Source: http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2011010452018

This year lacks grand sporting events like last year such as the World Cup soccer finals and the Winter Olympics. Yet many events in which athletes can set records by a margin of 0.01 or 0.1 of a second still drive fans crazy.

 

The World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo will open in March, the World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai in July, and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, Korea, in August and September.

 

With the three events to take place in Northeast Asia, global sports fans are set to pay keen attention to the region this year.

 

Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na, 21, is attracting the most interest amid expectations that she will break world records in Tokyo. She reached the 220-point range (228.56) in women’s single in a world first at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February last year.

 

Many say her record Olympic score will not be broken over Kim`s lifetime.