“Queen Yu-na,” or Kim Yu-na, Korea’s eternal Olympic hero, can’t escape Korea’s history. The Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910-1945 is so deeply entrenched into the geopolitics of northeast Asia that even women’s figure skating brings a deep-rooted passion to the forefront. When Kim, the Bucheon native and gold-medalist at the 2010 Vancouver games, tries to defend her gold in Sochi, it’s not just her against rival and 2010 silver-medalist Mao Asada. It’s Korea vs. Japan.<\/p>\n
And it’s not just the Olympics. The rivalry doesn’t even stop at the World Figure Skating Championships. Even the practice skaters move too closely to each other, preventing jumps during warm-ups.\u00a0For the two, it’s their final Olympic event before retirement. Both are 23, born just 20 days apart. They have competed against other since 2005. Most recently, Kim, coming off a foot injury that sidelined her for three months, earned gold at December’s Golden Spin in Croatia, where Asada received bronze. At the 2013 World Championships in London, Kim again won girl; Asada took silver.<\/p>\n
However, it wasn’t always dominance by Kim. Asada won gold in the 2010 and 2008 World Championships. Kim finished with the silver and bronze, respectively.<\/p>\n
What separates the two is Kim’s veins full of the proverbial ice and Asada’s falls while under pressure. During Asada’s short program at the team skating even in Sochi early in these games, she fell while trying to perform her signature triple axle. (She was the first woman to land the triple axle.) Kim, who wasn’t even in Russia during the event, is the master of grace, elegance, seduction, moving with a fluidity that may lead to her being only the third woman to repeat as champion. But both have changed from Western coaches to fellow nationals since the 2010 games, creating a stronger sense of patriotism. (Brian Orser, the Canadian who coached Kim and became a celebrity himself in Korea, told a Japanese news agency this is the year Asada steals away the gold.)<\/p>\n
Beyond the passionate rivalry, beyond who handles the pressure better, for Kim it might take a repeat of her world-record setting point total from 2010 to fend off the field. Russia’s 15-year old Yulia Lipnitskaya, the European champion, has similar elegance to Kim and has the advantage of already winning gold (Team Skating) on the very ice they will compete on February 19th and 20th. \u00a0 American Gracie Gold, the most fitting Olympic name in Sochi, promised to bring the gold back to the USA.<\/p>\n
But let’s say neither takes gold. The rivalry for Korean and Japanese fans will still be as passionate. As long as Kim finishes ahead of Asada and in medal position, the Korean fans will feel like their Olympic legend has righted a historical wrong through sport. Sound strange? Such feelings were held by the Soviets and Americans, who boycotted the 1980 games in Moscow because of politics. Or even the feelings of African-Americans and Germans in the 1936 Berlin games.<\/p>\n
A gold for Kim Yu-na would last a generation or more for Korean fans. After 2010, Kim’s Olympic broadcast was played on repeat on Korean TV for months. Every future Olympic coverage would lead with Kim Yu-na, and it wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to include exactly who she beat.\u00a0