Figure Skating: Yuna Kim's Programs

Yes, with a plenty of reasons. Look at Yuna Kim.

Yuna Kim, though having settled for sliver in the 2014 Sochi Olympics due to its outrageous judging fraud, left indelible footprints in the ladies figure skating.

Yuna Kim, considered by many as one of the most talented skaters ever lived, produced quite remarkable pieces during her career.

Among Kim's extraordinary skills are her signature triple-triple jump, her own adapted Hamill spin, immaculate double axel, etc.

Although Kim's technical mastery of jump enabled her to reign the world of ladies figure skating like no other, Kim's skating shines in her versatility.

Many don't realize what makes Kim great is her detail, not her jump. Mastering jump gives her upper hand in competition but its merit also is quite limited sometimes.

Especially in Kim's skating, her jump consists of many good qualities that are not necessarily converted to points under the COP system.

Kim's jump shows a textbook standard in which all components, such as takeoff, rotating axis, air position, rotation, speed, landing, and transition before and after jump, come together to be incorporated to the given choreography.

But one of most unappreciated features in Kim's skating is her sit-spin.

Kim flaunts the best outlined position, rarely found in other skaters.

Most skaters don't pay attention to sit spins because what counts in competition is height, rotation, foot change or position, not how it was done to produce an ideal shape as possible.

Difficulty is one thing in figure skating, but even if a certain position is hard to do, but fails to evoke aesthetic appeal, then what value is that?

While competing, it is hard for skaters to bother all the details. But this is where Kim stands out.

Of course, Kim didn't venture to an old art school like her legendary predecessors, Janet Lynn or Dorothy Hamill forty years ago, but in an era of triple jump, Kim's achievement is certainly something to celebrate about.

The 2009-2010 season was Yuna Kim's apex in her career. Kim won 2009 World Championships and claimed gold in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Kim was then unstoppable.

Kim's Olympic long program Gershwin was done in an almost inconceivable fashion. Although her long program score, barely over 150, was a new world record, the qualities Kim had put out in that program actually embarrasses her protocol.

Gershwin piano concerto is perhaps one of the most difficult programs to skate to. The music is extraordinarily delicate and rich in nuance and often tastes bland and insipid, that is, too classic to be used for an competive event in which skaters are to sell their performance.

A minute glitz or a moment of off syn would cause such a ruinous effect on the program. The arid strikes of note and their tonal sophistication are a prologue of mission impossible.

And it's only possible because Kim was 19, in her physiological zenith, when Kim performed Gershwin; It was an once-in-a-lifetime performance.

There is no question about Kim's being a skater of extraordinary talent. But her ascension largely owes her former coach Brian Orser and his team staffs.

After Kim's split with Orser, Kim decided to go back to Korea. But since then, Kim's skating didn't grow much.

Rather her skating remained in a status quo at best.

That coincides with Kim's natural aging. Funny to say aging to a person in barely over twenty, but in ladies figure skating, after 18 or 19 skaters face a rapid physiological decline.

That's why Kim didn't produce anything noticeable after 2010 - except Les Miserable in 2013.

But make no mistake. Kim's lackluster programs were invariably a mile ahead of the best of her peers. Only fans who used to marvel at her innovative programs were left wondering if she could ever revive the old flare again.

Like Dick Button who openly professed after Sochi Scandal, many, including myself, knew she could do better and often went overly nit-picking on her.

Kim, a furnace of talent, was a skater who inspired the audience to dream better and want more.

In figure skating, skaters communicate with audience through music and performance. A skater is to convey the musical message through a language called skating.

It is a creative art involved in technical skills.It is also an art performance in motion. That's what make figure skating great, a profound inspiration. It has a message. It has an idea expressed.

Only few understood art in figure skating. And fewer actually carried it out.

One is an example of good skating, the other is of bad skating. Can you tell which is which?