YUNA and BRIAN pics

Now that the Yuna Kim-Brian Orser partnership had officially ended, here's a compilation of some Yuna-Brian pics. It's sad that these two would no longer work together as skater and coach :[

Did Yuna Fire Brian?

First of all, let's make it clear that Yuna and Brian's contract had ended last March. Yuna simply didn't renew the contract. It was not FIRING as Reuters had callously announced.

As I've posted below, news of Yuna Kim splitting with her coach of almost 4 years, Brian Orser had shocked the skating community. As a Yuna fan, I was also quite surprised since Yuna and Brian are known to have the closest skater-coach relationship. It's not everyday that you see commercials where both skater and coach sing to a version of "Sugar" while dancing on an island, promoting some Air-conditioner. (vid below)



What's even worse is the tension that exploded after said split. Instead of an amicable announcement, rumors are flying that Brian had 'betrayed' Yuna to the Japanese, or that Yuna's mom fired Brian without telling Yuna, or that Yuna had become cocky and ungrateful to Brian and decided she can do it all herself.

There were also issues on how Brian publicly revealed Yuna's music to her long program without telling her, which is quite a big NO-NO in the skating world. Some people also pointed out Yuna's revelation earlier this year of how she had lost her competitive edge and motivation after winning the Gold Medal in the Olympics, and this had off-set Brian and David  Wilson(the choreographer).

Let's face it, this is probably Yuna's biggest controversy in her life. She had always been the perfect skating Queen with the perfect dream team to back her up. It's no wonder she was quite shocked herself by the response of some people and how Brian presented the situation to the media, making it look like he was fired without warning. Unlike other athletes who are flooded with controversy everyday, Yuna is not used to becoming the tabloid fixture in Korea in such a negative light. Yuna had then taken her frustrations public by posting an announcement:

However, though they are shocked as I was, Yuna fans in facebook and forums had sticked by the skater's side. Though most of us had expressed great sadness on the separation, we have come to terms that it is quite common for an athlete to change coaches. Hopefully, everything would turn out ok for all of them. Both parties owe a lot to the other to be where they are now in their careers, and despite all the media sh*tstorm, may Yuna and Brian remain friends. Afterall, 4 years, is a lot to simply throw away.

YUNA SPLITS WITH BRIAN

I was quite shocked to find out about the separation of the Dream Team. I definitely did not see it coming! Now rumors are coming out about Brian apparently working for a Japanese company and had received some money from them to leave Yuna...and now there's also some issues with Yuna's mom interfering and making decisions for her.

here's the news from Yahoo sports:

Kim Yu-na leaves coach Brian Orser

Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na has split from her coach, Brian Orser, in a move that has taken many by surprise—Orser included.

Kim said Orser knows why the two are no longer working together, and was “flabbergasted” and “upset” that he would say otherwise.

Orser said Tuesday that Kim’s mother, Park Mi-hee, told him Aug. 2 that he was no longer Kim’s coach but gave no reason for the decision. When Orser and fellow coach Tracy Wilson met with Kim last week, Orser said even the skater seemed confused by the events.

But in a posting on Cyworld, a South Korean social networking site similar to Facebook, Kim said her relationship with Orser had been “awkward” for the last few months, and that it was ultimately her decision to leave.

“Do you think it’s really true that my mother decided on her own to part ways with the coach? I’m no longer a child,” wrote Kim, who turns 20 on Sept. 5. “He was my coach, and whether we stay on or part ways, it was my final decision, and this is what I decided to do, with discretion, after consulting with my mother.”

Kim’s management agency, AT Sports, confirmed that the posting, written in Korean, were made by Kim. AT Sports also confirmed the skater had posted an angry tweet in English directed at Orser, which was quickly deleted. AT Sports did not explain why.

Kim is still training at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, where she has worked with Orser since 2006. But she has been “more or less” working without a coach since May, AT Sports said, and they have no plans for a new one. Kim announced last month that she is skipping the Grand Prix series and will focus instead on the world championships.

Kim and Orser have always had a friendly relationship—he’s even made appearances in some of her commercials—but Orser said he noticed a change when the skater returned from South Korea in May. Kim had said after the world championships that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue competing, and Orser said he and Wilson tried to give her space to decide.

Wildly popular in South Korea—her nickname is “Queen Yu-na”—she ranked fifth on Forbes.com’s list of the world’s highest-paid female athletes this month with earnings of $9.7 million the past year.

But when Kim announced her plans for the season, she did it without informing Orser first. He then got a call from Shae-Lynn Bourne, who said she had been asked to choreograph Kim’s short program.

Kim’s programs are usually choreographed by David Wilson, who works with Orser and Tracy Wilson.

“I immediately started e-mailing them,” Orser said. “I was in the dark and felt I deserved to have some clarity. … I was a little embarrassed, to be honest with you, that I didn’t know any of this stuff.”

But Kim said “everyone involved in this, including coach Brian Orser” knows the reasons behind the split.

“If you knew about the process that we went through, you will understand how shocked and flabbergasted we felt when we saw Orser’s interviews,” Kim wrote. “… But I don’t want to talk about the process we went through, and there’s no need to do so. This is strictly our issue.”

Orser said he held off announcing the split in hopes Kim and her camp would have a change of heart. He decided to make the separation public Monday because he didn’t want it to become a distraction for his other skaters, including up-and-coming Americans Adam Rippon and Christina Gao.

“What’s happening now would happen at some point. I didn’t want it to happen when I was at a competition with Adam or Christina,” Orser said. “That’s not fair to them.”

Kim began working with Orser in 2006. Orser, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, became her full-time coach in 2007, and Kim flourished under his guidance. After finishing third at the 2008 worlds, she won all but two competitions the next two seasons, often in record fashion.

She overwhelmed the competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, oblivious to the pressure that came with being the biggest favorite to win gold since Katarina Witt in 1988. She shattered her own world record for total score by 18 points, and also topped her marks for the short program and free skate.

“It’s disappointing because it involves Yu-na,” Orser said. “I love her and I’ve been working with her and we’ve grown together and she’s flourished under this team that we had. So I’m saddened we weren’t able to get through it.

“Now it’s done. We all move forward,” he added. “I want the best for Yu-na.”

In a statement released by AT Sports, Kim thanked Orser for helping her become Olympic champion and wished him well in the future. But her posting had a far more bitter tone.

“It’s unbearable to let people believe lies and let criticisms fall on those who are innocent,” she wrote. “Why something that could have ended well had to end up being so hurtful like this to each other … I just really want it to stop.”