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On Short Track, It's Been a Long Process for Kim
Korean-born Hyo Jung Kim, 17, will be on the U.S. Olympic short track speedskating team after setting two records at the ongoing trials.
(By Robert Laberge -- Getty Images)
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Her father's foray into the United States gave her dual citizenship and a choice. She moved to the United States in January 2004.
"The Olympics is my dream," Kim said. "I didn't think about the country. I just wanted to go to the Olympics."
Asked recently about Kim, who chose the nickname Halie soon after her arrival, Farrell said: "You mean my little sister? I'm the one who makes her do her homework and corrects her English. . . . I see how hard it is to be in a place like this and deal with everything."
Said Baver: "I'm totally being her mother. We all felt responsibility in some way; the guys, too."
In less than two years, Kim's star potential has been diluted by her inability to tap into her abilities at the right times. She failed to win any medals in four World Cup events this fall despite high expectations. Even so, she remains a likely medal contender in Turin.
"Her finish ranking in so many races could easily have been on the podium," said U.S. teammate Caroline Hallisey. "It's just a little inexperience that keeps her off the podium. . . . I don't understand the strength and ease she gets from the sport. It's amazing to watch, and I think that's what's going to bring her to great heights in the sport."
Though international results haven't come as quickly as Kim would like, in many ways she has grown up fast: blossoming from an overwhelmed and introverted 10th-grade student who initially couldn't attend classes because she knew just a few words of English into a young athlete willing to be interviewed in her adopted language.
Farrell bought Kim a book soon after she arrived. It was, she said, an animal board book for toddlers. Farrell sat with Kim like she used to sit with her younger siblings.
"At first she couldn't say 'squirrel,' " Farrell said. "I taught her all the farm animals."
Her teammates pushed her in other ways. Farrell and Rusty Smith took her to the Mall of America on a trip to Minneapolis. They invited her to join in making a birthday cake for a teammate's birthday; Kim broke her first egg as she participated. Farrell and other teammates have taken her canoeing and water skiing in New York.
"Everybody," Kim said, "they are just like brothers and sisters."
