You, Kim in top 10 after strong short program performances

Olympic Sports

Published: 16 Feb. 2022, 00:13 Updated: 16 Feb. 2022, 00:15

You, Kim in top 10 after strong short program performances

You Young competes in the women's figure skating short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Tuesday at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. [AP/YONHAP]

You Young and Kim Ye-lim both landed within the top 10 as the women's figure skating competition at the 2022 Beijing Olympics began with the short program at Capital Indoor Stadium on Tuesday evening.

You received an element score of 36.80 points and a component score of 33.54 points for a total of 70.34 points to take sixth place, while Kim received an element score of 35.27 points and component score of 32.51 for a total of 67.78 points and ninth place.

Kim Ye-lim competes in the women's figure skating short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Tuesday at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. [AP/YONHAP]

Kim came on the ice in group three, performing to "Liebestraum" by Franz Liszt, a piece that Korean figure skating legend Kim Yuna recommended to the 19-year-old skater.

Despite it being her first time on the big stage, Kim had a clean run starting out with a triple lutz triple toe loop then followed up with a double axel and a triple flip rounding off her two minutes and 40 seconds with a beautiful step sequence and sit spin.

Kim briefly took first place until the next contender took the lead.

“I was nervous as this was the Olympic Games,” said Kim after her performance on Tuesday. “Although I didn’t make any big mistakes, I think I didn’t get full points for my last jump because it was slightly under rotated. I want to be able to make up for those points in my free skate program."

Kim had been in good form ahead of the Games, winning Korea’s second-ever silver medal at the ISU Four Continents Championships 2022 in Tallinn, Estonia this January.

“I started skating after watching Kim Yuna’s performance at the Vancouver Games,” said Kim. “And ever since, the Olympics has been my dream. Just being here, I feel like that part of my dream came true.”

You Young performs a split jump in the women's figure skating short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Tuesday at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. [AP/YONHAP]

You came on the ice in the fifth group, immediately after Russian skater Kamila Valieva who became one of the most recognizable athletes in Beijing after testing positive for a banned substance ahead of the Games.

You performed to "Whirling Winds" by Ludovico Einaudi, starting off her program with a triple axel that was downgraded by the technical panel, judging that the jump was under-rotated by more than one-fourth of a rotation.

The triple axel is a three-and-a-half rotation jump and is one of the most feared and famed jumps in women’s figure skating.

However, You racked up the points over the rest of the routine with a triple lutz triple toeloop combination and a triple flip. Despite wavering slightly landing the triple flip, You was able to round off her first performance with a clean run.

“I am grateful that I didn’t have any big mistakes today,” said You after her performance. “I slid a bit landing my last jump but I am still grateful.”

You Young performs an Ina Bauer in the women's figure skating short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Tuesday at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. [AP/YONHAP]

You entered the Olympics as the top-ranked Korean skater at world No. 3. If she had successfully landed the triple axel, she would have become the first-ever Korean female skater and fourth-ever female skater to land a triple axel at the Games.

You has actually been landing the elusive jump since October 2019, when she became the first-ever Korean female skater to landing a ratified triple axel at the Skate Canada Grand Prix event.

You and Kim are aiming for a top-10 finish at the Beijing Games. If the pair can both match their Tuesday's performances in the women’s free skate scheduled on Thursday evening, that goal ought to be very achievable.

Normally, only the top 24 skaters advance to the free skate, but with Valieva taking the top position in the short program, 25 skaters will go on to compete in the next segment.

With the Russian skater cleared to compete by the Court of Arbitration for Sport but no decision yet reached on whether she is allowed to medal or not, the International Olympic Committee has announced that if Valieva finishes among the top three in the women's competition, no medals will be awarded.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]