South Korea and U.S. grab gold at Winter Olympics

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 | Coryn Connelly-Cabreros

Team USA celebrated after Evan Lysacek captured the gold medal for the men's figure skating long program in a win that upset the silver medal winner, but it was South Korea's "Queen" Kim Yu-na who carried the weight of a nation's celebration last night after she skated to the first place slot.

The women's figure skating short program began Tuesday night -- a week after the male figure skaters began -- and exhibited how the figure skating competition has been one of the most widely followed during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The competition, thus far, has highlighted everything from the figure skaters' wild outfit choices and artistic abilities to the new scoring system exhibited during the men's long program.

Many people who have followed the figure skating competition so far tune in for the extravagance and creativity of the sport. The drama -- both on and off the ice -- is part of the lure in bringing viewers into the performances.

"I love the drama of ice skating, the flair. Other sports are intense [but] straightforward, " said Ashley Kemper, 22, a senior at American University, and figure skating enthusiast.

Kasturi Puntambekar, 19, a sophomore at American University follows figure skating for more the performing abilities of the skaters, rather than the frills of their costumes. Puntambekar, who performs Indian classical dance on campus, said she enjoys watching how they choreograph dances to the music.

"I'm a dancer and I like how they create the dances. They can get pretty creative," she said.

"Queen Yu-na" -- who is considered the biggest celebrity in South Korea -- performed to the James Bond theme song for the short program, shooting her fingers in the air reminiscent of a Bond girl, and reeled in the gold medal for the night with a world-record setting score of 78.50 points.

The reigning world champion, Yu-na had a lot of pressure on her shoulders as she performed just minutes after Japan's Mao Asada, her biggest competitor.

Asada came in second place with a total of 73.78 points.

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For the men's figure skating competition, American Lysacek held the bragging rights after he won first place in the men's long program on Feb. 18. Lysacek seized the win, much to Russian Evgeni Plushenko's dismay.

Plushenko expected the win after executing a quadruple jump, considered by some to be the hardest jump in figure skating.

The 24-year-old from Naperville, Ill., nudged his competitor out of his expected slot by 1.31 points, making him the first American man in 22 years to win a gold medal in the sport. Plushenko's expectations to win the gold may have stemmed from the fact that the country has won the top space in every Olympics since 1992.

Kemper said that she thinks his cockiness may have led to his loss. "I thought that Plushenko came in cocky. He took a break [from the sport] while everyone else was practicing, but thought he would automatically get a win."

While watching his performance, Kemper said it was obvious to her that he wasn't as good or smooth on the ice anymore.

"Lysacek's performance was really natural; he looked like he was there to do his best and just have fun."

According to The New York Times, Lysacek said he didn't even think he could win the gold medal this season. "I saw that American flag go up and I couldn't believe it was for me," he said. "I'm still in shock right now. I wasn't prepared for this."

After winning the silver medal, Plushenko -- and much of Russia -- weren't prepared to go down without vocalizing their shock and said he believed that winning the gold medal without a quadruple jump wasn't characteristic of a "true champion."

According to an article in The New York Times, the new scoring system used by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) contends that "any jumps landed in the second half of a program are given a 10-percent bonus. Lysacek landed three jumping passes in the first half of his program and hit five in the second half. Plushenko did the exact opposite. That gave Lysacek an edge of nearly two points overall."