VANCOUVER, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Even before the Olympic flame is extinguished in downtown Vancouver, the inquisition had started into what went wrong for European figure skating at the 2010 Winter Games.

The continent, largely thanks to Russia and the Soviet Union, had dominated Olympic ice rinks from Innsbruck to Calgary and Albertville to Salt Lake City to bag 37 of 46 golds handed out since 1964.

In 2006 Russia came tantalising close to becoming the first nation to sweep the board but had to settle for taking three golds after a slip-up by Irina Slutskaya allowed Shizuka Arakawa of Japan to nab the top prize in the women’s competition.

Four years on and the tables have completely turned as the score now reads Europe 0 – Rest of the World 4. The last time this happened was half a century ago in 1960.

“A change of guard is always a good thing. It takes you out of your comfort zone and makes you work harder. The Europeans have not delivered very well in this Games. We’ve got great skaters, they just haven’t delivered,” 1980 British Olympic men’s champion Robin Cousins told Reuters.

“The Europeans have to rethink (their strategy) a little bit, more power to the North Americans and the Asians.”

China’s Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo started the victory parade for the teams that fall under the Four Continents umbrella by snapping Russia’s 46-year stranglehold in the pairs competition.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – If Kim Yuna thought she was famous before she was crowned Olympic champion, the South Korean figure skater got a taste of what the rest of her life will be just 18 hours after her golden moment.

No matter where she went on Friday, everyone wanted a piece of the teenager who is already being called ‘Queen Yuna’.

Little girls wanted her autograph, men wanted a picture with her, women wanted to shake her hand and hundreds of reporters swarmed around her like bees to honey, hanging on to her every word — even if she did not have much to say.

“Even before the Olympics, everyone in Korea knew who I am so I don’t think it’s going to make that much of a difference,” the softly spoken Kim told Reuters in an interview.

Her Canadian coach Brian Orser clearly did not agree.

A week after declaring that being with Kim was “like travelling around with Princess Diana,” he struggled to find the words to sum up what her return to Korea would be like and shaking his head, he said “Oh my god.”

After a very long pause he added: “It’s going to be interesting going to Korea as they just adore her.”

VANCOUVER, Feb 26 (Reuters) – If Kim Yuna thought she was famous before she was crowned Olympic champion, the South Korean figure skater got a taste of what the rest of her life will be just 18 hours after her golden moment.

No matter where she went on Friday, everyone wanted a piece of the teenager who is already being called ‘Queen Yuna’.

Little girls wanted her autograph, men wanted a picture with her, women wanted to shake her hand and hundreds of reporters swarmed around her like bees to honey, hanging on to her every word — even if she did not have much to say.

“Even before the Olympics, everyone in Korea knew who I am so I don’t think it’s going to make that much of a difference,” the softly spoken Kim told Reuters in an interview.

Her Canadian coach Brian Orser clearly did not agree.

A week after declaring that being with Kim was “like travelling around with Princess Diana”, he struggled to find the words to sum up what her return to Korea would be like and shaking his head, he said “Oh my god”.

After a very long pause he added: “It’s going to be interesting going to Korea as they just adore her.”

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Olympic men’s figure skaters will be thanking their lucky stars they did not have to compete against Kim Yuna after the South Korean delivered a seminal exhibition that will go down as one of the greatest of all time.

The 19-year-old Yuna stepped on to the ice carrying the weight of expectation from 50-million South Koreans on her dainty shoulders.

Four exquisite minutes later, the woman already hailed as Queen Yuna in her homeland, was crowned Olympic champion after annihilating her rivals and could not understand what all the fuss was about.

“After it was over, I thought ‘Well, maybe the Games aren’t as hard as I thought’,” said a beaming Kim.

It is not what her rivals thought.

She scored a record 78.50 points for her short program, a record 150.06 for the free skate and a combined total of 228.56 points — shattering her previous world record by more than 18 points.

It would also have placed her ninth in the men’s event and had she competed for another 30 seconds as they do, adding in a 13th element, her score would have bumped her up even higher.

VANCOUVER, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Olympic men’s figure skaters will be thanking their lucky stars they did not have to compete against Kim Yuna after the South Korean delivered a seminal exhibition that will go down as one of the greatest of all time.

The 19-year-old Yuna stepped on to the ice carrying the weight of expectation from 50-million South Koreans on her dainty shoulders.

Four exquisite minutes later, the woman already hailed as Queen Yuna in her homeland, was crowned Olympic champion after annihilating her rivals and could not understand what all the fuss was about.

“After it was over, I thought ‘Well, maybe the Games aren’t as hard as I thought’,” said a beaming Kim.

It is not what her rivals thought.

She scored a record 78.50 points for her short programme, a record 150.06 for the free skate and a combined total of 228.56 points — shattering her previous world record by more than 18 points.

It would also have placed her ninth in the men’s event and had she competed for another 30 seconds as they do, adding in a 13th element, her score would have bumped her up even higher.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Kim Yuna dissolved into tears after she obliterated the opposition to become the first South Korean to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal, while a grieving Joannie Rochette melted millions of hearts with a display of sheer courage.

The 19-year-old, already hailed as Queen Yuna by her legion of admirers, had hollering fans rushing down the aisles after she was crowned Vancouver Games champion with a record combined total of 228.56. She won with a huge margin of 23.06 points.

“This was the first time I cried after an event. I didn’t know why but I was so happy,” said Yuna, already one of the top earning Olympians after banking more than $8 million in 2009.

