YOG Ambassador Yuna Kim tells a story about her hero and being one for others.

[l'etoile]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uk8DFy-kj8

Yuna Kim: Who is your hero?
When I was young, Michelle Kwan was my hero. After I first saw her skate in 1998 at Nagano Olympics, I fell in love with her skating.

When I first met her, I was very excited. After that I had a few chances to skate with her, I've done duet number with her. I was really honored.

I've been training in Michelle's rink, so we are like friends, so it's very cool to be a friend with my hero.

I hope I can be a skater who can captivate audience's eyes and minds just like her.

I think it's very important to help a lot of children in the world and I'm very happy to be a UNICEF Goodwilll Ambassador, and I hope I can inspire them.

Wonderful video clip with so touching moments of MK's skating.

[iarispiralllyof]

sooooooooooo cute

I hope their friendship grows

[VarBar]

How old was Yuna when she first saw Michelle skate, 6...7?

It seems Yuna could tell greatness in skating at a very young age.

[leon]

How old was Yuna when she first saw Michelle skate, 6...7?

It seems Yuna could tell greatness in skating at a very young age.

Yuna always says she 1st saw Michelle on TV during 1998 Nagano Olympic games. Yuna was born in October 1990 so by my (Western) count she was seven yrs old.

[kwanatic]

The Kween inspired the Queen...it's a beautiful cycle!

[lakewood]

How old was Yuna when she first saw Michelle skate, 6...7?

It seems Yuna could tell greatness in skating at a very young age.

It is interesting that YuNa was more impressed by MK than by Tara who showed another great performance.

[lowtherlore]

It is interesting that YuNa was more impressed by MK than by Tara who showed another great performance.

I find it interesting too. Maybe Michelle looked more relatable to the eyes of a young Yu-Na, sharing similar ethnic looks? She once wrote that she memorized Michelle’s routines after watching her on TV, and she always was a Michelle when she played mimic games with her skating friends. She described it as “the moment when a vague idea of being a figure skater took a concrete shape.”

[iarispiralllyof]

IMO, it was a mixture of Michelle being Asian, and thus being more relatable, in combination with the fact that she was the more artistic skater. It probably molded Yuna into the artist she is today rather than just a jumping machine, after all she herself said as a child she used to try and emote like Michelle during her performances.

I think it also says a lot about the maturity of her taste, even as a little kid. Tara had a technically more difficult program, and it was filled with exuberance and joy, but it lacked the artistic depth and subtlety of Michelle's program. Michelle's music and choreography were more sophisticated and difficult to skate to (2 piano compositions by Rachmaninoff and a harp concerto by William Alwyn) while Tara's music and performances (from an artistic standpoint) were more "childish", exciting and easy to digest for a child.

[lowtherlore]

^
I agree. Michelle is a truly special skater, and I’m happy for Yu-Na to have such a wonderful role model.

[l'etoile]

http://yunaforum.com/forum/index.php...dpost&p=100099

Q&A session with young athletes, with Alexander Popov, Yuna Kim and Stéphane Lambiel:
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/629/capture3rf.jpg
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/3164/capture4in.jpg

How wonderful role figures they are!

[kittyjake5]

Is there a competition thread somewhere for YOG? I can't seem to find it.

[kittyjake5]

Is there a competition thread somewhere for YOG? I can't seem to find it.

Never mind. I found it.