Kim Yu-na Books Final Warm-up for Sochi in January

Kim Yu-na Books Final Warm-up for Sochi in January

 Dec. 17, 2013 10:34 KST

 

 Kim Yu-na

Figure skater Kim Yu-na will compete at the national championships, which run from Jan. 3-5 at an ice rink in Gyeonggi Province. The Korea Skating Union confirmed on Monday that Kim, the reigning Olympic and world champion, submitted an application last weekend.

Kim won her first competition of the season early this month at the Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia, where she unveiled her Olympic season programs.

While skating to "Send in the Clowns" for her short program and "Adios Nonino" for her free program, she made a couple of mistakes with her jumps in each but still won the event with a score of 204.49 points.

Kim did not originally plan to attend the nationals but changed her mind in order to polish her new routines ahead of the Sochi Winter Games in Russia in February.

The Winter Games kick off on Feb. 7 and the ladies' singles will begin on Feb. 19, giving Kim about a month to prepare after the nationals.

This will also be the last time her fans can watch her skate professionally at home as Kim plans to retire after the Olympics, a turn of events that is likely to ramp up demand for seats. Last year, tickets for the nationals sold out online within minutes of being made available.

Mao Asada, who achieved her personal best this season of 207.59 points at the NHK Trophy, will also take part in the Japanese nationals, which serve as tryouts for the Olympics.

Asada has already secured a spot at the Olympics by winning two International Skating Union Grand Prix series events and the Grand Prix Final. The two remaining berths will be fought over by Akiko Suzuki, Kanako Murakami, Miki Ando and Satoko Miyahara.

 

Source: english.chosun.com

 

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