S. Korea is close to qualifying three entries for women’s figure skating

South Korean female figure skaters are close to qualifying for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Kim Ye-rim and Lee Hae-in competed in the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden, and finished in 5th and 8th place, respectively, on Wednesday.

It was the first World Figure Skating Championships in two years since 2019 because it was cancelled due to COVID-19 last year. The result of the competition determines who goes to the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will be held in February, 2022. The International Skating Union (ISU) grants three entries to a country if it has two or more figure skaters and the combined placement is 13 or less. The country qualifies for two entries if the combined placement is between 14 and 28 or one entry if it is 29 or more.

Kim finished in 5th place with a total score of 73.63 (40.07 in TES and 33.56 in PCS). Lee, who debuted in ISU’s senior event this year, ranked 8th with 68.94 (37.29 in TES and 31.65 in PCS), bringing their combined placement to 13. If it stays at 13 until Saturday when women’s single figure skating events are over, three entries will be given to South Korea.

“I asked Kim Yu-na to recommend a song for the short program,” said Kim after the event. “I tried to show the best performance to the best of my ability because I used the song Yu-na recommended (Liebesträume by Liszt).”


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com