‘Triple Axel Twin Sisters’ are here… Korean junior figures with ‘both wings’
The future of figure skating in South Korea is looking bright after a “breakout season” in the 2022-2023 season. In the first round of the Junior Grand Prix, the first major competition of the season, twin sisters, born on the same day in the same year, both performed the challenging triple axel.
Kim Yoo-sung (14, Pyeongchon) earned a combined score of 126.88 points in the women’s single free skate with a technical score of 69.03 and a performance score of 57.85 at the first round of the International Ice Skating Union (ISU) Figure Skating Junior Grand Prix for the 2023-2024 season on Friday in Bangkok, Thailand.
With a total score of 189.92, combined with her short program score of 63.04 the previous day, Kim took the silver medal behind Ami Nakai (JPN), who won with 190.65 points.
Kim made her ISU Junior Grand Prix debut this season. In his debut at an ISU major, he landed a triple axel in the free skate.
Yoo Young (19) was the first Korean female figure skater to successfully perform the technique in an official competition. The second was her fraternal twin sister, Kim Yoo-jae (14, Pyeongchonjung).
Kim executed a triple axel in the free skate at the first ISU Junior Grand Prix in Courchevel, France, on Aug. 27 last year.
A year later, her younger brother, Kim Yoo-sung, who was born six minutes later, also landed a clean triple axel in the first competition of the Junior Grand Prix. On the other hand, Ami Nakai (JPN), the women’s singles winner of the event, faltered in her free skate. After making mistakes on several jumps, Nakai scored a high Program Component Score (PCS) to take the title.
Kim missed out on gold by just 0.73 points. Despite the disappointment, Kim still managed to take home the silver medal in her Junior Grand Prix debut. Her free skate score of 126.88 is the highest free score in Korean history for a debutant at a Junior Grand Prix.
Kim also landed a triple axel at the Junior Grand Prix qualification last month. However, she fell on another jump and had to settle for fourth place in the women’s singles at the qualifier.
After earning two Junior Grand Prix qualification slots, Kim Yoo-seong took on the first event. Nakai is a ‘junior powerhouse’ who won a bronze medal in the women’s singles at the Junior World Championships, which concluded in March.
Heading into this event, the debutant would need to land a triple axel and skate both her short program and free skate without any major mistakes to make it to the medal round.
With a bold performance in her debut, Kim made it to the podium, just as her older sister did a year earlier.
The twins have been competing since the fourth grade. Kim Yoo-jae, who made her Junior Grand Prix debut a year earlier and was the first to wear the Taekwondo mark, seemed to be a step ahead, but technically there was not much difference between them. They practiced the same triple axel in practice and their other jumps were similar.
Only competing in the Junior Grand Prix for the first time this year, Kim Yoo-sung was just as good as Kim Yoo-jae. In the free skate, he not only landed a clean triple axel, but also earned the highest possible level 4 in all three spin elements.
He has the technical makeup to contend for a medal on the international stage. However, he has some work to do on his triple lutzes, which included an attachment (with a !) and a long edge (with an e). 바카라
Kim showed promise at this year’s Junior World Championships, finishing fourth. Add to that her taiyaki look-alike sister, Kim Yoo-sung, and the Korean junior women’s singles team has a wing on each shoulder.
Kim will compete in the third edition of the Junior Grand Prix, which kicks off next month on June 6 in Istanbul, Turkey. After winning a silver medal at the first edition of the event, Kim will go for a second consecutive medal at the fifth edition in Budapest, Hungary, on March 20.