Kim Yuna was in her fourth year of elementary school when she first met Peter Oppegard.

She was with a group of South Korean figure skaters who had been sent to the Ice Castle rink in Lake Arrowhead for a summer session. Oppegard, who had teamed with Jill Watson to win a pairs bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics and three U.S. titles, was building what has become a successful coaching career.

Flash forward to this year. Kim, so graceful and powerful in winning the gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics, split with her coach, Brian Orser, over the summer and moved to Los Angeles to decide her next move. When considering coaches who might guide her to the next phase of her career she remembered Oppegard, now coaching at East West Ice Palace in Artesia.

After skating there for a few weeks Kim asked him to collaborate with her, and they announced their agreement Tuesday in a news conference at the rink. The arrangement will be reviewed each season.
 “I noticed he had a very calm, collected manner that would match my style very well,” Kim said through a translator. “He has a very unique style of leading students and his skaters are very happy.”

Oppegard, 51, has coached pairs and singles skaters to 10 national titles. He’s married to Karen Kwan, sister of Michelle Kwan, the five-time world champion, nine-time U.S. champion and two-time Olympic medalist. The Kwan family owns and operates the Artesia facility.