Yuna Kim, the retired South Korean competitive figure skater, also called "Queen Yuna" by figure skating fans and the press, has had an impact on the sport of figure skating, with her skating technique as an athlete and as an Olympic ambassador for both the 2014 and 2018 Olympic Winter Games. She was known for the "lighter-than-air grace in her movements on the ice", as well as her jumps, her speed, and her grounding in the demands of the ISU judging system, as well as her execution of her triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination jump, her "signature" layover camel spin (called the "Yuna Camel"), and her Ina Bauer. She trained with several coaches in her career, including Jong-hyun, Brian Orser, and Peter Oppegard. Her main choreographer was David Wilson, who helped her with her presentation skills and musicality. Kim was plagued with injuries throughout her career, which her training team tried to address, especially in the years leading up to the 2014 Olympics.
Kim was praised by reporters and by other members of the figure skating community for her artistry; she had "no rival in terms of artistry" and music was as important a part of her skating as her elements were. As early as 2005, it was reported that Kim's success boosted the popularity of figure skating in South Korea, where she was called "Queen Yuna". In 2010, she was the highest paid athlete at the 2014 Olympics. Her rivalry with Japanese skater Mao Asada was called "the best thing going in skating these days".
Kim was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Pyeongchang in 2018 and has been involved with the International Olympic Committee since 2010. She has received numerous awards and honours, and has been featured in several lists, including the Time 100 in 2010 and in Forbes lists between 2010 and 2018.
Skating technique Kim was known for the "lighter-than-air grace in her movements on the ice", as well as her jumps, her speed, and her grounding in the demands of the ISU judging system (IJS). According to Michelle Kwan, whom Kim said was her biggest influence early in her career, competition judges were looking for Kim's skating abilities "when it comes to jump quality, spin quality and edges".
In 2008, Kim told reporter Barry Mittan that she had tried triple axels, but had not yet landed any clean ones and had not attempted the jump during competition. Her grace and technical prowess was demonstrated, especially at the Vancouver Olympics, in her execution of her triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination jumps and her "signature" layover camel spin, also called the "Yuna Camel". American skater Timothy Goebel called Kim "very special" and praised her skating for its quality and ease, her landings for their light and effortless nature, and her jumps for their power and speed. One of Kim's signature moves, the bent-leg layover camel spin, has been called the "Yuna camel".
According to the Associated Press (AP) in 2009, Kim skated with ease, lightness, speed, power, and strength. Unlike other skaters, she did not slow down as she approached her jumps, going into them with full speed, but landing "as if she's touching down on a pillow". The AP also stated that her edge quality was high and that "she carves the ice like a calligrapher". In 2020, U.S. Olympic gold medallist Scott Hamilton stated that Kim was the best model of how to earn the most points under the IJS, especially her component scores. He added that Kim "skates with much more speed (than her leading competitors. Her jumps have great technique and beautiful landing positions. She does gorgeous spiral sequences with great flexibility".
Training During Kim's junior years, South Korea had limited facilities for figure skaters. In an October 2010 interview with CNN, she pointed out that there were not many ice rinks in Korea, and that the few rinks that existed were public. She went on to add, "Even now, when athletes want to practice, they have to use the rink very early [in the] morning or late at night". The scarcity of facilities meant that skaters were often forced to alternate between rinks, and there was an increased risk of injury due to the cold temperatures. Her coach used a harness to teach her how to jump a triple toe loop.
Early in Kim's skating career, her parents were her most important financial support. Her monthly training costs averaged 2 million South Korean won (US$2,253.65), which included renting an ice rink in Gwacheon, near her family's home north of Seoul, and hiring instructors at home, plus the cost of hiring professionals such as choreographers outside of South Korea. At the time, South Korea had not invested, other than in short-track speed skating and a few other sports, in figure skating as much as other Asian countries had, but after she won the gold medal at the 2004 JGP Budapest, the Korea Skating Union awarded Kim with a grant of 1 million South Korean won (US$853.57). After winning the 2005 Junior Grand Prix final, the Korea Skating Union pledged to support Kim's training expenses.
