Preteen skater You may make national team yet

You Young competes in the ladies senior free skating competition at this year’s Korea Figure Skating Championship held at Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap

KSU to decide on supportive steps Tuesday

By Kwon Ji-youn

The Korea Skating Union (KSU) will decide on Tuesday whether to allow promising figure skater You Young, 11, to represent Korea at international events.

You won this year’s national figure skating championship on Sunday, replacing legendary skater Kim Yu-na as Korea’s youngest-ever figure skating ladies champion. Kim won her first national championship at the age of 12.

Even so, You was discharged from the national team because of a modified KSU directive that stipulates that all members of the national junior team should be 13 or older, and members of the national senior team 15 or older.

The rules were changed last July because only skaters 13 or older are eligible to compete at International Skating Union (ISU) events.

As You is no longer a member of the national team, she won’t be able to train at the Taereung National Center, nor will she receive national team member benefits.

This only goes to prove that not much has changed since 10 years ago, when Kim, despite her extraordinary feats, was forced to wander from rink to rink in search of a reasonable training venue.

“It is unfortunate that my daughter will no longer benefit from the support that national team members receive, including massages and the freedom to train at Taereung,” You’s mother told reporters Monday at the Gwacheon ice rink.

You, more than anything, needs a rink at which she can train without restraint. She currently trains at the skating rink of the Gwacheon Sports Complex late at night or early in the morning with some 10 other skaters, increasing the risk of injury and disrupting her biorhythm.

The KSU met on Wednesday to fix the list of skaters who will compete at international events this year. There, they also came up with a set of measures aimed at supporting You.

The final decision regarding You will be made at a directors’ meeting on Jan. 19, according to a KSU official. “We’re expecting good results as KSU President Kim Jae-youl is sympathetic with You,” the official said.

This is in sharp contrast to a prompt KSU decision made earlier this week that refused to give speed skater Lee Sang-hwa “special treatment” when she lost her national team eligibility after sitting out a national competition.

Lee, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, claimed she had been unaware of the modified KSU rule that requires national team members to compete in domestic competitions to maintain eligibility. The KSU argued that it had informed her coach and her agency several times of the changed rule that will sideline Lee at the fifth World Cup event in Stavanger, Norway, on Jan. 29-31.

“It is unfortunate that skater Lee will not be able to take part in the fifth World Cup event,” the KSU said in a statement. “But rules must apply fairly to all athletes.”

Lee will nonetheless join the national team at the training camp to regain her form.