Women's figure skating is usually the biggest hitter on the ice for the Winter Olympics games. Usually the most highly viewed of all the events, this year stands to be no different, despite the lack of an American figure-skating superstar: Think Sasha Cohen, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski.
In fact, Team USA's best chance for a medal comes from two Olympics newcomers: 17-year-old Rachael Flatt and 16-year-old Mirai Nagasu. American girls are the underdogs in the game dominated by names like Mao Asada, Miki Ando and Kim Yu-na, the reigning world champion.
Known as "The Queen" in her home country of South Korea, Kim Yu-na has dominated the figure skating world during the past year and is the favorite for the gold. Yet if there's one sport where being the favorite is a pitfall, it's figure skating. World champions have often fallen to the incredible amount of pressure at the games, never skating their best.
And no skater has ever faced as much pressure as Kim. In Korea, three TV networks have played endless loops of her falling -- during a practice. Even a simple skate malfunction became headline news for the Ice Princess who has been declared the South Korean "Person of the Year" for the past two years and "Top Athlete" for the past three years.
But Kim continues to insist that she's doing it for herself.
"Competing or winning competitions, it's not for my country, it's for me," she said. "I am not skating just to win gold. I am skating for skating."
Don't miss the short program tonight, 8 p.m. on NBC.