“I still cannot believe that I received those scores, it’s almost as close as the men’s score,” added Yuna, whose score would have placed her ninth in the men’s event.

Japanese rival Mao Asada soared high into the air to become the only woman to land two triple Axels at the Pacific Coliseum on Thursday but could not match the technical wizardry, artistry or poise of Yuna and settled for silver with 205.5.

Rochette had Canadians and fans all over the world cheering for her after delivering a display full of grace, beauty and guts to earn the bronze just four days after her mother’s death.

“I do not see myself as a hero. When I stepped on to the ice I knew I had to be as cold as possible,” said the Canadian, who bit her lip and blinked back tears during the medal ceremony.

VANCOUVER, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Kim Yuna dissolved into tears after she obliterated the opposition to become the first South Korean to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal, while a grieving Joannie Rochette melted millions of hearts with a display of sheer courage.

The 19-year-old, already hailed as Queen Yuna by her legion of admirers, had hollering fans rushing down the aisles after she was crowned Vancouver Games champion with a record combined total of 228.56. She won with a huge margin of 23.06 points.

“This was the first time I cried after an event. I didn’t know why but I was so happy,” said Yuna, already one of the top earning Olympians after banking more than $8 million in 2009.

“I still cannot believe that I received those scores, it’s almost as close as the men’s score,” added Yuna, whose score would have placed her ninth in the men’s event.

Japanese rival Mao Asada soared high into the air to become the only woman to land two triple Axels at the Pacific Coliseum on Thursday but could not match the technical wizardry, artistry or poise of Yuna and settled for silver with 205.5.

Rochette had Canadians and fans all over the world cheering for her after delivering a display full of grace, beauty and guts to earn the bronze just four days after her mother’s death.

“I do not see myself as a hero. When I stepped on to the ice I knew I had to be as cold as possible,” said the Canadian, who bit her lip and blinked back tears during the medal ceremony.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – South Korea coach Choi Kwang-bok banged his fists in anger, glared at officials and argued with Australian referee James Hewish but nothing could change the fact his women’s relay team had been disqualified in an Olympic short track 3,000 meters final.

Cho Ha-ri, Kim Min-jung, Lee Eun-byul and Park Seung-hi had already done several victory laps around the rink waving flags to the cheering throng of Korean fans when the dreaded letters “DQ” flashed up on the scoreboard, handing China victory.

Kim had apparently impeded Chinese skater Sun Lunlin.

While his skaters dissolved into tears, Choi was incandescent with rage at what he thought was an unfair decision.

“I argued with the referee at the end … but he ignored me and then he left. Today there was no crash between the bodies or body contact so I have no clue why we were disqualified,” he told reporters through a translator.

“It was out of my control when the judges made their decision. The main referee (Hewish) is from Australia and he misjudged it when Kim Dong-sung … was skating (in 2002) and disqualified. It was the same referee.”

Eight years ago Hewish was in charge when Kim Dong-sung was first across the finish line in the 1,500 meters final at Salt Lake City but then disqualified for blocking American Apolo Anton Ohno, an incident that sparked a diplomatic row.

VANCOUVER, Feb 24 (Reuters) – South Korea coach Choi Kwang-bok banged his fists in anger, glared at officials and argued with Australian referee James Hewish but nothing could change the fact his women’s relay team had been disqualified in an Olympic short track 3,000 metres final.

Cho Ha-ri, Kim Min-jung, Lee Eun-byul and Park Seung-hi had already done several victory laps around the rink waving flags to the cheering throng of Korean fans when the dreaded letters “DQ” flashed up on the scoreboard, handing China victory.

Kim had apparently impeded Chinese skater Sun Lunlin.

While his skaters dissolved into tears, Choi was incandescent with rage at what he thought was an unfair decision.

“I argued with the referee at the end … but he ignored me and then he left. Today there was no crash between the bodies or body contact so I have no clue why we were disqualified,” he told reporters through a translator.

“It was out of my control when the judges made their decision. The main referee (Hewish) is from Australia and he misjudged it when Kim Dong-sung … was skating (in 2002) and disqualified. It was the same referee.”

Eight years ago Hewish was in charge when Kim Dong-sung was first across the finish line in the 1,500 metres final at Salt Lake City but then disqualified for blocking American Apolo Anton Ohno, an incident that sparked a diplomatic row.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – It was only two months ago when it seemed that a misfiring Mao Asada was about to miss the Olympic party.

Luckily, the Japanese figure skater famed for her soaring triple Axels found her landing legs in the nick of time and showed her biggest rival, South Korea’s Kim Yuna, that it was game on at the Vancouver Olympics.

“(The battle) is very familiar and it’s great for the sport and will be great for the viewers as it will keep everyone on the edge of their seats,” said Yuna’s coach Brian Orser, who himself was involved in the “Battle of the Brians” in the 1988 Games against American rival Brian Boitano.

The two 19-year-olds’ Olympic debut brought traffic to a standstill in South Korea and Japan on Tuesday for 20 spell-binding minutes. First Asada marked her territory on the ice with a stupendous performance that earned her a personal best 73.78 for her short program.

However, her name stayed on the top of the leaderboard for less than 10 minutes as Yuna blew away the judges with her classy “Bond Girl” routine to earn a record 78.50 points.

“Mao came out and skated the best short I’ve seen her do all year. Then Yuna came out and one upped her. It’s great for skating and great for the Olympics, ” said Skate Canada’s high performance director Mike Slipchuk.

On Thursday the two will return for Act II of their riveting Olympic saga and will no doubt have 177 million Asians across South Korea and Japan tuning in.