Young skaters show promise at Grand Prix

Kim Jin-seo performs during the men’s short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ontario, in this March 13, 2013, file photo. / AP-Yonhap

By Kwon Ji-youn

Korea saw hope in young figure skaters at the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix series that wrapped up Dec. 14 in Barcelona, Spain, amid worries that figure queen Kim Yu-na’s retirement had left the country high and dry.

Park So-youn, Kim Hae-jin and Kim Jin-seo failed to medal at the competitions that Russian skaters dominated, but showed promise with up-to-standard performances.

Park, 17, took part in the Skate America and Rostelecom Cup events after acquiring experience on international ice at the Four Continents Championships and the Sochi Winter Olympics. At the World Figure Skating Championships in March, she skated clean to finish ninth with 176.61 points.

Skate America marked Park’s Grand Prix debut. In Chicago, Park broke the ice with 55.74 in the short program and 114.69 in the free skate for a combined score of 170.43. Her technical elements score (TES) in the free skate reached 61.35, which marked the second highest TES score at Skate America.

Park’s shaky performance in the short program initially put her in seventh place at the Rostelecom Cup event, but she pulled her overall ranking up to fifth by landing five clean triple jumps in the free to finish fourth with a score of 163.24. Her score fell short of her performance at Skate America, but this was following an ankle injury.

Overall, Park delivered solid programs that made her the only Asian in the top five at Skate America, the first major competition since the Sochi Games.

Park So-youn competes in the ladies short program at the Skate America event on Oct. 25. / AP-Yonhap

“I’m pleased to have earned over 170 points in the first major event this season,” Park had said after the Skate America event. “I’m looking now to improve and deliver stronger performances.”

Having just missed the podium at both events, Park’s aims for future competitions will be to medal. This appears reasonable as her score at Skate America was only 8.95 points short of U.S. skater Gracie Gold’s. At the Rostelecom Cup event, Park’s total was only 2.64 points behind that of Mirai Nagasu of the U.S.

“Skaters like Park need to perform to perfection for better results,” figure skating coach Oh Ji-yeon said. “It’s a shame. Because Korea is not a powerhouse in the sport, judges need to see absolute perfection in our athletes for scores to go up. Park’s score was low compared to the caliber of her performance.”

Kim Hae-jin and Kim Jin-seo together took to the ice at the Cup of China event early November.

Kim Hae-jin, 17, racked up a TES of 44.98 in the free skate, 0.68 points more than silver-medalist Yulia Lipnitskaya of Russia, who received a TES of 44.30. Kim finished eighth in the Cup of China event and ninth in the Skate Canada event.

Kim Jin-seo finished ninth in the Cup of China event, with 121.00 points in the free and 62.46 points in the short for a combined score of 183.46. This came as a disappointment, as Kim Jin-seo had earned 200 points or more in a series of recent competitions. But Kim has become the first male figure skater to make his senior Grand Prix debut, and experts agree that should he work on his quadruple jumps, the 17-year-old will bring with him a new age of hope and potential.

The Korean ice-dancing team of Rebeka Kim and Kirill Minov finished last at both the Trophee Eric Bompard and Rostelecom Cup events, but at the ISU Challenger Volvo Open Cup, finished third with 132.86 points. At the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Kim and Minov placed sixth.

“Our athletes are fine skaters and they are showing great promise,” Oh said. “But because we don’t give the scores, we suffer disadvantages. Countries like Russia and Japan don’t like that other countries are giving birth to great skaters like Kim Yu-na. Korean skaters are technically very skilled.”

Park, Kim Hae-jin and Kim Jin-seo are to appear in the 2015 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships to take place at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul from Feb. 12 through 15.

“This will present a great chance for Korean skaters to shine, with European skaters absent and the competition taking place on home ice,” Oh said.

Follow Kwon Ji-youn on Twitter @jennajykwon