Kim Yu-na Defends Grand Prix Title
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korea's figure skating star Kim Yu-na defended her title at the World Grand Prix Final Saturday in Turin, Italy, holding off her rival Mao Asada of Japan.
In the free program, the 17-year-old Korean showed one of her best performances baring a fall to finish second with 132.21 points, behind Mao, who had her season-best score of 132.55.
But Kim had enough to win the overall title for the second straight year, thanks to her previous day's performance in the short program, where she recorded 64.62 points.
Collecting back-to-back championships in her second year in the senior international competition, Kim portended that she could be prevailing on the world figure skating stage.
Mao, who placed last in a faulty short program with 59.04 points, performed her clean skating in the free program to Chopin, showing she is still a big threat to Kim.
``It's good to have a rivalry,'' Asada said of competing against Kim. ``We want to continue to have good performances and motivate each other.''
Italy's European champion Carolina Kostner won a bronze medal on home soil, and America's 14-year-old Caroline Zhang, who ranked second in the short program, dropped to fourth due to a fall on a triple lutz.
Kim, who is becoming one of Korea's most popular athletes, outshined the competition with her execution. Skating to ``Miss Saigon,'' Kim, dressed in red, made the opening triple flip-triple toe, but fell on the next triple loop.
Keeping her nerves, the world bronze medallist did not let the fall affect the rest of the performance. She made a triple lutz-double toe and a double axel-triple toe.
On a triple lutz, where she fell in the third and fifth rounds of the Grand Prix, she landed perfectly, attracting a great applause from the spectators in the Palavela ice rink.
By adding a triple salchow and a double axel, Kim finished the seven required elements.
``I was getting more nervous after falling on a triple loop, but I just focused on the next elements,'' Kim said.
``I am really glad to win for the second straight time. Making up for some mistakes I committed at the final, I will try to have good marks at the world championship. … Training in Toronto helped me a lot. It made me confident in my performance, which led to a gold medal.''
Two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland won the men's title, while Japan's Daisuke Takahashi took second.
``I don't do only a program, I do a show. That makes the difference I think,'' Lambiel said. ``When I'm on the ice, I want to feel the crowd getting into the program, getting into the motion. I think that, for me, makes a real figure skater.''
