South Korean Olympic figure skater Kim Yu-na has gotten off to a great start as she attempts to win the Olympic Gold Medal,

Tears welled up in Chang Sung-eun’s eyes as her office TV screen flashed the news: Olympic figure skater Kim Yuna had just set a scoring record of 78.50 in the short program at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum.

Beside her, two young women wept openly and several young men burst into loud applause, shouting, “Excellent, excellent, great great.”

For Koreans, it was a moment of total national pride, of success not only for Ms. Kim but for a nation that likes nothing better than to revel in triumph, especially when the victory is over Japan. In this case, Kim edged out arch-rival Mao Asada, the Japanese sensation who came in second, 4.72 points behind her.

“It’s so very emotional,” says Ms. Chang, trying to sort through the wave of sensations that overcame her and her colleagues as Kim’s name was announced and she took to the ice to begin her stunning performance. “It’s a patriotic thing. It was such a beautiful sight to see.”  [Christian Science Monitor]

You can see video of Kim Yu-na’s performance here.  By the way can someone please teach the announcer how to pronounce her name?

Kim is obviously an incredible skater, but will this great start be enough to hold off her only real competition Japan’s Mao Asada?:

Tension is mounting over the second act on Thursday – Friday here – when she’ll have to show she has the endurance to beat out Asada in the longer free-skating program. One group of onlookers here feared Asada may have the edge in that one and that Kim Yu-na will need every point she made in the short program to stay ahead in the race for Olympic gold.

It should be interesting to see how this all plays out, but Kim is winning fans in America after her performance.