A professional South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na returned to the big sport with triumph. On the 9th of December, she won the NRW Trophy, securing her victory with the best total score of the season. Kim managed to overcome one fall and end her sabbatical (it lasted 19 months) with 201.6 points. This figure includes 72.27 points she got on the 8th of December, having shown the best short program of the season. As a result, a 22-year-old Kim Yu-na secured her allowance to the world championships of the next year. Although Kim needed only 28 points from the short and 48 points from the free skate program to be accepted to London, Ontario, she did her best. The skater is happy that she reached her goal. “I made a serious mistake,” she said, “but I did my best and persevered to the end. I am very satisfied with the result.”
Meanwhile, Xenia Makarova of Russia was second (159.01 points), and Viktoria Helgesson of Sweden was third (158.93 points). Japan’s Mao Osada won the Grand Prix Final in Russia’s Sochi on the 8th of December. Currently, she has the second best result of the season and is the main rival to Kim Yu-na. To note, Kim Yu-na holds world records in the free skate (150.06), short program (78.50), and combined total (228.56). Her record is unbeaten since the Vancouver Winter Games of 2010.
Kim Yu-na has not taken part in skating competitions since April 2011 when the world championships in Moscow came to end. The interest to Kim’s skating was unprecedented. The demand for tickets was high, and the 200-capacity venue where the NRW Trophy took place sold out all tickets in two hours. The security was also invited to the event (first time in six years). Kim showed her routine to music from “Les Miserables.” Her performance was full of fearless jumps and soft landings. Despite a serious mistake she made on a double toe, she earned 99.46 points more than Makarova. Kim said that she was caught unawares by “failed” jump. “I thought it was very easy,” she claims, “but I was mistaken.”
Kim assures that she will focus on mistakes. She is said to be participating in skating competitions until the Sochi 2014 Games, after which she will retire. Currently, she is aiming at the Korean national championship. “I have already started preparing for the Olympics 2014,” she says. To note, Kim is trained by her childhood coaches – Ryu Jong-hyun and Shin Hye-sook. Although she has parted with her American coach, Peter Oppegard, she is still working with Canadian choreographer David Wilson.
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