The Queen on Ice is Back
Kim Yuna’s momentous return to figure skating
Former Olympic figure skater, Kim Yuna, performing her short program at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi
Four years ago on February 20, former Olympic figure skater Kim Yuna, also known as the queen of ice skating in South Korea, retired after the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Previously, she had won gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, and at the Sochi games, she received the silver medal.
Even after her retirement from figure skating, she still dominates the commercial film industry. From makeup commercials to cell phone endorsements, to modeling and even jewelry, Kim is one of the highest grossing celebrities in South Korea on all media platforms. Her major sponsors include SK Telecom, KB Financial Group, Coca-Cola, J. Estina and It’s Skin. The rate at which she is paid is the equivalent of an A class South Korean actress, peaking at $1 billion Korean won or about $100 million USD.
Due to the presence of the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Kim’s popularity rocketed sky high once again. In fact, she was even the final Olympic torchbearer, briefly demonstrating her skating abilities once again. Not only is Kim immensely famous in her home country, South Korea, but her fame breaks across borders and achieves international success as well. Despite her massive following both domestically and internationally, Kim does not have many anti-fans. In addition to Kim’s spike in popularity during the winter games, her impact, appropriately titled the “Kim Yuna effect,” causes global tremors during the summer games as well.
Although Kim retired after the Sochi Games, she created a new figure skating program showcased at “All That Skate 2018,” which is a figure skating show produced by All That Sports (AT Sports), a sports agency based in Seoul, South Korea. When the announcement of Kim’s appearance on the figure skating show came out, she once again became the top search on Korean outlets such as Naver and Melon, and countless people across the world anxiously observed her brief yet momentous return to figure skating. Kim will return to the commercial film industry after her appearance on “All That Skate 2018.”
