Yu-Na Kim is Catholic

If you watched closely during the Winter Olympics where South Korean figure skater Yu-Na Kim took gold, you’ll notice she did something familiar and peculiar before her free skate competition.

As she glided to the center of the ice to begin her routine, Yu-Na quickly made the sign of the cross, clasped her hands together and closed her eyes for a second, as if praying.

Turns out, Yu-Na is Catholic. “She converted two years ago,” my mom tells me, by telephone, the day after Yu-Na won the gold medal. “Her Catholic name is Stella.”

Stellaaaaaaa! (ala Marlon Brando in Streetcar Named Desire).

Catholics are a religious minority in South Korea and only account for some 5% of the population. The rest of the South Korean population is mostly Buddhist, Christian or Protestant.

Yu-Na’s mother, who also converted to Catholicism, couldn’t watch her daughter skate during the final. She was too nervous. Yu-Na’s mother stayed in a hallway in the ice rink with her eyes closed, praying fervently.

All that praying seems to have worked.