promising athletes competing for the position of ‘Post Yuna Kim’ are in full bloom, revealing the future of Korean women’s figure skating.
Figure skater Lee Hae-in (18) scored 74.96 points in technical score (TES) and 74.96 points in art ( PCS) scored 66.75 points, with a total of 141.71 points, the highest score of the season and ranked first. Lee Hae-in, who fell to 6th place in the short program with 69.13 points the previous day, performed a ‘perfect performance’ in the free skating and won her come-from-behind victory with a total score of 210.84 points.
It is the first time Lee Hae-in has reached the top in a major ISU event. Having won a silver medal in this event last year, he took a leap forward this year. It is also the first time in 14 years since Kim Yu-na in 2009 that a Korean female single player has won the Four Continents Championship. Lee Hae-in, who left some regrets in the short program jump, made up for all the mistakes made the previous day by performing cleanly to the music of the musical ‘Phantom of the Opera’.
In September 2019, when Lee Hae-in was 14 years old, she won the 3rd and 6th ISU Junior Grand Prix in a row and advanced to the Grand Prix Final, drawing attention early on as the ‘future of Korean figure skating’. At the time, a Korean female athlete won two consecutive Junior Grand Prix events in 14 years, since Kim Yu-na in 2005.
Lee Hae-in, with her step-by-step growth, reached 10th place at the ISU World Championships, which was her senior debut in 2021, setting a record for ‘the youngest Korean figure skating world top 10’. She swallowed regret by being eliminated from the selection round for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, but she spread the wings of resurrection by finishing runner-up at the Four Continents Championships last year. 카지노
‘Figure skating general’ Kim Ye-rim (20), who competed with Lee Hae-in, won a silver medal. Kim Ye-rim, who ranked first in the short program the previous day (72.84 points), scored 136.45 points with 68.95 points in TES and 67.50 points in PCS in the free skating that day, taking the silver medal with a total score of 209.29 points. Although he missed the championship unfortunately, he succeeded in winning a medal for the second consecutive time following last year’s bronze medal in this event.
Kim Ye-rim took second place in the 3rd ISU Senior Grand Prix competition in November of last year and won her first medal at the Senior Grand Prix. In the same month, she won a gold medal at the 5th Grand Prix competition and secured the right to participate in the final competition. It was the first time since Yuna Kim in the 2009-2010 season to win the senior Grand Prix gold medal and advance to the finals.
Kim Chae-yeon (17) received 131.00 points due to a single fall mistake in free skating, and unfortunately missed her medal by coming in 4th place with a total score of 202.39 points.
It is true that the competition has become less intense this season as Russian athletes, a powerhouse in figure skating, were unable to participate in ISU-sponsored competitions as a punishment following their country’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Korean athletes pursued high-quality acting, steadily growing, rising to world-class ranks, and raising expectations for the next Winter Olympics.