ID :
111526
Sun, 03/14/2010 - 13:21
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/111526
The shortlink copeid
(Yonhap Feature) Kim Yu-na`s Olympic gold triggers figure skating boom in S. Korea
By Kim Boram
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- Little girls in pink dresses and black leggings are
spinning, turning and jumping on the ice, while others in groups of twos and
threes chat as they skate around the rink.
It's an ordinary scene at ice skating classes here, but what is different is the
zeal and the number of students ever since South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na
clinched the gold at Vancouver Winter Olympics last month.
"South Korea has been seized by figure skating fever for two years, and it
reached its peak after the Vancouver Olympics," said Yeo Seung-hee, who teaches
the sport at Lotte World Ice Rink, giving much of the credit to Kim.
"We receive so many telephone inquiries from parents and all of them are so eager
to get a spot in our programs."
Park Sun-woo, 11, started figure skating two years ago, and said she was inspired
by Kim Yu-na.
"Kim Yu-na is so great. I'm working very hard to be as great a skater as her,"
she said. "I can manage a triple toe jump now."
Her friend, Lee Hyun-min, joined the two-hour lessons at Lotte World last year.
"I saw Kim Yu-na perform on television. She was perfect," Lee said. "My mom
encouraged me to learn figure skating as a hobby. Now, I really like it."
This month, some 200 children registered to take figure and speed skating classes
at Lotte World, one of the larger, better-equipped rinks in southern Seoul. About
a year ago, there were about 120 students total.
"Lotte World has five figure skating classes and each class has 15 students. This
month, all classes are full and many kids are still on the waiting list," said
Yeo.
Until Kim Yu-na, South Koreans only really cared about short track speed skating
-- a sport that has consistently brought South Korea gold medals at the Winter
Olympics, 19 so far.
"Usually, most of the kids, nearly 90 percent of them, until last year wanted to
learn speed skating, especially short track speed skating. This year, it went
down to 70 percent. The other 30 percent are eager to learn figure skating," said
Jeong Joon-ho, chief marketing director at Lotte World.
Sports experts, welcoming the zeal, say turning this excitement into serious
athleticism is difficult but critical.
"The number of beginners is on the rise. It's true," said Sagong Kyung-won, a
director at the Korea Skating Union (KSU). "I'm not sure whether they will
continue skating as athletes, but the increase cements the base of figure skating
in Korea."
Figure skating demands time and money, as Kim Yu-na's mother, Park Mi-hee, can
attest. For the last 12 years, she has been constantly at her daughter's side,
offering support and pushing her to refine her natural talent, discovered by a
coach at age seven.
In her 2008 book, Park wrote, "I majored in Yu-na. I have studied her harder than
in my school years and devoted my life to her."
Koh Sook-hee says she isn't ready for that kind of sacrifice.
"There have been many figure skating athletes in South Korea before Kim Yu-na
stood out, but their mothers did not look after their children as Kim's mother
did," she said as her nine-year-old daughter practiced on the ice. "Now, 'skating
moms' are required to devote themselves to turn their kids into be a world-class
skater."
"I encouraged my daughter to learn figure skating as a hobby, but I don't want
her to become an athlete because I can't sacrifice myself for her."
Even for moms willing to make the jump, figuring out the logistics presents
another challenge.
Ice hockey, short track and figure skating athletes have to share time slots at
the 10 indoor ice rinks in Seoul. Figure skaters end up renting the rink at night
to practice jumps and spins without other people getting in their way. Kim Yu-na
had used the rinks at night before she went to Toronto to train with her Canadian
coach Brian Orser in 2006.
"We need more skating rinks to accommodate the increasing number of students and
provide a better environment for athletes," KSU director Sagong said.
"Kids have to move from rink to rink to skate all day because most skating rinks
are open to the public and other skating events," said Yeo, the instructor at
Lotte World. "We need more and cheaper ice rinks reserved exclusively for figure
skating to foster competitive figure skaters like Kim Yu-na."
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- Little girls in pink dresses and black leggings are
spinning, turning and jumping on the ice, while others in groups of twos and
threes chat as they skate around the rink.
It's an ordinary scene at ice skating classes here, but what is different is the
zeal and the number of students ever since South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na
clinched the gold at Vancouver Winter Olympics last month.
"South Korea has been seized by figure skating fever for two years, and it
reached its peak after the Vancouver Olympics," said Yeo Seung-hee, who teaches
the sport at Lotte World Ice Rink, giving much of the credit to Kim.
"We receive so many telephone inquiries from parents and all of them are so eager
to get a spot in our programs."
Park Sun-woo, 11, started figure skating two years ago, and said she was inspired
by Kim Yu-na.
"Kim Yu-na is so great. I'm working very hard to be as great a skater as her,"
she said. "I can manage a triple toe jump now."
Her friend, Lee Hyun-min, joined the two-hour lessons at Lotte World last year.
"I saw Kim Yu-na perform on television. She was perfect," Lee said. "My mom
encouraged me to learn figure skating as a hobby. Now, I really like it."
This month, some 200 children registered to take figure and speed skating classes
at Lotte World, one of the larger, better-equipped rinks in southern Seoul. About
a year ago, there were about 120 students total.
"Lotte World has five figure skating classes and each class has 15 students. This
month, all classes are full and many kids are still on the waiting list," said
Yeo.
Until Kim Yu-na, South Koreans only really cared about short track speed skating
-- a sport that has consistently brought South Korea gold medals at the Winter
Olympics, 19 so far.
"Usually, most of the kids, nearly 90 percent of them, until last year wanted to
learn speed skating, especially short track speed skating. This year, it went
down to 70 percent. The other 30 percent are eager to learn figure skating," said
Jeong Joon-ho, chief marketing director at Lotte World.
Sports experts, welcoming the zeal, say turning this excitement into serious
athleticism is difficult but critical.
"The number of beginners is on the rise. It's true," said Sagong Kyung-won, a
director at the Korea Skating Union (KSU). "I'm not sure whether they will
continue skating as athletes, but the increase cements the base of figure skating
in Korea."
Figure skating demands time and money, as Kim Yu-na's mother, Park Mi-hee, can
attest. For the last 12 years, she has been constantly at her daughter's side,
offering support and pushing her to refine her natural talent, discovered by a
coach at age seven.
In her 2008 book, Park wrote, "I majored in Yu-na. I have studied her harder than
in my school years and devoted my life to her."
Koh Sook-hee says she isn't ready for that kind of sacrifice.
"There have been many figure skating athletes in South Korea before Kim Yu-na
stood out, but their mothers did not look after their children as Kim's mother
did," she said as her nine-year-old daughter practiced on the ice. "Now, 'skating
moms' are required to devote themselves to turn their kids into be a world-class
skater."
"I encouraged my daughter to learn figure skating as a hobby, but I don't want
her to become an athlete because I can't sacrifice myself for her."
Even for moms willing to make the jump, figuring out the logistics presents
another challenge.
Ice hockey, short track and figure skating athletes have to share time slots at
the 10 indoor ice rinks in Seoul. Figure skaters end up renting the rink at night
to practice jumps and spins without other people getting in their way. Kim Yu-na
had used the rinks at night before she went to Toronto to train with her Canadian
coach Brian Orser in 2006.
"We need more skating rinks to accommodate the increasing number of students and
provide a better environment for athletes," KSU director Sagong said.
"Kids have to move from rink to rink to skate all day because most skating rinks
are open to the public and other skating events," said Yeo, the instructor at
Lotte World. "We need more and cheaper ice rinks reserved exclusively for figure
skating to foster competitive figure skaters like Kim Yu-na."
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)
