Vancouver 2010 Women's SP | Yuna Kim handles pressure, and rival Mao Asada, to lead

Australian coverage (commentators: Belinda Noonan, Warren Smith). SydFigSka's mish-mash edit for YT due to copyright restrictions (sorry it's rough in parts.) ------ Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Women's/Ladies short program (SP). Selected performances, featured here marked (^) below: Rank Name Nation Total points SP^ FS 1 Yuna Kim 김연아 South Korea 228.56 WR 1 78.50^ 1 150.06 2 Mao Asada 浅田 真央 Japan 205.50 2 73.78^ 2 131.72 3 Joannie Rochette Canada 202.64 3 71.36^ 3 131.28 4 Mirai Nagasu United States 190.15 6 63.76^ 5 126.39 5 Miki Ando 安藤 美姫 Japan 188.86 4 64.76^ 6 124.10 6 Laura Lepistö Finland 187.97 10 61.36^ 4 126.61 7 Rachael Flatt United States 182.49 5 64.64^ 8 117.85 8 Akiko Suzuki 鈴木 明子 Japan 181.44 11 61.02^ 7 120.42 16 Carolina Kostner Italy 151.90 7 63.02^ 19 88.88 17 Júlia Sebestyén Hungary 151.26 13 57.46^ 16 93.80 SydFigSka mish-mash special edit for YT. ------ [extract from the LA Times] Kim Yuna handles pressure, and rival Mao Asada, to lead after short program By P. Hersh Feb. 24, 2010 12 AM PT Reporting from Vancouver, Canada — After nearly a year of breathless anticipation, enough to make any women’s figure skater hyperventilate if she got caught up in it, the skating world finally got a chance to see whether it’s newest star, Kim Yuna of South Korea, could withstand the pressure and perform at the level that had made her a heavy favorite. Her coach, Brian Orser, knew what Kim was going through, having entered the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary as Canada’s primary hope for a gold medal and winding up with silver. He has been counseling the skater about dealing with it since she won the 2009 world title. “We don’t guard them against the pressure at all,” Orser said. “You have to face it head on. You certainly don’t say this is not just another competition, because you know that it isn’t.” And Kim handled it as brilliantly as she skated in Tuesday night’s short program, even when more pressure was added with an in-your-face skate by Japan’s Mao Asada. “My confidence is very good at these Games,” Kim said. As Kim took the ice with the crowd roaring for Asada’s stunning performance to music of “Khatchaturian,” including a rock solid triple axel-double toe loop combination, she went her Japanese rival one better. When Kim finished, the two 19-year-olds had just skated the two greatest short programs in Games history. Kim, who countered with a triple lutz-triple toe combination in her sassy program to a James Bond medley, rolled up a world record 78.50 points, breaking the mark of 76.28 she set earlier this year. Asada, who had struggled all season, had 73.78, nearly 15 points better than her previous season best. About a half-hour later, Canada’s Joannie Rochette created a moment that few who witnessed it will ever forget. Competing less than three days after her mother, Therese, 55, died of a heart attack early Sunday in Vancouver, Rochette skated as well as she ever has. “I just applaud her for taking the ice,” said U.S. skater Mirai Nagasu, 16, who finished sixth. “This is what the two of them worked so hard for. I think she will do her best because her mom will be with her.” Skating to music of a famous tango, Rochette managed to stay in character and hold her composure until completing a program that put her third with 71.36 points. Then she bit her lip and began to cry. As she waited for her scores, which would give her a 6.60-point cushion over fourth-place Miki Ando of Japan, Rochette, a native French speaker, mouthed what appeared to be the word, “Maman.” Rochette’s father, Normand, was seen shedding tears through the entire program, beginning with the moment she took the ice. “It’s hard to handle what words can’t describe it. I’ll remember this forever,” Rochette said in a statement read by William Thompson, chief executive of Skate Canada. ------ #figureskating #フィギュアスケート #eiskunstlauf #фигурноекатание #pattinaggioartistico #patinageartistique