Why Yuna Kim Is Destined to Become 3rd Woman to Repeat as Gold Medalist at 2014 Sochi Olympics

Korean figure skating icon Yuna Kim didn’t just win the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games—she ran away from the field and took out a couple of world records in the process.

When you consider that field also contained her longtime rival, Mao Asada, who at the Games became the first woman to land three elusive triple-Axel jumps in competition, her accomplishment looks all the more impressive.

But, if anything, Kim is chasing an even more notable feat this time around.

Only two women in Olympic history have repeated as gold medalists in figure skating, and if Kim wins in Sochi, she will join Germany’s Katarina Witt and Norway’s legendary Sonja Henie in some truly rarefied air.

Granted, everyone loves an upset, particularly on this stage, but it doesn’t appear likely. Barring something unexpected, Kim seems destined to defend her gold medal and skate her way into the record books.

Kim is a true competitor at heart, and she’s already revealed that this will be her final appearance at the Olympic Games.

What better way to ride off into the sunset than with a historic second gold?

She says she understands the implications but doesn’t feel a ton of pressure given that she’s already been here and, no matter what, she’ll always be a champion.

“I’ve already achieved my goal of winning an Olympic gold medal so I don’t have any burden or feel greedy about results,” Kim told Eurosport in December.

via Why Yuna Kim Is Destined to Become 3rd Woman to Repeat as Gold Medalist.