15-year-old figure skating sensations aim for next steps
Shin Ji-a eyes big prize next time Seo Min-kyu tries to stay humble
For any junior figure skater, winning a silver medal at three straight world championships would be considered a huge accomplishment.
Make no mistake. Shin Ji-a, the 15-year-old sensation from Korea, is pleased with her third straight silver at the under-19 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei on Friday. But she also believes she is capable of more.
Shin established new personal-best scores in both the short program (73.48 points) and the free skate (138.95 points), finishing second overall with 212.43 points. Shin was 5.93 points back of Mao Shimada of Japan, who had also beaten the Korean for the gold at the 2023 world juniors.
Asked on Monday if she was disappointed that her personal best was not enough for the gold, Shin responded, “At least I won the short program. I think there’s still hope. I want to try even harder and reach an even higher place.”
Shin won a medal at every competition this season, with two gold medals during the International Skating Union Junior Grand Prix season, a silver behind Shimada at the Junior Grand Prix Final in December, and a silver to Shimada again at the Winter Youth Olympics in Korea in January.
“I went into the world juniors with a lot of confidence in myself, because I had done so well at earlier competitions,” Shin told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. “I was able to trust myself. The fact that I set personal bests in both makes me even happier. It’s a huge honor to win a medal at three straight world championships.”
Shimada has the built-in edge over Shin in her free skate because of the higher degree of difficulty. Shimada attempts and often lands a quadruple toe loop, while Shin doesn’t have any quadruple jumps in her program.
Shin said she will discuss her next steps with her coaches, but it is not so cut and dried that she will add a quadruple jump next season.
“If I do attempt a quad jump, I will be able to earn higher scores. But on the other hand, I will put myself at a higher risk of injury,” Shin said. “It’s something we’ll have to think long and hard about.”
Shin was the last to take the ice in the free skate, with Shimada having posted a high score just ahead of her. There are few situations as pressure-packed and nerve-wracking in figure skating — going last with a gold medal on the line when your chief rival has just put up a big number on the board.
“I don’t think I felt any extra pressure because of that situation. I was just a little nervous,” Shin said. “But I think I did the best I could without losing my concentration. I am happy that I was rewarded with a pretty good score.”
Mao has gotten the better of Shin for the last couple of seasons, but Shin feels she will have her chance eventually.
“After finishing first in the short program, I wanted to go for the gold,” Shin said.
“I know I will have more opportunities down the road. I will try to make the most of them and win a gold medal.” (Yonhap) Korean teenager Seo Min-kyu shocked the figure skating world Saturday, winning the men’s singles title at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei in his first appearance.
The 15-year-old became the first Korean man to win a medal of any color at the world juniors, and the first Korean skater, male or female, to win a world junior title since Kim Yu-na won the women’s singles gold medal in 2006.
Seo, who returned from Taipei City on Monday, insisted he won’t let his accomplishment go to his head.
“I am not going to be complacent just because I’ve won this medal,” Seo told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. “I believe that if I stick to my foundation and keep working hard, I will continue to have great results.”
Seo won his breakthrough gold medal with 230.75 points, 1.44 better than Rio Nakata of Japan.
Seo had the best short program score with 80.58 points and had the second-highest free skate score with 150.17 points, 1.54 back of Nakata.
“Before the competition, I figured I’d be happy to finish in the top three,” Seo said. “But after winning the short program, I felt I could win the gold medal with a clean free skate.”
Seo did not have a clean program, though, as he under-rotated a planned triple axel. He still hung on for the narrow win over Nakata.
“I was nervous while waiting for the score because I didn’t have a perfect performance and I wasn’t sure if it would be good enough for the gold,” Seo said. “I will try to address my shortcomings for the next competition.”
Seo said his mistake wasn’t due to any nerves.
“It was so late in the season that I was so exhausted. I just wanted to get this over with and go home as soon as I could,” Seo said with a smile.
He said he will need to sharpen his triple axel. He didn’t initially put the jump in his short program earlier in the season but decided to include it for the world juniors, so that he would give himself a higher base score.
Next up for Seo will be to complete a quadruple jump.
“I will try to improve my strength during the offseason,” he said. “I will also try to find a quadruple jump that I can execute and make sure I can land it successfully.”
Kim Yu-na, the 2010 Olympic champion who added silver at the next Olympics in 2014, inspired a generation of female figure skaters in Korea. But the talent pipeline on the men’s side has been relatively barren, with Cha Jun-hwan, the 2023 world senior silver medalist, being the only one with a decent track record in recent years. Seo has come out of nowhere ready to follow in Cha’s footsteps.
“I still can’t believe I am the first Korean man to win the world junior title,” Seo said. “I am proud of having made history.”
Seo has been following a unique development path. Whereas most figure skaters train in Seoul or spend months at a time working out in a foreign country, Seo has chosen to stay home in Daegu, some 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
“Just because you train in Seoul, it doesn’t mean you’re going to perform well,” Seo said. “I think it’s really up to how hard you work.”
“I will have more opportunities down the road. ”