News coverage about 2010 Worlds Women's Short Program

One thing we know - Mirai Nagasu (photo from the Short Program 2010 Worlds - AP) skated an outstanding short program judging by her scores - and the audience reaction must have been phenomenal.  Keep in mind that Kim Nu Yu skated after Nagasu. Did she hear the audience reaction as Nagasu skated and hear the score afterward as she waited to take the ice?

Kim was obviously distracted. She had problems with a triple flip jump, missed a pirouette before messing up her spiral sequence.

"My first triple-triple was really good and I was ready to do my flip. I don't know what happened, my left foot was just shaking a lot and I just want to find out what it is," the South Korean told Italy's Rai TV.

She received no credit at all for a spin, under-rotated a triple flip and bungled a spiral. Not even her strong opening triple-triple combo could make up for that. Her score of 60.30 points was more than 18 points behind her record-setting performance at the Vancouver Games.


"I felt very good at the warmup. My first jump, the triple-triple, was really great. And then after that I felt I was ready to do a triple flip. It was really weird. I don't know what happened," Kim said. "It's the first time I missed the elements like that."

 Phillip Hersh at the Chicago Tribune said Kim had problems on a triple flip jump, totally botched part of her spiral sequence.

This story just showed up in a Google News Search from The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition) dated March 27, 2010 - foreshadowing problems? - you decide:

Kim reportedly had a brief period of drifting after winning the gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics last month. Having "achieved everything," as she put it, she was in state of indifference and absent-mindedness, missing some practice sessions. "There was no physical problem, but I lost motivation since the Olympics," Kim said after completing her official practice in Turin on Thursday. "But I'm okay now that I'm here skating with the other athletes."

I am guessing the editor for The Chosun Ilbo English Edition had not yet heard the news about Kim's crash and burn during the World Short Program.

Added at 1:43 p.m.:

Oh my - this sounds awful - from Canada's The Globe and Mail:

Olympic champion Kim Yu-Na fell from grace in less than three minutes on Friday, looking almost disoriented in the women’s short program at the world figure skating championships.


Kim finished only seventh after under rotating a triple flip, falling out of a layback spin, slipping out of a spiral, fumbling her way through footwork and then looking rather confused in front of the judges, almost as if she forgot what she was doing.


The skater who is known to chalk up points as easily as breathing, found out how quickly you can lose points too. She got zero points for her layback spin and only a rudimentary level of difficulty on her spiral.


So what is with the judges' BIAS against Rachel Flatt?  She skated cleanly and they STILL gave her a crap score in comparison to Kim who, from reading the various descriptions in the stories cited above, totally messed up her Short Program.