Kim Yu-Na to reunite with childhood coaches

South Korean figure skating star Kim Yu-Na is reuniting with two of her childhood coaches as she returns to competitive skating ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, her agency said. The reigning Olympic Champion, who took more than a year off competition after finishing runner-up at the world championships in April last year, said coaches Shin Hye-Sook and Ryu Jong-Hyun played a formative role in her career. "They helped me to become who I am in both technical and spiritual ways ever since I began figure skating," Kim said through her agency. "I'd like to do well in competitions to return the favours to coaches who had taught me," the 22-year-old added. Ryu, 44, a former ice dancer, was Kim's first proper coach, having started training the future Olympic champion when she was seven years old. Shin, 55, who competed as a figure skater in the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, took over when Kim was around 10 years old and coached her for three years. The agency said Shin would be in charge of Kim's general training, while Ryu will handle condition and fitness training for the remainder of the 2012-13 season. The contract with both coaches will last until the world championships in London, Ontario in March next year, after which a new coach would be named to prepare for the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Kim has been training alone since her contract with former coach Peter Oppegard, the brother-in-law of US skating legend Michelle Kwan, ended last year. Before Oppegard, Kim had trained with the 1984 and 1988 Olympic silver medalist Brian Orser, until he was fired by Kim's mother after a public slanging match in 2010. The skater, dubbed "Queen Yu-Na" by South Koreans, announced in July that she would retire after the Sochi Games and try to become a member of the International Olympic Committee. Kim's career has been the subject of intense speculation ever since she won gold in Vancouver in 2010, after which she admitted finding it difficult to remain motivated with the sport. She finished second in the 2010 world championships and sat out the entire 2010-11 season before entering finishing runner-up again at the 2011 championships.