Kim Yu-Na
claims Japanese skaters "obstruct" her practice
The following is a translation of the above video
report, provided by 'hani' @ FSU
Sports Anchor:
Good evening, and welcome to SBS Sports News. Today
we'll open with somewhat shocking news.
Korean figure skating star KIM Yu-Na made a surprising
confession in her latest exclusive interview with SBS.
Kim revealed that several skaters have continued to
deliberately interfere her path during competition
warm-ups.
Here is LEE Sung-Hoon with more details from Toronto.
Reporter:
For Kim Yu-Na, every warm-up before the competition has
been filled with tense.
Any time Kim attempted a jump, a fellow competitior
would appear in her path, resulting in some very close
moments.
Male Sportscaster:
"Oh~ that was very close. What a relief [nothing
went wrong]" (Yu-Na and an asian skater is getting
closer.)
Reporter:
In figure skating, it is considered good sportsmanship
to keep out of the fellow skaters' jumping path.
But apparently Kim is an exception. For some reason
there was always someone in her way.
And somehow, the offender was always from Japan.
Calling it a coincidence is no longer an option.
Last month's Four Continents Championships held in
Vancouver was the last straw.
Kim's coach, Brian Orser, went so far as to protest that
one Japanese skater was shadowing Kim on purpose.
Kim Yu-Na: "At the
recent Four Continents, it was worse than before;
I couldn't help thinking, 'does it have to be this
bad?'"
Reporter:
Kim says that she plans to face with her competitors if
the same situation arises at the upcoming World
Championships in LA.
This time, she says, she won't hold back if someone
deliberately gets in her way.
Kim Yu-Na:
"Of course I don't want to be brought down by this.
Losing to something so petty might even affect my own
competition, so we're trying to figure out how to tackle
this problem."
Reporter:
The Korean figure skating queen vows to overcome her
fellow skaters in fair competition through her superior
skating.
This is LEE Sung-Hoon from Toronto.