In 2005, Kim trained for six hours a day, which included four hours on the ice and two hours for ballet and other kinds of training. The Korea Skating Union allowed her to train for two hours a day at the ice ring in Taeneung, the only rink in Korea not open to the public, which was also used by hockey teams and a few other figure skaters. She also trained at the rink in Gwacheon, which her parents rented for two hours per day, but was unable to use it until the rink closed for the public at 10 pm, so her training would often end at 1 or 2 am. She received regular massages for her pain and injuries, which her coach, Ryu Jong-hyun, considered "almost routine" in figure skating. In 2005, Korea JoongAng Daily reported that Kim strained a ligament in her right ankle, but did not take a break in her training, receiving treatment for the injury at the same time, although the level of her training was adjusted. She also injured her other ankle shortly afterwards, but continued her training as well, although she did not practice several jumps. In 2007, it was reported that Kim was in constant pain in her ankles due to "her strong jumping ability". Shortly before the Junior Grand Prix Final in 2005, which she won, she experienced significant pain that spread to her waist and knees, from new skates purchased two weeks before the competition. Korean news outlet KBS Global considered her Grand Prix win an example of Kim's ability to overcome obstacles" and of her invincible determination".
By 2006, Kim wanted more freedom, so she went to Toronto that summer to work with choreographer David Wilson. Juliet Macur of The New York Times called it "the turning point of her career". Kim began training with Brian Orser at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club in the summer of 2006 and then moved, with her mother, to Toronto in May 2007 to train with him year-round. At first, Orser declined to be Kim's coach, but eventually agreed. She told a reporter in 2008 that the training environment in Toronto was "very good" and that she and Orser "had a lot in common". She also said that she liked how Orser coached, how he explained jumps and elements to her, and the way he asked for her input. Orser reported that he and Kim had a good rapport and communicated well with each other. According to Macur, Kim gravitated towards Orser due to his "laid-back style and his perspective".
Macur reported that when Kim relocated to Toronto, she "was 15, a gangly, socially awkward, newly minted junior world champion with braces on her teeth", and who spoke no English. According to Wilson, despite her technical abilities, Kim was dispirited both as a skater and as a person and was plagued with ankle and knee injuries. Wilson told Macur that Kim's team, which included Orser, Wilson, and "a team of specialists", helped her accept "quality over quantity and worked to make her laugh". It took her a month after her arrival before she began to smile. In 2010, she said that although both Toronto and Los Angeles, where she trained after her break with Orser in 2010, had large Korean communities, she missed being around her friends and family in Korea.
Orser reported in 2008 that they had worked on improving Kim's many injuries, which included inflammation in her S1 joint, a tear in the tendon attached to her hip bone that was probably an overuse injury, and an injury to her coccyx. Orser said her injuries were the reason he thought no one had seen her at her best the previous few seasons and that his goal was "to get it fixed because we can't go through this every year". The summer before the season was spent treating her injuries by using acupuncture and alternative medicine in order to avoid surgery. Before training in Toronto, she would go through six pairs of skates per year, which Orser suspected contributed to her hip injury when she was younger, but she found good boots the year before they began working together and only used three boots per year going forward.
In 2010, Orser told Macur that Kim was able to lead a more "normal life", without the great fame she experienced in South Korea. She was able to train with "the ease of anonymity", and as Orser put it, "focus on what she has to do". Macur called Orser "a perfect coach for Kim" because like her, he and his co-coach, former Canadian ice dancer Tracy Wilson, understood and had also experienced the pressure she went through, something Orser felt Kim was comforted by. Orser was made an honorary citizen of Seoul, Korea, in 2010; also in 2010, Michelle Ha, Kim's agent, called Orser "the most popular foreigner in Korea".
As of 2008, Kim trained on the ice six days a week, for two and a half hours per day, plus three hours daily off the ice, which included cardio, strength training, and "an intense warm-up before each session". She did a lot of core strength work, but not Pilates. In October 2007, she added ballet lessons with Evelyn Hart, a ballerina with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. In 2009, she told Golden Skate that she liked to be "perfectly prepared", and that when she was, she felt that she was able to give a better performance. She also said that she tried to "express all of myself" in every performance. In 2011, Kim told CNN that she worked on her short program with Wilson, as well as her jumps, spins, and steps, and her free skating program with her then-coach Peter Oppengard. She did basic strength training during her off-ice training.
Artistry
According to Bae Young-eun of Donga Ilbo, Kim had "no rival in terms of artistry". Music was as important a part of her skating as her elements were. Her choreographer David Wilson stated that Kim's ability to interpret the music she used in her programs was part of the reason for her success, adding that she was able to intrinsically hear music "on a level that rarely people do". Kim felt classical music fit her and liked to skate to it. In 2011, Kim told Philip Hersh of the Los Angeles Times that despite the pressure she felt as a skater, she did not compete to win competitions or for her country, but that she did it for herself, adding, "I am not skating just to win gold. I am skating for skating".