.jpg/dims/resize/740/optimize "Scientist steeped in figure skating (1)") |
Song's blog on Daum shows an update about the Japanese skaters. |
Song publishes books, boost blogging activities ahead of 2018 PyeongChang Olympics
.jpg "Scientist steeped in figure skating (2)") |
| Song Doo-heun teaches computer science at a college in Gyeonggi Province and has published and translated books on figure skating, in addition to blogging activities. |
By Do Je-hae
Koreans' perception of figure skating is mostly limited to the ladies' competition, due to an absence of stars in other disciplines. This is something many fans want to see changing in Korea, particularly ahead of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics Games.
Thanks to Kim Yu-na's victory at the 2013 worlds, Korea has secured three berths in the ladies' event in Sochi, but no male figure skaters will compete for Korea. The last time a Korean entered an Olympic men's competition was in Salt Lake City in 2002.
What can Korea do to be able to send some male figure skaters to the 2018 Olympics taking place at home? Some commentators like Song Doo-heun, a college professor who writes a popular blog about figure skating, say one of the keys to nurturing male Olympians lies in specialized coaching for the variety of required elements.
"Korean skaters, particularly men, have a tendency to be weaker with what comes between the jumps, such as the spins, footwork sequences, edge control and movement," Song said in an interview with The Korea Times.
"A small mistake in a non-jump element can have a serious impact on the score. This is something Korean coaches tend to overlook. Like some of the figure skating powerhouses, we need specialized coaching for the range of elements that fill a program. One way to deal with this issue would be for the Korea Skating Union to import teachers from abroad, as part of intensive training for PyeongChang hopefuls."
Song highlighted injury management as another major task for PyeongChang.
"The top Korean men will be about 21 years old in 2018. That's when men reach their peak as skaters. But an injury during pre-Olympic preparations could terminate their chances," Song said. "Some of the top four men in Korea, if trained properly, could have a chance at participating in PyeongChang. Realistically speaking, they are likely to place around 20th in the overall standings."
Korea has only about 12 athletes in the men's division. One of the brightest hopes for PyeongChang is 2014 national champion Kim Jin-seo, born in 1996. There are about 20 men and 120 ladies in the novice level. The glaring lack of male skaters has hampered not just the growth of the men's division, but pairs and ice dancing as well.
The situation in the men's division in Korea is in contrast to Japan where the men's field is very deep with around 100 male competitors.
In recent decades, Japan has emerged as one of the international centers of figure skating. It has achieved what only a handful of countries, including Russia and the U.S., have been able to do ― become a consistent contender in both the ladies and men's events at the world and Olympic level.
Japan has produced elite skaters year after year, particularly since Ito Midori's victory at the 1989 World Championships where she landed the first triple axel in the women's event.
"Japan has done a good job with managing its junior talents. Their men have done well internationally since the 1990s,"Song explained. The result is skaters like Takahashi Daisuke, the 2010 bronze medalist in Vancouver and the first Asian male to become a world champion in 2010. Takahashi's reign as king of Japanese figure skating will end as he will retire after Sochi. But he leaves with a clear successor in the phenomenal Hanyu Yuzuru, who recently won the Japanese nationals and enters the Sochi Games as one of the top contenders for the gold medal with two different types of quads -- a toe loop and a salchow.
An outcome of the international success of Japanese skaters is a sizable following for the sport. Watching the Japanese nationals, many Korean fans were impressed by the size of the venue, the enthusiasm of the crowd and the depth of talent of the Japanese male skaters. Japan is sending three men to the figure skating competition in Sochi.
Promoting winter sports
Korea is only the second country to host the Winter Olympics after Japan. But it has not yet fully used the occasion as an impetus to promote winter sports as Japan had in preparations for the 1998 Nagano Games.
"It was in 1991 when Japan won the bid to host the 1998 Olympic Games. During those seven years, the Japanese Skating Federation worked closely with local governments to build more ice rinks all over the country. By Nagano, there were more than 100 ice rinks in Japan. And By the 2006 Torino Games, the number exceeded 200," Song said."Back in 1989 when Ito won the worlds, there were about 13 ice rinks in Japan."
Little has been done to expand the infrastructure for figure skating. Song said that only one more ice rink has been built since winning the PyeongChang bid. There are about 15 rinks in the Seoul and Gyeonggi Province area, most of which are unfit for figure-skating training. "In the long run, we need more rinks,"Song said.
Figure skating has long been one of the marquee events at the Winter Olympics. Korea had paid scant attention to the sport until Kim started to stack up podium finishes in major international competitions, culminating in victories at the 2009 worlds in Los Angeles and the 2010 Vancouver Games.
"Koreans didn't really start watching Olympic figure skating until Kim arrived in Vancouver. Having our own star in the sport has been crucial in getting Koreans to notice figure skating,"Song said.
After Vancouver, Kim went onto play an instrumental role in bringing the 2018 Winter Olympic Games to PyeongChang, Gangwon Province. The nation had been jubilant about becoming a winter Olympic host, but the mood soon subsided as winter sports do not have a big presence in Korea.
There are a number of active blogs about figure skating here, but none are as comprehensive and up-to-date as Song's blog on Daum. Song launched the blog in 2009, when the rivalry between Kim and Japan's Asada Mao was heating up prior to the Vancouver Games. What sets the blog apart from others is its in-depth coverage of the history of the sport and postings about not just the athletes, but the coaches and choreographers who have left an indelible mark in figure skating.
A distinctive aspect about Song's blog is a series of columns about some of the unforgettable Olympic moments in figure skating, including the "Battle of the Brians" at the 1988 Calgary Games and the judging scandal in the pairs' event in Salt Lake City that triggered a revamp of the scoring system.
