YONHAP NEWS

S. Koreans ecstatic over Kim Yu-na's gold medal

SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans went mad with excitement Friday (Korean time) when their lovely "Queen" Kim Yu-na delivered a perfect performance and won the country's first gold medal in figure skating at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

   South Koreans, who had seen their compatriot athletes win medals only in speed skating before this Olympics, witnessed Kim earn the country's first Olympic medal in figure skating with a record 228.56 points, routing other formidable players, including archrival Mao Asada of Japan.

   On the streets, people stopped to watch Kim's performance on the screens of their mobile phones, which provided digital multimedia broadcasting service. Other passersby stood in front of big televisions set up in public areas like stations or airports.

   "I came here to the airport to watch Yu-na's performance on a wider screen. I'm so glad, as if my granddaughter won the Olympic gold medal," said 84-year-old Lee Kye-hwan at the Kimpo International Airport.

   "I knew Kim would win gold just after her performance since her score was so high. I had a party with my colleagues without seeing (Japan's Mao) Asada's play," said Choi Yong-seok, a Seoul businessman.

   "I was sitting at the counter, but no client came to me. They were all watching Kim Yu-na's play," said Kim Jong-sung, a bank clerk in Seoul. "My colleagues also paid attention to Kim for the five minutes."

   An audience rating of Kim's free skating that aired around lunchtime recorded 36.4 percent, according to AGB Nielson Media Research here.

   Cyberspace was also dazzled by Kim.

   Daum, one of South Korea's leading internet portals, hit an all-time high of 440,000 simultaneous log-ins for live internet broadcasting of Kim's performance. The figure increased by 30 percent from Wednesday's short program, which garnered 340,000 log-ins.

   "It's fabulous that she earned over 228 points. She did so well and I'm really proud of her. Kim Yu-na is the best in the world," wrote one internet user.

   In addition, Kim's homepage has crashed because too many internet users tried to enter at the same time.

   brk@yna.co.kr
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