Setting a Speed Trap

Interesting post I found about the Olympic games and speed in the games. Yuna was mentioned. 

credits to: http://clintonfrankenberry.blogspot.com/2011/02/setting-speed-trap.html

[COVER_BOTT] Andrew Burton for The Wall Street Journal

Torin Koos of the U.S. competes in the men's 4x10km relay race at Whistler Olympic Park this week during the Olympics.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Don't believe them when they tell you the Winter Olympics are all about courage, hard work, mental toughness and grace under pressure. There's only one quality that's universally worshipped here in Vancouver—going fast.

The heroes of these games, from Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn to speed skater Apolo Ohno and even figure-skater Kim Yu-na, all depend—to some extent—on the ability to move at a hair-raising pace. Speed is one of the elements that makes the Winter Games the jaw-dropping spectacle that it is (it's also the element that makes it dangerous: Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died in a training run just before the Games began, lost control of his sled at an estimated 90 miles per hour).

video

Olympics: Faster Than a Speeding… Zamboni?

1:28

Speed has been a dominant factor at these Winter Games. The Wall Street Journal equipped some reporters on the ground with a radar gun to track speed at events. WSJ's Bryan Gruley talks with Kelsey Hubbard about some of the surprising results.

The odd thing about the Olympics is that for all the stopwatches and television cameras trained on its events, raw speed isn't something that's consistently measured. We already know who the fastest Olympians are—a Canadian bobsledder took that prize at the Whistler Sliding Centre with a speed that wasn't too far from triple digits. High up there in the speed rankings were the downhill skiers, who reach speeds well into the 70s.

But what about everyone else? [Read more...]

Skating Queen Kim Yuna to comeback in March

I already posted this video somewhere but will post again!  Below is an image released today regarding the return of Queen Yuna in March 2011 in Tokyo for the 2011 World Championship.

 

Original source: http://www.asiatoday.co.kr/news/view.asp?seq=451784

 

World Figure Skating Championships 2011 – Tokyo: Ladies Preview

Mao Asada ‘Excited’ About Competing with Kim Yu-na Again

Mao Asada looked relieved when she finished only second after Miki Ando at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taipei last weekend after struggling terribly in the earlier part of the season. Asada won a silver medal in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver in February last year, beaten by Korea's Kim Yu-na by a large margin, but a month later Asada edged Kim out in the World Championships in Turin for her second world title.

The two figure skating stars will compete again for the first time in a year at the World Championships in Tokyo from March 21 to 27.

"I'm excited and nervous. I think everyone will be curious about the results of the competition," Asada said when asked in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo about her thoughts about facing Kim again. "I think a lot of attention will be paid because Yu-na is returning to the competition."

But Asada is no longer sore about her Olympics loss. "I tend to forget things easily. It was certainly a valuable experience. I experienced joy, tension, disappointment and other sorts of emotions at the same time." Have Kim and Asada been in contact since the Olympics? "No."

In 2008, legendary Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova, then Asada's coach, advised her to fall in love so that she can express the feeling in her skating. But Asada does not seem to have followed the advice. "I like a kind, tender and humorous person, but I don't have time for romance now."

She loves good food and going famous restaurants is one of her hobbies, but she cannot drink alcohol. Does she have a favorite Korean star? "I don't watch TV soaps." Where does she see herself in 10 years' time? "I will probably be married and have kids. I'm also thinking of becoming a figure skating coach."

Asada is aiming for her second world title in a row, a feat that has never been achieved by a Japanese woman. Meanwhile, Kim has so far skipped all the competitions this season, and is now training for the upcoming championship with her new coach Peter Oppegard in Los Angeles. But many people in Japan are still skeptical of Kim's return to the competitive skating.  

 

Original source: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/02/23/2011022301208.html 

 

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