VANCOUVER — Women’s figure skating may be the most feminine of all sports. From the costumes to the classical music to the graceful movements, figure skating has a history of putting the ultimate female touch on the Olympics.
However, heavily favored Kim Yu-na’s win Thursday night was a vicious beatdown on par with the Canadian men’s hockey team pounding Russia into submission or short-track speedskater Apolo Ohno craftily flicking someone into the boards.
Kim racked up a world-record 150.06 points in her long program for a total of 228.56. That was a few triple axels ahead of silver medalist Mao Asada’s 205.50. Canada’s Joannie Rochette wowed the home crowd’s hearts again by holding onto the bronze at 202.64, four days after her 55-year-old mother died of a massive heart attack.
This marked the first time since 1964 that a U.S. woman has not earned a medal. American Mirai Nagasu, 16, finished fourth.
While Rochette stole the world’s hearts, Kim thrilled the world, period. On the ultimate stage, she may have taken ladies skating to a new level. She combined unmatched spinning and grace with the power of six triple jumps, including an opening triple lutz-triple toe loop, one of the most difficult combinations in ladies skating.
“I still can’t believe I did what I wanted to do at the Olympics,” Kim said. “I’ve been dreaming about this, and now I can’t believe I don’t have to dream anymore.”
When Kim finished skating, she knew her flawless performance would give her a score well out of reach of Asada, who stood second and skated next. Kim is a skater whose emotions end when the music does. This time she covered her mouth and cried. She had never cried in competition.
“In the past, I’ve seen many skaters cry and was wondering why they were crying and what emotions they were feeling,” she said. “I don’t know why I cried. It just happened. I was concerned if I could perform well, and when I did perform well, that’s why I cried.”
Kim has elevated herself to the most dominant women’s skater since Katarina Witt won gold medals in 1984 and ’88. Kim ran her unbeaten streak to two years and next month in Turin defends her world championship.
American Michelle Kwan won five world titles between 1996-2003 but never won Olympic gold.
Meanwhile, Kim is putting distance between herself and Asada in their rivalry. Asada won the 2008 world title and finished second in 2007. Both 19, they could continue their rivalry in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
“I made some mistakes,” Asada said. “I have some regrets, but I’m very happy I was able to get a medal.”
Showing as much relief as joy, Rochette again faced unnerving emotional strain and threw down another clean program. While Kim drew huge ovations from a crowd in awe of the new skating queen, Rochette brought down the house pulling at its heartstrings.
The Olympics was the first skating competition her mother hasn’t attended.
“Definitely the short program was the hardest,” Rochette said. “Even though I wasn’t trying to focus on my emotions, it was hard to control them. I was proud of the fact that I could. I didn’t know I could skate. My legs were shaking.
“Of course, I didn’t feel like skating. My mind wasn’t there. But I’m glad I did it. Ten years from now, when the pain has gone away a little bit, I will be glad I skated here. It was what my mom would’ve wanted.”
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
