The South Korean Ice Queen
The Winter Olympics in Vancouver brought joy a plenty for the participants and winners of the coveted games, which is considered to be the ultimate in Winter sports.For the gold medallists their triumph brought joy and happiness aplenty, besides financial rewards for their outstanding achievements. One of the heroines of the game was the Korean young ice skater Kim Yuna, who stunned the world with her breathtaking display in the games. After wowing the world with her record-setting display in Vancouver, Queen Yuna, as she has been dubbed, has been dining with high profile government officials and the elite of the country.
She is also filling her coffers by filming commercials after becoming the first South Korean to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal.
"I've been driving myself toward only figure skating and I've been showing that I'm good at it, but there've been so many things I'm not able to do. One of them is that I can't ride a two-wheeled bicycle," said the 19-year-old
Kim renowned for her infectious laugh will head back to her strict training regime in Canada in a few weeks' time and search for what comes next in a young life that already has netted her millions of dollars. Kim has been one of the most sought after models, for TV commercials and has endorsed various products winning a place among the sports heroes of her country, and all that has been due to her stupendous efforts in the ice skating ring, which eventuated in the memorable gold medal she brought home. She is already one of the most marketable people in South Korea, with Forbes magazine saying she earned an estimated $8 million (US dollars) in endorsements, on the eve of the games appearing in ads for the likes of Hyundai Motor, Samsung and Nike.
In a remarkable ascent, once she had won the gold in Vancouver she was placed in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world, joining the likes of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Lady Gaga, a favourite of Kim who is on the playlist in her MP3 player. The youngster is still mulling her options about her future, adding that she's not thinking of the next Olympics yet because she hasn't yet even made a decision on next season.
"To be honest, it's been only three months after the Olympics, and to think of four more years down the road is just horrendous," Kim said. Speculation doing the rounds in her homeland is that she is not willing to take up competition level skating on the international level anymore, and wants to pursue a career as a professional performer for ice shows.
There have also been reports in local media, which have indicated that the teenager is keen on doing away with her long-time coach Brian Orser, and Orser can be the possible new replacement for Kim's closest rival, Mao Asada of Japan.
However Kim has brushed aside the reports, claiming they were all false "The stories that have been going around that Brian Orser will coach another athlete, I know to be false," Kim said. Meanwhile Kim, who is a college student in South Korea, sees herself as always being close to figure skating, even when her days of performing on the ice are over.
"The choices I made back then led to some regret, but thinking on it now, I think I was born to skate," said Kim.
The remarkable girl was born to achieve stardom, and had a passion for hers port form her early days, stepping on the ice for the first time at the age of five when her family visited a newly opened rink. Lessons soon followed and the training regiment became heavier as the then little girl showed amazing potential, and rest as they say is history!
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