Son Yeon-jae adds more medals to all-around bronze in Bulgaria
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Son Yeon-jae posted this picture to Instagram after the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) competition in Sofia, Bulgaria, Saturday, with the message “Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I was so happy to compete today. And thank you for the surprise birthday song.” / Captured from Son Yeon-jae’s Instagram
By Park Jin-hai
Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae added a silver in hoop and a bronze in ball individual finals at the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) competition in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday (local time), further raising her hopes of winning a medal at the upcoming Rio Summer Olympics.
In the hoop final routine, Son came second, scoring a career-best 18.650 points, following her rival Ukraine's Ganna Rizatdinova who earned 18.800. She scored 18.550 points in ball.
On the previous day, Son achieved her personal best and clinched a bronze medal in the individual all-around at the FIG World Cup, scoring a career-high 74.200 points in total from hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon routines in events held over Friday and Saturday.
This was again 0.300 point higher than her previous best, set at the FIG World Cup in Pesaro, Italy, last month.
She came third by scoring 18.550 in the hoop, 18.650 in ball, 18.600 in clubs and 18.400 in ribbon. It was her second personal all-around World Cup medal during the four competitions this season.
Kudryavtseva won the gold with a score of 75.750, followed by Rizatdinova who recorded 74.250 points.
During Son’s previous four World Cups, she only outperformed her rival Ritzatdinova once, winning a silver medal at the World Cup held in Espoo, Finland, in February.
Son finished fourth at the World Cups held in Lisbon and Pesaro. She skipped the World Cups held in Ukraine and Belarus earlier this month.
Son has been on a winning streak, fast catching up with the second-place finisher Rizatdinova and raising her prospects for the Summer Olympics.
At the Bulgarian World Cup, the score gap that had stretched to 1.400 and 0.650 points during the Lisbon and Pesaro events has been narrowed down to 0.050.
Son, who turned 22 on Saturday, aims to be the first Korean rhythmic gymnast to win an Olympic medal in Rio de Janeiro this August.