as well as for the upcoming season.''
The season starts on October 25 and the first International Skating Union (ISU) Figure Skating Grand Prix will be held in Reading, Pa. in the United States.
The other five venues for the Grand Prix are Quebec City, Canada; Beijing, China; Paris, France; Moscow, Russia and Sendai, Japan.
The top six point getters throughout the six contests will compete for the championship in December. The host city has not been decided yet.
Brian Orser, also known as ``Mr. Triple Axel,'' is responsible for Kim's jump skills. The 45-year-old Canadian won the championships eight straight times from 1981 to 1988 and was a two-time silver medallist at the Winter Olympics in 1984 and 1988.
Recently, he quit his ice show to focus on coaching Kim.
The choreographer Wilson has worked with top-level skaters such as Sasha Cohen and Emily Hughes of the United States and Joannie Rochette of Canada.
Tracy Wilson, who works on Kim's techniques and expressions, won two bronze medals at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships along with one at the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988.
Astrid Shrubb teaches Kim spin skills. Shrubb was a three-time senior Dutch National Champion and a coach of Canada's junior national team from 1992 to 1994.
The IB Sports said, ``Coach Orser has the ambition to make Kim the world's best skater. To achieve this, he recruited many good coaches for her.''
``By early next month, her short program and free skating will be outlined.''
In her senior debut year, Kim, who attends Suri High School in Gyeonggi Province, won the gold medal at the ISU World Grand Prix Final in St. Petersburg, Russia last December.
In addition, she placed third at the World Figure Skating Championships in Japan behind Miki Ando and her rival and friend Mao Asada.