[펌]미국 지역지 시애틀 타임즈의 여왕님 극찬 칼럼

필자는 소냐 비앙게티 여사처럼 피겨의 예술성을 중요시 여기는 사람으로 보입니다.
그렇게 보면 글들이 잘 이해가 갈것입니다.

출처
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/olympics/2009/03/28/with_worlds_in_the_books_skati.html

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March 28,2009 11:05 PM

With Worlds in the books, skating focus turns to 2010
월드 챔피언십이 끝나고, 피겨의 촛점은 2010년으로 옮겨졌다

Posted by Ron Judd

Some of you out there have already agreed -- and some vehemently disagreed -- with my lament in Sunday's paper that competitive figure skating has lost some of its allure in the U.S. -- and with the reasons for that.

경쟁적인(*기술에만 치중하는) 피겨스케이팅은 미국에서 그 매력의 일부를 잃었다는 일요일 글의 내 한탄과 그 이유에 대해, 당신들중 일부는 이미 동의하였고, 일부는 격렬히 반대하였다.

That's OK. That's what opinion pieces are for.

뭐 상관없다. 의견들 각각의 방향일 뿐이니.

But if it's true even in a small way that fewer people are paying attention, that's too bad. Because a couple performances at the World Championships in Los Angeles really deserved all those missing eyeballs.

그러나 주의를 기울이는 사람들이 점점더 없어진다는 것이 일부라도 사실이라면, 그것은 매우 좋지 않다. LA에서 열린 월드 챔피언십에서의 두 연기는 정말 그 그들이 눈알이 빠져 버렸다는 것을 증명해준다 (* 보는 눈이 없다).

Evan Lysacek's sterling free skate that earned him his first world title over Brian Joubert of France -- breaking a 12-year no-show streak on the top rung of the Worlds podium for American men -- was spectacular. Truly a highlight-reel performance. Now we'll see if Lysacek can avoid the Worlds jinx: More often than not, the gold medalist at the Worlds immediately preceding the WInter Games does not go on to repeat the feat in the Games themselves. But Lysacek's performance, combined with his gritty free skate at the Turin 2006 Games, proves beyond a doubt he has the guts to match the grace -- the kind of combination that wins Olympic medals.

프랑스의 브라이언 쥬벨을 이기고 자신에게 첫 월드 타이틀을 선사한 에반 라이사첵의 믿음직한 프리 스케이팅은 -- 미국 남성이 월드 포디엄의 1등 자리에 서지 못했던 12년 간의 흐름을 깨어 버렸고 -- 굉장했다. 참으로 하일라이트만 모은듯한 연기였다. 이제 우리는 라이사첵이 월드 징크스를 피해갈 것인지 지켜보게 될것이다. 종종 동계 올림픽 직전의 월드 금메달 리스트는 막상 올림픽에서는 그 위업을 반복하지 못하는 일이 있다. 그러나 (지금) 라이사첵의 연기는 (과거) 2006 토리노의 모래를 씹는듯한(*형편없었다는 뜻인듯) 프리 스케이팅과 연관지어 볼때 분명 그가 그 영광(*올림픽 금)에 어울리는 근성을 지니고 있음을 증명해준다.

And what can you say about Yu-Na Kim , pictured above, that some NBC analyst hasn't already gushed about? The woman is a phenomenon, a clear exception to the rule of soulless pre-teen jumping jacks who have dominated this sport for the past several years. (In fact, she was one of them: Here's to timely blossomings.) Kim won the women's title tonight in a blowout -- by 16 points over second-place finisher Joannie Rochette of Canada. Kim became the first woman to ever score more than 200 points in a competition -- a barrier that now seems laughable given her score of 207-plus.

그리고 사진의 (*별로라서 안퍼옴) 김연아에 대해서는 뭐라 말할 것인가? 일부 NBC의 해설가들이 벌썬 신나게 떠들어 대고 있지 않은가? 그녀는 엄청난 사건이다(천재다), 그리고 과거 수년 동안 이 스포츠를 지배해온 영혼없이 튀어대는 아이들 공깃돌 놀이 같은 룰에서 유독 예외적이다. (사실 그녀도 그들중의 하나였다, 제때에 활짝 핀것이다 -- *사실 여왕님도 소식적에 표정없다는 소리를 많이 들었다고 하더군요) 김(연아)는 오늘밤 2위 조안니 로셰트에 16점이나 앞서며 압도적으로 여싱 타이틀을 따냈다. 김(연아)는 대회사상 200점 이상을 기록한 최초의 여성이 되었다. (200점의 점수란) 지금 그녀의 207점이 조금 더 되는 점수를 생각하면 우스워 보이는 벽이 되었다.

She's the most ruthless, dominating skater we've seen in elite competition since Evgeni Plushenko of Russia blew away all comers at the 2006 Turin Games. (BTW: He's threatening to end his retirement and come back in time for Vancouver. Is Plushenko good enough to lace up the skates less than a year from the Games and still come out on top? Uh, absolutely.)

(* 제가 이걸 번역해서 갖고 오고 싶었던 구절이 이제 나옵니다.)

