JULIAN IS AN OLYMPIAN
Becomes first Malaysian figure skater to qualify
REPORTS BY FARAH AZHARIE farahazharie@nst.com.my
JULIAN Yee made waves yesterday when he qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics with a sixth placing at the CS Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany. He became the first Malaysian to qualify for the figure skating event. The 20-yearold, ranked 38th in the world, recorded his personal best score of 220.67points, breaking his previous best of 220 points set last year.
Although his programme wasn’t flawless, Julian was happy with the outcome.
“I think that overall, my performances in both short programme and free skate were quite satisfying.
“There were minor mistakes in the programme but the rest of it was enough to get me the points needed to secure the Olympic spot, I can’t complain at all.”
The 2017 Sea Games gold medallist finished sixth in his short programme with a score of 71.93 points.
But it was the free skate routine that garnered Julian the much needed points (148.74) to finish third and place him in the top seven to qualify for Pyeonchang.
Julian, who was Malaysia’s first representative at the ISU World Championship in 2016, said the competition in Oberstdorf will always have a special place in his heart.
“The competition is definitely a memorable one, I think everything for this competition has fallen in place nicely.
“It was a very tough competition as every competitor is out to do their very best to get the Olympic spots.”
The two-time World Championship finalist and five-time national champion admits he’s got a tough road ahead but is honoured to represent the nation at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
“Leading up to Pyeongchang, I have several other competitions lined up for the season to get some World Ranking points.”
“Training is definitely important and I will be preparing very hard for the Games.”
Belgian’s Jorik Hendrickx finished in first place (253.06), followed by American Alexander Johnson (226.04), Alexander Majorov of Sweden (225.04), Italy’s Matteo Rizzo (223.27), Lee June Hyoung of Korea (222.89), who finished in second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Lady Luck was also shining on Julian’s closest Southeast Asian rival, Michael Christian Martinez of the Philippines, who also qualified despite finishing eighth.
His combined score of 191.74 points placed him behind Ukraine’s Yaroslav Paniot in seventh spot with 208.76 points. He qualified for the Winter Olympics due to Johnson’s prior eligibility to the Games which meant Martinez finished in the top seven.
Julian is the second Malaysian to qualify for the Winter Olympics after 18-year-old Jeffrey Webb.