Yuna Kim announces her comeback to competitive skating

[RumbleFish]

I think this news deserves own thread.
She said over a press conference that she will resume training as a competitive skater, and that she plans to make Sochi Olympics her last competition.

It is also said that coaching arrangement and programs are undecided since the decision has just been made. But it was stated that she aims to win two spots for Korea at the 2013 World Championships.

[Glacier cat]

I think this news deserves own thread.
She said over a press conference that she will resume training as a competitive skater, and that she plans to make Sochi Olympics her last competition.

WOW So when is the first competition???

[PeterG]

I thought it was interesting that you did not provide any links to this news. So I just did a google news search. This is the most newsworthy thing I've found:

Kim Yu-na continues competitive hiatus

South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na will not compete in this year’s Figure Skating Series for the International Skating Union Grand Prix.

The ISU had announced in May the list of 140 skaters from 18 ISU member nations to compete, of which Kim was not included.

[eoxdus]

http://khnews.kheraldm.com/kh/view.p...120702152936_8

Figure skater Kim Yu-na to retire after Sochi Olympics

Figure skating star Kim Yu-na announced Monday she will retire from amateur competition after the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, ending months of speculation on her career.

In a hastily scheduled press conference, the 21-year-old said she will try to become a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after her career is over.

Kim's future has been a subject of much speculation since she won the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which came about a year after her first and only world crown.

She entered the 2010 world championships about a month after Vancouver and finished second. Kim later confessed to suffering from an emotional letdown and sat out the entire 2010-11 season before entering the world championship in April 2011 and finishing runner-up again.

It was the last competitive event for Kim, who has only appeared in corporate ice shows both within and outside South Korea in the ensuing months. (Yonhap News)

[TripleWallie]

I thought it was interesting that you did not provide any links to this news. So I just did a google news search. This is the most newsworthy thing I've found:

Kim Yu-na continues competitive hiatus

Peter, there's no link because the press conference was less than an hour ago. The news is only in Korean so far. It'll take a few hours before an English statement is released.

But people in Korea saw it live and they're reporting the same consistent news--and with pictures of the press conference if you look in her fan forums.

This is not a hoax.

[l'etoile]

OMG this is so shocking to me. I've just made my peace with Yuna's retirement just a couple of months ago!!

[spikydurian]

I thought it was interesting that you did not provide any links to this news. So I just did a google news search. This is the most newsworthy thing I've found:

Kim Yu-na continues competitive hiatus

Is it April the first? I thought she's going to compete and retire after Sochi. I was deliriously happy for nothing. This means she is not competing but will retire from figure skating (as in hang up her skates) after Sochi.
She looks beautiful.

[ainouta]

This is in Korean but it confirms it....
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/htm....html?news_top
The first two sentences say "I will continue my athletic career until the Sochi Olympics and then I will retire", essentially. She also talks about the fact that after Vancouver, she felt like the expectations of her country and her fans only continued to grow and she wanted to run away from it at times. She says that she is going to lower her own expectations a bit and try to skate for herself, and she doesn't want to see herself as the defending OGM but rather just another Korean athlete on the national team.
No mention of GP or 4C or anything of the sort though. Wonder if she's just going to keep doing just Worlds? That would seem foolish...

[RumbleFish]

I thought it was interesting that you did not provide any links to this news. So I just did a google news search. This is the most newsworthy thing I've found:

Kim Yu-na continues competitive hiatus

Thanks, I was counting on someone else to provide an English newslink.

I doubt she will skate in the grand prix, unless she brings back her old programs. Even if she does, she will need to secure invitations from hosting federations, I presume.

[ainouta]

Thanks, I was counting on someone else to provide an English newslink.

I doubt she will skate in the grand prix, unless she brings back her old programs. Even if she does, she will need to secure invitations from hosting federations, I presume.

I would love to see her use her 2011 LP again, but she's never kept any of her programs for more than a season as a senior...

[gingercrush]

Nice I wish her all the best. I presume she is meaning skip this years isu series and focus on 2013 worlds and then a likely 2013-2014 Grand Prix series? I do think coming back now is way better than coming back Olympic year as I think it doesn't work. Figure skating. We've seen people try and falter and in other sports too such as gymnastics. If you leave things too late you can't expect to do well.

[RumbleFish]

I would love to see her use her 2011 LP again, but she's never kept any of her programs for more than a season as a senior...

I also think she should keep her 2011 LP. It would be a too much of a waste not to perform such a wonderful piece to it's full capabilities.

On the otherhand, she should throw away 2011 SP to Giselle. It really didn't suit her at all.

[TripleWallie]

No details on coaches, training location, choreographer or programs yet. But let's not be too impatient. She announced her Sochi bid rather far ahead.

[Zemgirl]

I honestly thought Yu-Na was done competing. I hope this is what she really wants and that she'll be motivated and at full strength, not like in 2011. I agree that she can recycle one of her programs from last year, since she only used them once and wasn't at her best.

I think she might be able to get a GP as a host pick, she is quite a draw... if not, I hope she will at least do 4CC and maybe a senior B and not just Worlds.

Sort of on topic, have they announced the cast for the next All That Skate show?

[idee123]

No details on coaches, training location, choreographer or programs yet. But let's not be too impatient. She announced her Sochi bid rather far ahead.

Yuna said she will work with Wilson.
Though no detail on coaches
And she will compete at nationals and at 2013 Worlds.
Plus another one competition(maybe 4cc or a senior B) That's what she said.

[TripleWallie]

Yuna said she will work with Wilson.
Though no detail on coaches
And she will compete at nationals and at 2013 Worlds.

Nationals? Are you sure? Seems odd...she should do an ISU competition like 4CC in front of ISU judges, not Korean nationals.

ETA: Never mind, I see you added "4CC or a senior B".

[brilliant9]

OMG what an exciting news!!!

No details on coaches, training location, choreographer or programs yet.

She said she'd go with David Wilson as always. Not sure about coaches.

[idee123]

deleted

[RumbleFish]

Yuna said she will work with Wilson.
Though no detail on coaches
And she will compete at nationals and at 2013 Worlds.
Plus another one competition(maybe 4cc or a senior B) That's what she said.

Skating at Nationals and Worlds would be good enough for this year IMO.

I wonder what kind of influence her recent get together with Kwan had on this sudden announcenet.
Kwan might have said something like "Forget about the GPs, and just skate at Nationals and Worlds. Practice at my rink if you need a facility."

Having her at the Nationals would be wonderful for up and coming skaters. They will finally get a chance to compete in front of a large home crowd. I imagine that the Korean fed would make lots of money with ticket sales and sponsorships as well.

[RunnersHigh]

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