For Women’s History month, I will be highlighting Yuna Kim and her contributions to the APIDA community! Yuna Kim is a retired South Korean figure skater who is the first female skater to win every major international competition in one season, has won two Olympic medals, and is one of the most highly recognized athletes in South Korea. Interestingly enough, Kim was also the highest paid athlete in the 2010 Olympics, where she medaled gold.
Kim started skating when she was 6 years old and was told by her coach that she had the makings of a “world class skater” in the future. Though access to skating rinks was limited in South Korea, Kim trained diligently for her first competition in 2002 where she won the gold medal for the novice competition. From that point, her career grew exponentially.
In recent news, she was appointed the honorary ambassador of the Winter Youth Olympic Games, which will take place in the 2024 season. This position allows her to promote the Winter Youth Olympics to not only the youth in South Korea but also worldwide. Moreover, Kim is a company ambassador for Kookmin Bank, Nike, Korean Air, Samsung and Hyundai Motor Company. In 2010, Kim also published a book, Kim Yu-na’s Seven-Minute Drama, in which she talked about her personal experience training as a professional figure skater.
