Great rivals clash for ice greatest prize

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Back and forth Kim Yu-na and Mao Asada go, trading titles in a figure skating version of leapfrog.

Asada wins the world title one year, Kim the next. Kim wins the Grand Prix final, her rival is one step below her on the podium. Asada gets the highest marks ever, Kim tops her.

Is it any wonder the Olympic gold medal will be the latest – and greatest – prize in Kim and Asada’s rivalry.

“Having these two women fairly close and skating well and creating this rivalry ... it’s just good for the audience,” Brian Orser, Kim’s coach, said after Wednesday’s practice. “It will keep everybody on the edge of their seats. It’s exciting, and it’s exciting for Yu-na.”

Kim, the reigning world champion, has the inside track to the Olympic title after a blockbuster performance in Tuesday night’s short program. The South Korean’s 78.5 points broke her own world record and, more importantly, put her almost five points in front of Asada.

All that means, however, is the game is officially on for Thursday night’s free skate.

Asada, the 2008 world champion, was as dismal at last year’s world championships as Kim was brilliant.

The Japanese star finished fourth, starting a slide that continued into this season. She was second to Kim at Trophee Eric Bompard, the season’s first Grand Prix, but Kim was in a class all her own. She finished 36 points in front, the kind of gap usually separating first from 15th place.

Asada struggled so badly at her next event she didn’t even qualify for the Grand Prix final, an event she’s won twice and had yet to miss. Kim, naturally, won it.

But Asada bounced back with wins at Japanese nationals and last month’s Four Continents.

“We were ready for that,” Orser said. “She seems like a pretty feisty competitor and I was never underestimating she would show up in top form.”

Asada is one of the few women in the world who practices the triple axel, and she’s the only one to do two of the 3 1/2-revolution jumps in the free skate. Land them cleanly Thursday night, and she might leap right over Kim.

A triple axel has a base value of 8.2 points, but Asada plans to do one in combination. Throw in the style points, and those two jumping passes alone could be worth almost 20 points.

“Usually I think there’s like a 10-point difference,” Asada said after the short program. “So I feel good there’s only this difference between myself and Yu-na.” (AP)