그녀는 2006 토리노 올림픽에서 모든 도전자를 날려버렸던 러시아의 예브게니 플루셴코 이래, 우리가 권위있는 대회에서 보아왔던 중에 가장 무자비하고(* 아...통렬한 표현) 압도적인 스케이터다. (플루센코가 은퇴를 끝내고 밴쿠버(올림픽)으로 돌아오겠다는 협박을 하고 있다. 플루센코가 올림픽까지 일년도 안남은 지금 스케이터를 졸라메고 여전히 정상에 설수 있을까? 흥, 절대 (*가능하다인지 불가능하다인지 애매한데 자꾸 보니 가능하다로 보입니다.))

Kim becomes the first South Korean woman to win a world title in figure skating. If she can keep a couple chronic physical problems, most notably a painful back injury, at bay, it's likely to be the first of many. Here's hoping. Watching her skate in Pacific Coliseum, where she won the Four Continents just last month, is bound to be a highlight of the Vancouver Games. At this moment in time, no one else can touch her.

김연아는 피겨스케이팅에서 월드 타이틀을 따낸 최초의 한국인이 되었다. 그녀가 두가지의 만성적인 육체적 문제(*부상)를, 특히 등쪽 부상을, 억제할 수 있다면, 아마도 여러가지의 부문의 최초가 될 것이다. 바로 지난달 그녀가 4대륙 우승을 했던 퍼시픽 콜리세움에서(* 올림픽 피겨 경기장, 즉 '차기 올림픽에서' 라는 뜻) 그녀의 연기를 본다는 것은 벤쿠퍼 올림픽의 하일라이트를 보는 것과 다름없다. (* 결국 별일 없으면 우승이라는 이야기죠) 지금 이순간 그녀를 막을 사람이 없다.

-- 여왕님 이야기는 여기까지, 나머지는 시간관계상(?) 생략 ---

It's also worth taking a moment to note the courageous performance of America's Rachael Flatt at her first Worlds. Flatt, 16, came out tonight and threw everything she had into a free skate studded with difficult triple combinations, skating cleanly through the entire program and vaulting all the way to fifth place. Incredibly impressive, given her age and experience. The kid has nerves of titanium.

Before this competition, if anyone had said Flatt could pull a fifth-place, it would have seemed unthinkable that the U.S. would fail to get the required combined finish of 13th or better, between Flatt and national champ Alissa Czisny, to gain a third American slot for the 2010 Games. But fail, they did. All that is on the shoulders of Czisny, who skated well in her free skate last night, but not well enough to overcome a disastrous short program. Czisny finished 11th, ensuring that the U.S. will enter the 2010 Games with only two female skaters. She only needed an eighth -- clearly within the expected realm of a U.S. Champion -- and failed to get it.

That's a flub of truly historic proportions. The U.S. has been the nation to beat in the women's worlds for years. Three Americans -- Kristi Yamaguchi, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan -- swept the event at the worlds preceding the 1992 Albertville Games. And the last time the U.S. went into a Games with only two female skaters was 1964, when the program still was reeling from the 1961 plane crash that wiped out the entire team.

Look where we are now: With men's skating, of all things, a likely bigger story line in Vancouver than women's.

Unless: Could one of those two Olympic slots be occupied by Michelle Kwan? The nine-time U.S. and five-time world champion showed up as a guest commentator on NBC tonight, and didn't directly answer that question, put to her by Bob Costas. She did say she's in training, and would like to get in great, "long program shape," and then make a decision.

But we have to ask: Is she really serious? As a huge fan of Kwan and an admirer of her incomparable career, I hope she's reading the papers when people with no less wisdom than coach Frank Carroll state bluntly that Kwan's style simply isn't suited to the current code-of-points scoring system. And to expect her to return at 28 and retool her body to match the competitive acumen of teenaged skaters like Kim and Japan's Mao Asada seems beyond reason. (Sasha Cohen, in fact, has a better chance of pulling it off, although one wonders now whether the lack of a third Olympic slot might make her rethink her own comeback.)

Maybe Kwan will prove everybody wrong, which would be amazing. But here's hoping she sees clear to let her current remarkable legacy stand as her exit point from the sport.

Oh the other hand: She's got some work to do if she plans to stay in that NBC broadcast booth. Yes, it was her first time, but Kwan didn't offer much beyond the obvious in the way of analysis. And given one serious chance to do that -- answer a question from Costas about what separates young Flatt from a world champion like Kim -- she whifffed.

Kwan insisted Flatt only needs more experience to compete at the same level as Kim. That's a polite answer, but anyone who even casually watches the sport can see that Kim is on another plain, physically, than Flatt and most other competitors. That's no knock on Flatt, a gutsy, talented performer who puts every ounce of her ability into every performance. But we'd like to think Kwan, of all people, is clearly aware that some skaters simply possess physical skills that others do not -- skills that no amount of experience or effort will replicate.

Maybe once she finally admits to herself that she's no longer one of the competitors, she can drop that collegiality and tell it like it is. Then again: If she hangs around Dick Button long enough, some of that candor is bound to wear off on her.

The good news: All this drama will play out close to home next winter. The 2010 U.S. Nationals, which double as the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team trials for skating, will take place in Spokane Jan. 14-24. It's only 292 days away. Tickets still available.

(AP Photo: Kim Yu-Na of South Korea skates in the free skate at the World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles Saturday night.)

 

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