Additional Information
MusicMusic short program/short dance as of season 2013/2014
Send In The Clowns
Music free skating/free dance as of season 2013/2014
Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla (ISU, 13 Dec 2013)
ChoreographerDavid Wilson, CAN (ISU, 13 Dec 2013)
Start of sporting careerShe took up skating in 1996 in Gwacheon, Korea. (Facebook profile, 07 Jan 2011)
Reason for taking up this sportHer mother would take her down to the local ice rink for recreation. She began taking the sport seriously at age seven when a coach approached her mother. "A coach told my mum I had talent and I would make a very good skater." (ifsmagazine.com, 01 Dec 2007)
TrainingDuring both the high and low season she trains 24 hours a week in Seoul, Korea. (ISU, 13 Dec 2013)
HeroUS figure skater Michelle Kwan. (yunakim.com, 18 Nov 2008)
Superstitions / RitualsShe prays prior to entering the rink. (gospelherald.com, 06 Feb 2014)
AwardsIn 2010 she was given the Sportswoman of the Year Award by the Women's Sports
Foundation. (yunakim.com, 2010)
She was named in Time magazine's top 100 most influential people in the world in 2010. (time.com, 2010)
In 2010 she was listed as one of the top 10 athletes in the world by the Xinhua News Agency. (sportsfeatures.com, 01 May 2010; asianwavemag.com, 28 Dec 2010)
In 2008 she was given the Best Figure Skater Award by the Korean Skating Union. (yunakim.com, 18 Nov 2008)
GeneralRETIREMENT
She retired from figure skating after winning a silver medal at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. She had previously announced that she would like to be elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee [IOC]. As a junior, she had stated she would retire if she won a medal at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, but decided to carry on competing. (nbcsports.com, 21 Feb 2014; chosun.com, 05 May 2011; yahoo.com, 02 May 2011)
CHARITY WORK
She has worked with the United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]. In 2010 she was named as a Goodwill Ambassador for the charity, and in 2013 she donated all of her prize money from the world championships to the organisation. (english.chosun.com, 06 May 2013; yunakim.com, 2010)
FIRSTS
Her victory at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver made her the first Korean figure skater to win an Olympic medal. She was also the first Korean figure skater to win an International Skating Union [ISU] event, when she claimed the 2006 junior world title. When she won gold at the 2013 World Championships in London, ON, Canada, she became the first athlete competing for an Asian nation to have won six world championship medals. (ISU, 06 May 2013; SportsDeskOnline, 17 Mar 2013)
PRODIGY
She participated in the torch relay for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin despite being too young to compete at the Games. (kbs.co.kr 14 Nov 2008)
Social MediaHear more from the athlete via their
website 1,
website 2 and
Twitter.