오! 신이시여…김연아, 여왕폐하 만세!

 

 

미국 NBC해설진 "오! 신이시여…김연아, 여왕폐하 만세!'

 

'피겨여왕' 김연아의 환상적인 연기에 미국 NBC 중계진은 말을 잇지 못하고 감탄사만을 연발했을 뿐이었다. 미국 NBC방송국은 27일(이하 한국시간) 김연아가 출전한 2010 밴쿠버 동계올림픽 피겨 여자싱글 프리스케이팅 경기를 미국 전역에 생중계했다. 중계해설을 맡은 왕년의 미국 피겨스타인 스콧 해밀턴과 산드라 베직은 김연아의 연기가 시작되자 칭찬과 감탄을 쏟아냈다. 해밀턴은 김연아의 연기 초반 "김연아는 3회전 점프 콤비네이션을 뛰기 전에 엄청난 스피드로 도약한다"라면서도 "트리플 플립을 뛸 때는 상체를 조금 먼저 돌리는 경향이 있다"고 지적하기도 했다. 하지만 김연아가 완벽한 연기를 이어지자 NBC 해설진은 말을 잇지 못했다. 베직은 김연아의 점프에 놀라움을 감추지 못하면서 "오! 신이시여. 연기가 눈부시게 아름답다. 내가 여태컷 본 연기 중에 최고다"라고 목소리를 높였다. 심지어 '여왕폐하 만세'라고 외치면서 '피겨여왕' 김연아를 칭송하기도 했다. 캐스터는 "관중은 발을 동동 구르며 마법에 빠진 채 그녀의 연기를 지켜보고 있다"라고 경기장 분위기를 전했다. 브라이언 오서 코치와 절친한 친구사이기도 한 해밀턴은 김연아의 멋진 연기를 오서 코치의 지도와 연결짓기도 했다. 해밀턴은 "김연아가 국민적인 중압감을 갖고 고국을 떠나 오서 코치와 함께 토론토에서 훈련을 하는 것은 결코 쉬운 일이 아니다"라며 "올림픽에서 두번이나 금메달을 놓쳤던 오서는 드디어 금메달을 받은 것이나 다름없다. 그가 간절히 원했던 금메달을 얻기 위해 모든 것을 김연아에게 가르쳤다"고 언급했다.

 

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - After months of playing it cool, saying the pressure to win the Olympic gold medal had not weighed on her, Kim Yu-na of South Korea finally let her emotion show on Thursday.

For the first time, she stood on the ice after her performance and felt her lips start to quiver. As flowers and stuffed toys rained down from the stands, her tears began to flow.

“I can’t believe this day has finally come for me,” said Kim, who was taken aback by her own crying.

That emotional release, so long in the making, quickly ended as soon as Kim, the reigning world champion in women’s figure skating, got a glimpse of her score.

When the numbers 150.06 popped up on the scoreboard, her mouth dropped open in delight. It was a world record, which had broken her old record by a whopping 16.11 points. Though her longtime rival Mao Asada had yet to skate, Kim had all but clinched the gold medal. She had made herself untouchable.

For her two unforgettable, nearly perfect performances at these Olympics, the 19-year-old Kim had scored a record total of 228.56 points, more than 23 points ahead of her nearest pursuer.

As the eyes of her home country focused on her, Kim, the most famous celebrity there, became South Korea’s first Olympic champion in figure skating. Before Kim’s victory, her country hadn’t won a medal in any Winter Olympic event but speedskating.

“I still can’t believe the score that I received,” Kim said. “I’m really surprised. It’s almost as close as the men’s score.”

Asada, the 2008 world champion, won the silver, with 205.50 over all. Joannie Rochette, skating just four days after her mother’s sudden death, won the bronze. She received 202.64 points over all.

Mirai Nagasu, the 2008 United States national champion, was fourth, with 190.15 points. Rachael Flatt, the reigning national champion, was seventh, with 182.49.

While each of those skaters had moments of brilliance, Kim - who skated to Gershwin’s “Concerto in F” - was the only one to have an entire four minutes of it.

Wearing a royal blue dressed that fluttered in the wind, she sped atop the ice, seamlessly incorporating triple jumps into her complex routine, as if it were as natural as breathing. Her complicated footwork left gigantic, loopy scribbles all over the ice, but as she moved, she appeared to be floating. She punctuated the entire routine with a sweet smile.

At the end, the crowd leaped to its feet to celebrate her, drowning out the announcer’s every word. And Asada was the unfortunate skater who had to follow that.

Performing right after Kim’s monumental marks appeared, Asada tried to hold herself together, but her focus began to chip away as each note of Rachmaninoff’s “Bells of Moscow” played. one of her jumps - the triple flip - received a downgrade, meaning she failed to complete enough of the rotation. Then, as she prepared for a triple toe loop, her skate nicked the ice. She singled that jump. She had landed two triple axels, but even those jumps, which are rare for women, could not help her.

When she was done, her face appeared blank. She and Kim had been rivals since they were junior skaters, with all their previous performances building up to these Games. Here, Asada was thought to be the only skater who could challenge Kim for the gold medal.

“I did everything I can,” Asada said. “To complete both triple axels well at the Olympics was one good thing about my performance. But I am not happy with the rest of my performance. I do feel regretful.”

Rochette, the 2009 silver medalist at the world championships, was expected to contend for the silver or bronze. She was hoping to become the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal since Elizabeth Manley won the silver at the 1988 Calgary Games.

Her quest for a spot on the podium, however, was overshadowed by the events that unfolded in the wee hours of Sunday morning when her mother, Therese Rochette, died of a massive heart attack. Therese Rochette, whom Joannie called her “No. 1 fan,” was 55.

Skating to “Samson and Delilah” and with the crowd behind her, Joannie Rochette had some troubles on her triple flip, triple lutz and a double axel combination. She had come close to winning the silver medal, but took a bronze after a week of raw emotion and grief.

“I feel so proud, and the result didn’t matter,” Rochette said. “But I’m happy to be on the podium. That was my goal here. It’s been a lifetime project with my mom, and we achieved that.”

As the flags of the medal winners rose high above the ice during the victory ceremony, one was conspicuously missing: the American flag. For the first time since 1964, an American woman did not win a figure skating medal at the Winter Games.

The expectations were low for the team’s two competitors here, Flatt and Nagasu, because no American female skater has won a medal at the past three world championships. But the two tried their best to keep the medal streak going.

 

 

 

Kim Yu-na Dominates Short Program

 

 

Kim Yu-na Dominates Free Program

 

 

Interview after game