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Post by HappyFan on Mar 23, 2023 16:51:34 GMT
Korean figure skating has never come close to rising to the level it was at when Yuna Kim ruled the world a decade ago, but they still do well enough to qualify three Sisters for most big skating events. Haein Lee accomplished something no Korean since Yuna has done: she won the Four Continents gold medal a few weeks ago. linkThis week is the World Championships, and she got out to a great start, still riding the high of her recent win. She finished second in the short program, scoring a career high in the process. She's a bit behind the defending champion from Japan, but she has a real chance to get the first World Championship placing since Yuna Kim retired.   Haein with her short program silver medal; they give out "mini-medals" for finishes in each discipline.  The event is in Japan, by the way, and the third place skater is also Japanese, so it will be a tough task to come away with a medal. And in case anyone is wondering, it looks like the Russians have been banned from competing, although if for cheating, politics or whatever I don't know. Free program is on Friday. Good luck to her! |
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Post by HappyFan on Mar 24, 2023 16:34:34 GMT
Spoilers! Haein Lee, 17, had a fantastic final free skate! In fact, it was not only her personal best, she also WON free skate. But the Japanese defending world champion Kaori Sakamoto had enough of a lead from the short program that she was able to hang on and get the gold. Still, it was a SILVER for Haein Lee, the first time in ten years that a Korean has medaled at worlds. link      As if that weren't enough, another Korean, Chaeyeon Kim, all of 16 years old, finished third in the free skate and 6th overall. Fantastic week for the Sisters on ice! |
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Post by HappyFan on Mar 24, 2023 16:36:54 GMT
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Post by HappyFan on Mar 25, 2023 19:26:07 GMT
SPOILERS It's been a great week for the Koreans. First Haein Lee won the silver; now male skater Junhwan Cha became the first Korean male skater to ever win a medal; he won the silver, too! Congrats to him!   |
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Post by HappyFan on Mar 26, 2023 16:56:24 GMT
I hope Ms. Lee is ready for what's going to hit her when she gets back to Korea. I have a feeling she is going to be a big star going forward. Meanwhile, she took a bite out of the gala performance. linkBy the way, I watched the broadcast on NBC last night. Sakamoto was darn lucky she held on to the gold. She singled a triple jump, and after the performance, she could barely keep in the tears. You can tell she felt like she had blown it; she was genuinely upset. But the judges gave her a break and she still won the gold. Meanwhile, Lee absolutely went for it, and it got better as it went on. She deservedly won the free skate, but the American commentators were weirdly ho hum when she was on, even though, right before her skate, they had openly wished for anyone to actually go out and skate a great routine, 'someone who looks like they want to win' (there had been a number of subpar skates before that). Meanwhile, they couldn't shut up about the American who had had one of those subpar skates and who finished out of the medals. |
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Post by HappyFan on Mar 27, 2023 13:14:18 GMT
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Post by HappyFan on Mar 29, 2023 15:10:50 GMT
Yuna's kids?
At the end of the 2023 season (which ended with the World Championship), there are now three Koreans ranked in the top ten in the world women's figure skating rankings:
4 Haein Lee
6 Ye Lim Kim
9 You Young
Plus the silver medal at junior Worlds also went to a Korean, Ji A Shin.
Besides the silver at Worlds, Lee also won the Four Continents, one of the big events. Ye Lim Kim notched a win at the NHK Trophy, beating Sakamoto in front of her home crowd, and becoming the first Korean since Yuna in 2009 to win a Grand Prix event (this was shortly before 4 Continents). She also finished second to Lee at 4 Continents.
At the later South Korean Championship, Kim finished narrowly second to the junior champ Ji A Shin.
It took a while, but the legacy of Queen Yuna is finally taking hold!
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Post by HappyFan on Apr 13, 2023 19:24:54 GMT
There is apparently also a World Team Figure Skating Championship and it is going on this week. After the short program, Team Korea is in the lead, Japan second and USA third! Thanks in large part to World Silver Medalist Haein Lee, who kicked butt in the short program and won by a healthy margin. rankingHer skateAfter day 1, the US took the lead with Korea second and Japan third. |
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Post by HappyFan on Apr 14, 2023 17:32:36 GMT
Haein Lee did it again! She won the free skate at teams, and so the overall individual medal, even beating the Japanese skater who beat her at worlds, Sakamoto.  It's really been her year so far! linkNote also Yelim Kim finished third in free skate and fourth overall. Korea Times article |
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Post by HappyFan on Apr 14, 2023 17:37:16 GMT
Haein's free program: link |
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Post by HappyFan on Apr 19, 2023 0:10:09 GMT
Haein Lee practiced the triple axel at Worlds. She didn't need it this year, but expect to see her try it next season! (P.S. Yuna Kim was never able to land that jump. Click to watch Haein NAIL it). linkThe final result: The US won, Korea second and Japan third. It was the first time Korea had ever qualified for this event, so that's a pretty amazing result for them! link |
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Post by HappyFan on Apr 19, 2023 0:23:15 GMT
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