Naomi Nari Nam ca. 2000. Photo credit: Geraldine Wilkins/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images.
In 1999, 13-year-old Naomi Nari Nam was the rising star of American figure skating. Her spectacular performance at the 1999 US Nationals (2nd only to Michelle Kwan) had earned the young skater hoards of fans and tons of media appraise. Naomi’s performance left such a mark on the skating world in the span of mere 4 minutes that the impact reached the other side of the ocean, transforming her into a mini star in her family’s native South Korea. ISU age regulations and bureaucracy problems prevented her from shining on the world stage in 1999.
Competitive highlights: 1992 Olympic Games (16th), 1992 Worlds (13th), 1992 European Championship (14th), 1992 Vienna Cup Winner, Russian National Championships (1992 – 2nd place, 1993 – 3rd place)
Tatiana Rachkova hailed from the same generation of Russian ladies singles skaters as 1999 World champion Mariya Butyrskaya but is not as widely known to figure skating fans today. She made a quick, very promising splash in 1992 by participating at every major event (including the Olympics) but sadly disappeared from the world scene quickly after. Her style merged athleticism, powerful jumps and strong technique with unconventional eye-catching choreography, turning her into a predecessor of a new generation of talented, original Russian skaters like Olga Markova (covered in my previous post) and Butyrskaya herself.
She first emerged in the early 90s in a diluted competitive field, at the background of the disbanding Soviet Union, amidst growing uncertainty in the political and sports arena alike. Women singles’ skating at the time had taken a step back in the USSR due to the higher popularity of pairs and ice dance, combined with decreased political support on the side of the federation and lack of attention on the coaches’ side.
Coming from a figure skating powerhouse that had been known at the time to produce multiple technically proficient jumpers, Yukina Ota stood out. Her balletic grace and sophisticated musicality set her out as a prominent artist on ice in the mid 00s. One word that comes to my mind when observing her competitive performances, is poetry – her superb, light flow across the ice and the excellence of her carriage are so hypnotizing that you easily forget you are watching an athlete compete. The beauty of her skating and the intricacy of her choreography are so mesmerizing that she hardly even needs any jumps to draw the viewer in.
Yukina made her senior debut at Skate Canada grand prix in 2003 following a triumphant junior season in which she won every competition she entered into – from Junior Grand Prix to Junior Worlds in 2003. Following her grand prix assignments Yukina gained further momentum with a win at the Four Continents Championship. Poised to break through as a major contender at the time, Yukina experienced injury setbacks in 2004 which forced her on a year long hiatus. She was unfortunately not able to regain her shape in the following years, and decided to end her amateur career on her 22nd birthday in 2008.
In this post, I would like to talk a little bit about Yebin Mok. Yebin was a very promising Korean-American skater from the early 00s who competed against some of the absolute greats of ladies skating of all time including Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes. Sadly, her career was tragically cut short by injuries and personal struggles.
An incredibly talented young woman pursuing the conventional dream of sporting success and glory, she had her life consumed and derailed by the very sport she had devoted herself entirely to. However, the rediscovered passion for the beauty and joy of figure skating following her retirement allowed her to take ownership back and be happy once again.
