Yoo Young becomes the youngest figure skating champion

Yoo Young, a 12-year-old figure skater, has won the Korean championship at an age younger than Kim Yu-na, the double Olympic champion.

Yoo topped the women’s single at the 70th figure skating championship in Seoul with a total score of 183.75 points on Sunday. She led the pack in the short program with 61.09 points, and garnered 122.66 points -- 68.53 points in technical elements score (TES) and 54.13 points in program components score (PCS) – to become the top in the free skating program.

The fifth grader, who is 11 years and eight months old, has become the youngest figure skater who won the championship, breaking the record set by Kim Yu-na who was 12 years and six months old then. She set a record as the youngest skater (10 years and seven months) in all events by becoming a national athlete in 2014. As she is younger than the minimum age required by the International Skating Union (ISU), however, she cannot participate in the World Figure Skating Championships (at least 15 years old) as well as the World Junior Figure Skating Championships (at least 13 years old) yet.

“I repeatedly watched Kim Yu-na’s video clips and tried to learn from her,” Yoo, who is 143 centimeters tall and weighs 31 kilograms, said. “My biggest goal now is to make a successful triple axel.”

kini@donga.com