Yu-na Kim (김연아) 2008 Grand Prix Final!

[Guest epikxlove]

she's so pretty haha

and petite o.o

[Guest jahye]

wow, they had a live orchestra?

No. It's a photoshop from a fan. I like the picture because it shows she doesn't just skate to the music, but she really feels it, as if the orchestra is right in front of her.

Those fan dedications are cool. And your Yuna sig is really cute!

It's another dcinside fan creation. Some fan created drawings of all the skaters in this competition and they're giving mugs with these drawings on it to the skaters as presents. This picture is really popular at the dcinside messageboard:

This one is cute as well. It's that non-expressive expression Kim Yeon Ah has on her face most of the time when she's not skating.

PRACTICE SESSION (Wednesday)

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Ladies Short Program is this Friday!

It starts at 6:15 A.M. on the East coast.

[Guest virvir111]

all i ask for her to do is a clean program with no mistake.. n she can easily get the 200 pts... but then again.. judging problems,, money,, n doing a clean program from all the mental nervousness isnt easy.. stupid judging always has influence in figure skating tournaments for every skaters which i think is effed up, which is why figure skating also isnt as popular as it used to be.. sigh.

[Guest mizz_J]

Wow the reporters were all over her hahaha

[Guest jahye]

PRACTICE SESSION

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PRESS CONFERENCE

With her coach, Brian Orser

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credits; naver + kr.yahoo

[Guest nabi]

Best of luck to her. I will definitely tune in and watch to cheer her on. 김연아 Fighting!

[Guest sweetea77]

I wish I was as cool as yuna. T-T

[LeMoN_sQuEeZy]

aww those pictures are awesome!!

making such cute expressions

We should make a picture thread for her!!! support support!!

[Guest system_chaos]

So this is why the NoKy brothers have a HaHaHa campaign ad dedicated to her. :D

EDT

her facial expressions are cute! haha, hwaiting~

[Far^away]

she won the short program today~

i hope she'll do better in free skate though~

fighting, Yuna!

-Far

[shangomar]

YAh,she's pretty.and talented.

HAha..

nice to see Noky brothers rooting for her.

how old is she btw?

[Guest Atmosphere.]

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/1688/10023zu7.jpg

^ wow whoever designed that is sooooooo professional and good!! >__<;;

she's so lucky to get her picture designed like that! seriously she's so pretty and cute, im jealous rawr!

anyways, final? who won? o_O

3 OR 4 AM IN THE MORNING?! dannnngg early bird!

[Guest nabi]

she won the short program today~

YAY! But the free skate is what really counts. Hope she continues to do well.

[ncly]

she looks so elegant and pretty~

and she's THIN!

yes i guess he has to have a perfect body for a skater..

wah~~

[Guest miss betty]

today's SP was tight..

both her and #2 were 65.something.. she edged out just by 0.4something points..

performing at home especially when koreans get loud and intimidating must be so hard for her.. she's the only representative for her country and not only that, she's one of the best therefore the expectations are way high.. sports should be fun.. hate when people compare her and mao.. they should be happy that asians represent.. also hate those haters who thinks they're professional judges..

i've watched how the japanese figure skaters were so pressured when it came to international events including the team events and especially at the olympics and worlds where some cracked.. the intensity and expectations were so stressful for them..

tonight, i saw yuna holding it together at the end.. from her facial expression, you can tell that she was trying hard not to break down .. she did cry, something she never does but she did it backstage.. when she went off the rink, she had a solemn expression and you can hear her coach say "you alright? that was the hardest thing you ever had to do.."

[Guest jahye]

^ Yup, it was very close call between Yeon Ah and Mao. Truthfully, I think the higher score could have gone to either of them, but since the competition is in Korea, I think they gave the upper hand to Yeon Ah. But the scores are so close anyways, it's virtually a tie and it gives Yeon Ah the advantage of skating last in the LP.

I also agree that the roaring crowd got to her, but she managed to hold it together till the finish. In the press conference before the SP, she said she didn't feel that burdened by competing at home, but I don't think she realized how many people were cheering her on and wanted to see her do well. She's been gone, training in Canada and didn't really understand just how popular she is in Korea. I think when she walked into the arena and heard the crowd, the pressure finally hit her. But again, she still managed to do well under the pressure, but not as she good as she can be.

The fan support is incredible, but still, way too much pressure on her!

SHORT PROGRAM

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Like miss betty said, when she hugged her coach after her performance, he told her that's the hardest thing she'll ever do and it will only get easier. The pressure and expectations really hit her and she cried for the first time ever after a performance.

The cameras even followed her after the competition and she was crying even harder.

pic credits; kr yahoo + dcinside

Ratings for the ladies competition are huge. Over 20%! And that's the average rating for the entire broadcast. The rating would probably be a lot higher when it was her turn on the ice.

For the LP, I want Yeon Ah to go out there and do her best without feeling the burden of the whole population of Korea watching her. I want her to be relaxed in her own home and have fun instead of feeling pressured. 연아양 화이팅~!

[Guest epiklove.]

kim yuna came in 2nd for the free skate. mao asada won gold. congrats to both of them ^^

even though kim yuna didn't win gold, i'm sure she did great!

Mao Asada - 188.55

Kin Yuna - 186.35

Credits: isu.org

[Guest songssiissii]

kim yuna came in 2nd for the free skate. mao asada won gold. congrats to both of them ^^

even though kim yuna didn't win gold, i'm sure she did great!

Mao Asada - 188.55

Kin Yuna - 186.35

Credits: isu.org

isnt mao asada the skater that yuna thinks of as her biggest rival?

[Guest nateda]

I prefer Arakawa Shizuka. She was truly an artist on ice. I wish she didn't retire, I still want to see more of her.

Kim Yu na is good too, but her skate doesn't leave me any impression, sorry Yuna's fans. But she's still young, and she's gonna be great someday.