By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
South Korean figure skating queen Kim Yu-na has retaken her position atop the world rankings after her win at the Trophee Bompard, the first Grand Prix event of the season, this past weekend.
The reigning world champion now has 3,960 rankings points, moving her ahead of previous world No. 1 Carolina Kostner of Italy (3,861 points) as of Monday (KST).
Kim moved to the top of the rankings in March after winning the world championships. She had accumulated 4,652 points, slightly more than Kostner's 4,635.
Skaters earn points on results from the current season and the previous two seasons, however, points earned two seasons ago are valued at only 70 percent.
At the start of the new season, the points Kim earned with a third-place finish at the world championships, a victory in the Grand Prix Final, and first- and third-place finishes at Grand Prix events during the 2006-2007 season, caused her to drop behind Kostner.
The 400 points Kim earned at the Trophee Bompard in Paris was enough to move her atop the rankings again.
Mao Asada (3,779) of Japan, who grabbed the silver medal at the first Grand Prix, is ranked third and Joannie Rochette of Canada followed with 3,068.
Korean's archrival Asada was impressed with Kim's overwhelming performance.
"Kim is so far ahead of me in points. I wasn't ready to compete with her yet. She is amazing," Asada said Monday to Japanese sports newspaper Sankei Sports.
Asada's coach, Tatiana Tarasova of Russia, was also amazed by Kim.
"Kim was like machine in this competition. I don't want to compare between Asada and Kim in this tournament," Tarasova said.
yc@koreatimes.co.kr
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