Sunday, April 25, 2010

Orser to coach Asada?

The Korea Times posted this little diddy the other day on their website:
The man who made the South Korean-born Kim Yu-na become the queen of the world’s figure skating might leave her for her archrival.

Brian Orser, the Canadian figure-skating coach for Kim, was recently offered a position to become a coach for Asada Mao, Kim’s Japanese rival, JoongAng Ilbo said on Saturday.

Bad chemistry between Mao and her Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova was blamed for Mao’s motivation to seek out Orser, it said.

Tarasova has been coach to more world and Olympic champions than any other coach in skating history. As of 2006, her students have won a combined total of 9 Olympic gold medals in three of the four Olympic figure skating disciplines, earning her the title of "Champion maker".

But the personal dynamics between this champion maker and the Japanese figure skater didn’t work out quite well. Some media outlets made unflattering remarks about “Bell,” Mao’s most recent free-skating program, choreographed by Tarasova, the “worst.”
“Now Orser is in a dilemma whether he should take the offer or not,” it said.

It all seems a bit "tabloidish" if you ask me but the prospects are interesting and open a whole new round of questions. I don't think Orser would even consider such a move if Kim were to continue competing. If these rumors are true does this signal the end of Kim Yu-Na's competitive career?

But...Orser has denied that he will take the job. However, I can't imagine that if Kim were to stop competing he wouldn't be tempted...

6 comments:

evilapprentice said...

I don't know that I'd ever count on Orser to "leave" Kim for Asada. At worst, he'd be stuck trying to find some way to manage his time between the two ladies. As fierce as their rivalry is--well more their FANS' rivalry--that could get pretty interesting. Then again, aren't the two absolute BEST ice dancing teams in the world training mates? Why must it be considered impossible for the two top ladies to do the same?

Anonymous said...

Asada's management company has already denied the silly rumor. They just wonder why Korean media makes such story.

Anonymous said...

^ they didnt make it up.
IMG, Mao's agency offered Brian, and he denied it.

Anonymous said...

Another Korean paper says the source of this rumor is IB Sports who has been abandoned by Kim, she's already estublished her own company. Orser said he had been offered by IMG but it was not official proposal and Asada's agent in Japan is really upset by the rumor. I do not care how much money Kim and people around her make, just cannnot stand their abusing Asada's name.

blue moon said...

So, this is a good example case of what I have been afraid of. When people write about someone from a country that does not speak the language different from theirs, they tend to rely on limited sources of news/articles. Things can easily get to wrong direction and create confusion. I think very careful thoughts need to be given before they mention such matter especially when the subject is sensitive. Over the years, Asada has always said that she wants to practice at her hometown. I thought it's odd when a poll done here a few weeks ago listed numbers of coaches who do not based in the country of Asada. I felt at that time also that no thought was given to news/articles went around in Asada’s country. I do understand it’s not easy to cover everything in every language, but if that’s not possible, perhaps it’s better to stay away from matters that one does not have full understanding of. I'd appreciate it if you consider this matter for your future blog subject. Thank you very much.

Vlad said...

Well,will see. Who knows.Why not? Orser is a great coach and Mao Asada can improve with him her skating and achieve a new great results.