海角大神

Financial markets slowed and almost stopped here as Kim Yuna, 鈥渢he Golden Queen鈥� in Korea鈥檚 media, was running through a flawless free-skating performance, winning a gold medal for herself and unalloyed joy for Koreans.

鈥淓verybody was in front of office televisions watching her,鈥� says businessman Kim Yong-jin. 鈥淧eople came back early from lunch. Nobody was interested in the stock or bond markets. There were almost no transactions, nobody was looking at prices.鈥�

Those not looking at TVs were most likely glued to their computers. Daum, a major Internet portal here, reported 440,000 people logged in at the same time to catch her in motion via the Web, according to Yonhap, the South Korean news agency.

That figure was well above the 340,000 who logged in during her short program on Wednesday (Tuesday night in Vancouver). Moreover, said Yonhap, Kim鈥檚 home page crashed from too many simultaneous hits.

As Ms. Kim twirled madly on Friday afternoon (Thursday night in Vancouver), then came to a sharp stop, a smile on her face, Koreans everywhere burst into what seemed like a nationwide roar of applause.

鈥淲e knew she had won,鈥� says one office worker, even though Yuna's rival, Japan鈥檚 Mao Asada, was about to take to the ice.

Sealing gold

Ms. Asada was behind, having placed second to Kim in the short program, but the gold was by no means certain. Kim鈥檚 aggregate score of 228.56 was a world record 鈥� one that Asada still had a chance of besting.

But a couple of minor missteps 鈥� falters, not falls 鈥� in Asada鈥檚 routine guaranteed Kim the gold, while Asada seemed happy to take silver with 205.50 points.

After Asada鈥檚 score was announced, office workers returned to their desks, missing out on the emotional favorite, Joannie Rochette of Canada. Ms. Rochette, skating beautifully enough for bronze with 202.64 points, managed a smile through tears shed in mourning for her mother, who died of a heart attack four days earlier (The Monitor spoke with Mrs. Rochette in January: Read article).

For Korea, one of the major contenders in Vancouver with six golds, mostly in speed-skating, the Yuna moment was all about national pride.

鈥淧eople were like, 'wow, wow,' every time she jumped,鈥� says office worker Park Han-jin. 鈥淲e were really holding our breath.鈥�

As soon as Yuna had accepted the gold, the medal draped around her neck, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak caught the national mood, sending a message congratulating her for 鈥減assion and strong spirit鈥� 鈥� all cause, he said, for 鈥済reat jubilation for the people.鈥�

Friendly rivalry

Mr. Park credits Korea鈥檚 overall drive as an economic powerhouse with bringing about success at the games. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy for Korea,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e done a great job. A lot of money was invested on training and facilities, a lot of hopes and vision were at stake.鈥�

He sees Korea鈥檚 rise as a formidable Olympic competitor as paralleling the country鈥檚 economic rise. 鈥淎 few years ago, we never thought we鈥檇 be winning all these gold medals. Now Korea has achieved a lot. It definitely gives people some joy.鈥�

Still, Park managed a few sporting words for Asada 鈥� the Japanese skater who would have killed Korea's joy.

鈥淧eople were saying, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 too bad,鈥� when she seemed to make a mistake,鈥� he says.

Nor do he, and many others, see why Japan, with more than twice the population and an intensely competitive global economy, has not done better at the Games. South Korea has won a total of 10 medals at the Games, half of them gold. Japan has won three medals.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 really strange, something we don鈥檛 understand,鈥� he says, 鈥渋s why no Japanese has yet won a gold medal.鈥�

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