Yuna Kim's unexpected loss to Russia's Adelina Sotnikova came as a shock to many people, especially her home turf South Korea.
Yuna Kim, who has been the favorite to win this year's gold in women's figure skating, was the reigning Olympic champion in the category after winning the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
The judges however had a different opinion about Yuna Kim's performance earlier this week, as "The Queen" lost to 17-year-old Sotnikova in one of the biggest Olympic upsets in a long time.
Kim, known as the "Queen" in South Korea, finished with the figure skating silver medal at the Sochi Olympics behind gold medallist Adelina Sotnikova of Russia.
"I was angry," said Bang Sang-ah, a skating commentator for South Korea's SBS television station in a local interview. "I had expected something like this ... but the home-side advantage (in Russia) was too much."
Yuna Kim's loss headlined most South Korean newspapers since Kim was trying to become the first to win back-to-back Olympic figure skating golds since Katarina Witt in 1988. The 23-year-old Kim is now retiring, saying she is relieved the Olympics are over and she wants to rest.
The headline in the Maeil Business Newspaper read: "Goodbye, 'Figure Queen' ... We've been happy because you've been with us."
Kim barely won the short program Wednesday but lost to Sotnikova by more than five points in the free skate the next day. Many in Seoul believed the Queen did enough to keep her crown.
"Sports competition is something that has to be fair and square," said Kim Choong-nam, 70, a retired professor, in Seoul. "If it's felt that the judging is unfair, I believe that it goes against the principles of the Olympics."
South Koreans blame unfair judging as the real reason for Kim's loss, becoming one of the most popular searches in major portal sites in South Korea, one of the world's most wired nations.
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