2010 Olympic Gold Medalist for Womens’ Figure Skating Kim Yu-na has parted ways with her coach of four years Brian Orser. In a statement to the media on August 24th, Orser told the media that he and fellow coach Tracy Wilson were informed in a meeting with Yu-na’s mother Park Mi-hee, that they were no longer her coaches. He claims that no reason for the split was given and questioned whether or not Yu-na was involved in the decision. However, Kim Yu-na and her management company have a different take on the situation.
In his interviews with the media, Orser claimed that he and Wilson had given Yu-na “space” because she didn’t know if she would continue to skate competitively or not. They didn’t hear from her for a while and then found out through reports on the internet that Yu-na wouldn’t be participating in skating’s Grand Prix season, but would be competing at World’s. Then Orser was informed that another choreographer would be working on a new routine for Yu-na. Kind of important decisions to make without your coach.
AT Sports claims that everything was not all roses between Yu-na and her coach. They claim that the relationship has been “uncomfortable” since May. Rumor is that in May, Orser was offered the coaching position over Japan’s Mao Asada, Yu-na’s biggest rival. Ahh, so the plot thickens.
On her personal website, Yu-na claims that Orser is lying about the situation. She wrote “An athlete and a coach can go separate ways, and there may always be different reasons. But frankly, I am disappointed and upset that (Orser) had to let the world know about our move through media, and things that should have stayed with us got out through untruthful tales.” Yu-na also refuted Orser’s claims that maybe her mother and not Yu-na herself made the final decision over his dismissal. She ended by saying “This could have ended more amicably. I want this over now. I swear to God we were prudent and never did anything rude to anyone.”
It’s always sad to hear when relationships like this goes bad, and it’s worse when it happens in the media. Hopefully Yu-na can successfully move on with her career in spite of this.
cr: YonhapNews, thestar.com, AP,
