Kim Chae-yeon skates her way to silver at debut Grand Prix

Kim Chae-yeon skates at the ISU Junior Grand Prix on Friday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Figure skater Kim Chae-yeon took home an unexpected silver medal during her debut at the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix on Friday.

Kim competed at the ISU event in Courchevel, France, scoring a personal best in both the free skate and short skate events, with 124.56 points and 66.9 points, respectively, for a combined score of 191.46 points.

This put Kim in second place, behind Isabeau Levito of the United States with 202.35 points, and well ahead of the third place finisher, Kaiya Ruiter of Canada with 179.92 points.

Fellow Korean skaters Ji Seo-yeon and Yun Ah-sun finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Kim, a 15-year-old from Namyangju, Gyeonggi, is the third Korean figure skater to win a medal at her first ISU Junior Grand Prix, following in the footsteps of Olympic champion Kim Yu-na, who won gold in 2004, and Park Yeon-jeong, who won silver in 2019.

BY MALINA FAIRCHILD [malina.fairchild@joongang.co.kr]