Gangwon 2024: All's well that ends well - Republic of Korea take home figure skating team gold
Winter Youth Olympic Games hosts hold off USA by one point for first place as six-day competition comes to an end. Canada captured bronze.
Figure Skating
The Republic of Korea won the figure skating team event at the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Gangwon 2024 to close out six days of competition at Gangneung Ice Arena on Thursday (1 February).
On the final day of the entire Games, the hosts finished top of the table with 13 points, Kim Hyungyeom (136.38) and Shin Jia (137.48) topping the scoring in the men's and women's skates, respectively.
Ice dancers Kim Jinny/Lee Namu added to the tally by placing third as Team Korea edged USA by one point for the gold medal.
“It was my first time competing in a team event and I was really happy to enjoy it,” said Shin, who was runner-up to Japan’s Shimada Mao in the singles.
“I was a bit nervous, but I’m so relieved now to have a good result. It’s fortunate I had a good performance in front of the home crowd. I feel so happy we got this gold medal together.
“The women’s free skate was the last category so I was nervous when I entered the ice, but I thought I could enjoy the moment more than in the individual event.”
Canada won bronze with nine points. The People’s Republic of China just missed the podium, finishing fourth on eight points, and France ended up at the bottom with seven.
USA were the most consistent across the board, finishing second in all four disciplines of the free skate - but only the three best scores count.
With Kim Hyungyeom and Shin adding to their individual medals, the Koreans got the leg up on the Americans despite participating in only three disciplines.
But Kim - who also won a singles gold here - credited his dancers for giving his side the edge in the end.
“It was a new experience for me. It has a different kind of pressure but I enjoyed it,” said Kim, whose next competition will be the senior World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal in March.
“Only the three highest points counted and we managed to win because we did as well as we could in the three categories. Jinny and Namu were under pressure, but they found a way to overcome it.”