Kim Yu-na Captures Skate America Title

Kim Yu-na, the 18-year-old South Korean figure skating star, pulled off a series of near-perfect jumps and an eloquent spiral sequence Monday (Korea time) to win the free skate at the Skate America in the United States, claiming the women's title at the opening event of the Grand Prix series, according to Yonhap News.

The two-time Grand Prix Final champion had dominated the short program a day earlier, beating her Japanese rival, Miki Ando, by a large margin. Monday's victory at Everett, Wash., placed her comfortably in the lead for a ticket to the Grand Prix Final.

Dressed in red accentuated by a pattern of golden embellishments, Kim skated to the rhythm of Scheherazade, a symphony suite written by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov based on the Book of One Thousand and One Nights.

The performance, broadcast live from Comcast Arena, allowed Kim to score 123.95 points and beat Yukari Nakano of Japan by nearly 9 points. The win boosted Kim's total score to 193.45, awarding her the first women's title of the 2008-2009 season.

"I was quite nervous because it was the season opener," the 2007-2008 world bronze medalist was quoted as saying after the contest. "I'm happy that I made a good start."

"I want to hold on to this feeling right through to the end of the season," said Kim, who won the short program Sunday with a score of 69.50. Her rival, Ando, came in second with 57.80.

"This was my first competition in the United States, but many Koreans came out to support me, and it felt like I was competing in Korea," she said. "I thank them and the fans at home."

Kim, the most successful South Korean to perform at International Skating Union-organized competitions, will now move to Toronto, Canada, to continue her training before she performs at the Cup of China next month.

She was admitted last week to enroll at Korea University in Seoul.