Enough has been written about Kim Yu-Na’s performance today, so I’ll keep it brief.

It was amazing.

On Tuesday, she broke the world record for the short program (she held the previous record) and today she broke the world record for the free skate (she held the previous record).  But she didn’t just break records, she demolished them.

Her total score of 228.56 was 18.5 points ahead of her previous record and 23 points ahead of her second place rival, Asada Mao.

One of my favorite expat bloggers in Korea has a great write-up here.

Here’s the video.  (I know the quality is awful, but the IOC/NBC won’t let anyone post good quality.)

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The New York Times had a great article yesterday on Kim Yu-Na and the enormous expectations that are on her to win the gold medal in Vancouver.

Given that Kim is a national hero in South Korea, “her loss or her winning will be perceived as a national loss or a national winning,” said Kyung-ae Park, a political scientist who holds the Korea Foundation Chair at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

“If she wins the gold medal,” Park said, “I think it will be a great boost for national pride for Koreans. In a way, it will work as compensation for past humiliations.”

Adding to the pressure is that the other top competitors for the gold are Japanese.  Koreans don’t generally get butterflies in their stomachs with the Japanese… something to do with a small colonization thing in the early 20th century with a little forced labor and prostitution thrown in for good measure.

This the expectations game is one thing I am constantly fascinated with in Korea.  There seem to be a lot of expectations on everyone, and a lot of the folks I know seem a little bit stressed out by it.  I can’t understand any of this because I come from such a different place.  I had expectations from my parents to make good grades and be a good kid, but looking back, it was nothing compared to the kids I see here in Korea.

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Of course, Kim Yu-Na beat everyone’s highest expectations in having the best performances of her life, scoring a 78.50 and breaking her own world record by over two points.

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Now I don’t know a lot about figure skating, but when I watch Kim Yu-na, I know I’m seeing something incredible.  And since the ladies figure skating starts this week in Vancouver, I had to give a preview.

She currently holds the world record in the short program, long program, and combined score.

I don’t quite know how to describe her, except to say that she is amazing — an athlete of the caliber we rarely see.

Here’s her world record short program from November 2009:

And here’s her free skate from the world championships in 2009 (with the added bonus of commentary by someone OTHER THAN Scott Hamilton):

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Giving into Olympic fever, I went out to visit Olympic Park in Seoul last weekend.

I’m always so divided on the Olympics.  I think it’s such a gigantic waste of money, but at the same time I can’t stop loving them.  In my heart I really, really wanted Chicago to win the bid for the 2016 games, but now that it’s all over, my head is really glad they lost.  Now Rio de Janeiro can bask in the post-Olympic haze of unused judo and weightlifting arenas.

But, since my heart still remains with the Olympics, I was really excited to see Seoul Olympic Park…

You can view the full set of photos here.

The pool where Greg Louganis won two more gold medals…

The gymnastics center…

My favorite… an abandoned plastic chair by the gymnastics center.  This is why I can never fully support America hosting an Olympics.

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