Shin Ji-ah (16, Yeongdong Middle School), Korea’s next generation figure skater, won a valuable silver medal at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon Province. In the women’s single free skating competition held at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon Province on Thursday, Shin received 125.35 points (2nd place) including 63.45 points in technical score (TES) and 61.90 points in art score (PCS). Shin, who scored 191.83 points in total including 66.48 points (3rd place) she received in the short program two days ago, won the silver medal.
She is 5.16 points behind “Rival” Mao Shimada (16, Japan), who won the gold medal with 196.99 points on top of short (71.05 points) and free (125.94 points). Takagi Yo (17, Japan), ranking second in short (67.23 points) and fifth in free (115.97 points), won the bronze medal with a total of 183.20 points. Kim Yu-seong (15, Pyeongchon Middle School) ranked fourth in short (63.64 points) and fourth in free (117.89 points), ranking fourth (181.53 points).
Shin Ji-ah is the second Korean female athlete to win a gold medal in the figure skating competition of the 2014 Winter Youth Olympics, following You Young, a gold medalist at the 2020 Lausanne Games. The Korean team has won five gold, six silver, and four bronze medals, ranking sixth overall. While Kim Yu-na, a sports ambassador for the Olympics, and Thomas Bach, chairman of the International Olympic Committee, visited the venue, Shin showed off her elegant performance to the theme of “Hello, Hazel” in the movie “Not About Angels.” She handled jumps easily in addition to her high-quality performance, but it was painful to get an unexpected zero due to lack of rotation in her usual perfect change-foot combination spin. Shimada, who performed afterwards, was judged to have insufficient rotation in the triple axel (three-and-a-half turns) and fell in the quadruple (four turns) jump, making mistakes repeatedly in her long-term technique. 마카오토토도메인
“I looked it up before I warmed up after hearing that Yuna came,” Shin said after the game. “I couldn’t find her because there were a lot of people, but I was very encouraged by her coming.” “I think this competition will nourish my career,” Shin said. “I was very surprised to see a big mistake in spin for the first time. I will be stronger mentally,” Shin said. “After going through the Youth Olympics (two years later), I have a bigger desire for the Milan Olympics.”
In the previous ice dance competition, Kim Ji-ni and Lee Na-moo (Gyeonggi Province Skating Union) narrowly missed a medal. Kim Ji-ni and Lee, who scored 56.58 points in the rhythmic dance on Friday to rank third and expand her dream of winning a medal, received 82.82 points (5th) in the free dance to rank fourth with 139.40 points.