2 Other Korean Figure Skaters Struggle in Vancouver

When Korea’s top figure skater Kim Yu-na set a world record in the women’s short program at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Vancouver, Canada, Thursday, two other Korean competitors could not hide their regret.

Kim Na-young, 19, finished 16th with 43.94 points and burst into tears after her performance. Kim Hyun-jung, 17, who came in 17th with 41.64 points, wore a grim face while wrapping her bleeding finger with tissue.

Kim Na-young made a splash in February last year at the Four Continents in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, by finishing forth with an overall score of 158.49 (53.08 in the short program).

On Thursday, she performed last after Kim Yu-na and Mao Asada of Japan.

Kim Na-young lost her balance in her first jump and touched her hand on the ice in her second. Her following spin and step were also unstable, earning a score far short of her personal high. After her score was announced, she headed to a waiting room but soon broke into tears.

Kim Hyun-jung, who made her debut on the senior tour Thursday, had a long face. She was apparently disappointed by her disappointing performance, partially due to pain in the ligament of her right ankle since last month.

Because of this, she failed to do her best in jumping and steps. She even received low points even for a spin, which is her strength.

After seeing her score, Kim Hyun-jung walked to a joint press area and wrapped her bleeding index finger with a tissue. While trying to pull off a Biellmann spin after a layback spin, she cut the finger on a skate blade.

But what hurt her was not the wound but her disappointing performance. “Whenever I jumped, I felt pain in my ankle. I’m really worried over how well I’ll do in the free skating competition,” she said.

Kim Yu-na will perform last out of 24 competitors in the free skating competition today at around 2:40 p.m. Korean Standard Time. The two other Kims will compete around 12:24 p.m.

In the men’s short program yesterday, Kim Min-seok, 16, finished 19th out of 26 competitors with an overall score of 41.04 to advance to the free skating competition. Patrick Chan of Canada was first with 88.90.

creating@donga.com