Yuna Kim on Gangwon 2024 ambassadorship: "I feel like a mum" to youth athletes - Exclusive interview
The figure skating Olympic champion opens up about the role she feels she plays as an honorary ambassador for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024, which will take place from 19 January 2024.
Figure Skating
Being an Olympic Games ambassador isn't anything new to Yuna Kim. The 2010 Olympic champion figure skater served in that role for the Winter Olympic Games PyeongChang 2018, which took place in her native Republic of Korea.
The 32-year-old was previously also an athlete ambassador for the first two Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), Innsbruck 2012 and Lillehammer 2016. So what's different about her current role as honorary ambassador of the next Winter YOG Gangwon 2024?
Speaking exclusively to Olympics.com ahead of the one-year-to-go landmark on 19 January, the figure skating queen expressed her excitement about having a home YOG: "It's very meaningful that it will be held in Asia for the first time. Also, just six years ago, the (region) hosted the Olympics, the biggest and most important event for athletes.
"As young athletes will have similar experiences and compete at the same venues, it will play a very important role for young athletes on their road to the Olympics."
'Queen Yuna' also wants to play a direct role in helping the young athletes who will compete at Gangwon 2024 – a YOG due to make use of existing venues built for PyeongChang 2018.
"As an ambassador for a 'traditional' Olympic Games (2018), I personally saw the Games from an athlete's perspective," Kim explains. "But looking at the Youth Olympic Games as a senior athlete who has experience of the Olympics, I feel like a mum.
"Since they (youth athletes) are in the process of growing, I've kept thinking about how I can help them out."
Yuna Kim gives YOG athletes advice
Having been so closely involved with three editions of YOG, in addition to competing at two Olympic Winter Games and lighting the cauldron at a third, have given Kim a clear insight into what makes each event so special.
"At the Olympics, athletes fully concentrate on their performance. But at the Youth Olympics, there is a (culture and education) programme which encourages young athletes from different countries and sports to socialise with one another," Kim reflects.
"As it is an event that also shows the importance of harmony besides competitions, it was quite interesting for me to be part of such programmes in order to inspire the youth as a senior athlete. The Youth Olympic Games didn't exist when I was a (young) athlete, so I've imagined many times about what it would have been if I had this kind of experience."
Having had to 'learn on the job' before the Youth Olympic Games were established, Kim amassed a wealth of career experience during her competitive years as she won every major event available to her. She was the first athlete to complete the 'Super Slam' of Junior Grand Prix Final, World Junior Championships, Grand Prix Final, continental (Four Continents) Championships, World Championships, and Olympic Games gold medals.
With all that in her past, and having seen what the YOG can do for young athletes, does she have any words of advice or encouragement for those who will compete in 2024?
"At every competition I got nervous and was caught by negative thoughts like, 'what should I do if I make a mistake'," Kim recalls. "I had the same experience (as they will). So I was wondering whether it would be helpful realistically to just tell them, 'please don't feel pressured' or 'please don't be nervous'.
"I also wasn't someone who was always full of confidence. I got nervous many times, and achieved good results by gaining (confidence) at some point. Continue to grow through many different experiences, I think that is the most important thing."
Yuna Kim: What Gangwon 2024 will bring
With the Dakar 2022 Summer YOG being postponed to 2026, Gangwon will mark the first YOG in four years since Lausanne 2020.
Gangwon 2024, taking place in the same region of the Republic of Korea that hosted the Olympic Winter Games in 2018, can be a further catalyst for snow and ice sports in the country according to Kim.
"In 2018 my country hosted the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. Actually, in the Republic of Korea, winter sports themselves were not that well-known, and also people were unaware of many disciplines as well," Kim remembers.
"But by experiencing the Olympics at that time, many of them became more familiar with winter sports at the Gangwon Youth Olympic Games, which will be their second time to have such a big winter sporting event."
Kim also believes competing on the same arenas as their heroes – for example, figure skaters will perform at the Gangneung Ice Arena where Hanyu Yuzuru won his second gold medal in 2018 – will be a boost to the young competitors as well.
"It will be more meaningful for athletes to compete in Gangwon which has hosted the Olympics before," she acknowledges.
And if she could compete again at Gangwon, but not in figure skating, what would she do?
"I tried skiing when I was a kid as I went to a ski resort with my family, but I no longer had a chance as I had to prevent injuries (for her skating career). So now I think about skiing – it still makes me a bit scared to imagine myself skiing, but I want to try it again for fun."
Yuna Kim on making use of her social media reach
There's no doubting that even years after her retirement from competitive skating, Yuna Kim remains a very popular figure. Her 1.2 million followers on Instagram can attest to that fact.
"I knew they must be curious about my life after the retirement, because I'm not under the spotlight as I used to be while I was still active," Kim muses.
"So I'm posting some casual pictures of myself just to say hello once in a while."
Those 'casual photos' also include her wedding photos, as she married husband Ko Woo-rim in October.
However, Kim shares that she hopes her wide reach on social media can help spread the word about topics related to her ambassadorships – in addition to Gangwon 2024, 'Queen Yuna' has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2010.
"I'm also trying to share my thoughts on relatively lesser-known issues such as the Youth Olympic Games as well as UNICEF."