Living the PyeongChang Dream: Korean skaters strive toward 2018

[oubik]

ISU's ice dance training seminar is going to be held at the national training center on Aug 14-20. Fifty one skaters + coaches in total from ten countries (including Japan, China, Austria and Uzbekistan) are going to participate in the seminar. Maurizio Margaglio will be one of the instructors.
http://sports.mk.co.kr/view.php?no=572779&year=2016

It would be great if you can find and share list of participating teams.

 

[Sylvia]

2 U.S. figure skaters apply for S. Korean citizenship ahead of PyeongChang Winter Games: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160829001023

Two American figure skaters have applied for South Korean citizenship with an eye on competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics here, officials said Monday.
The Korea Skating Union said Alexander Gamelin, an ice dance partner for South Korean Min Yu-ra, and Themistocles Lefttheris, a pairs partner for South Korea's Ji Min-ji, have submitted their applications for fast-track naturalization to the Korean Olympic Committee.
...
According to the KSU, both Americans embraced the idea of obtaining South Korean passports for the Olympics. The review of their applications is expected to be completed sometime in September.

Ji & Leftheris have yet to compete internationally for Korea, IIRC? They are scheduled to compete together for Korea at Lombardia Trophy next month in Italy.

A similar article published back in April mentioned that Gamelin and Russian ice dancer Kirill Minov (who skates with Rebeka Kim) were applying for Korean citizenship.

 

[Seerek]

For some comparison with other Winter Olympic sports on the road to Pyeongchang, two Russian-born Korean naturalized citizens (this past April) have already started to compete for South Korea in biathlon.

A couple Canadian born ice hockey players received Korean citizenship in April as well.

 

[Seerek]

Jun Hwan Cha freeskate, JGP Yokohama (1st place overall)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSqlhIN9PW0

Um, yeah, not bad for a Junior Grand Prix debut

My post from back in Jan 2015 (in this thread) is starting to take shape...

I think the key item to point out would be that Cha would then just make Olympic age eligibility for 2018. The dynamics of the selection process should South Korea have only 1 male singles entrant will be very interesting.

It's likely Jin Seo Kim and Hyeon Jung Lee will be going back and forth as #1 for the next three seasons only to have Cha potentially sneak in the Olympic year and nab the Olympic spot away in his first year of senior eligibility.

 

[Marco]

Cha is amazing. Love him.

 

[s_parks]

I agree, Cha will most likely take that olympic spot. I guess this is the year that he finally wins the national title, unless he gets ill again.

 

[s_parks]

Cha heads to the finals with two golds, first since yuna kim. Congrats! He'll also be at the ranking competition next week(gee, rough schedule, especially for the skaters assigned to SA), which determines 4cc/asian winter games/universiade teams, and the national team for the following year.

 

[Seerek]

Oops wrong thread

 

[mgobluegirl]

Congrats to Eunsoo Lim for being the only non-Russian or Japanese ladies skater to medal on the JGP this year (bronze this weekend in Germany).

 

[Sylvia]

Update on the topic of expedited Korean citizenship (for Alexander Gamelin and Themi Leftheris, among others) is posted in this GSD thread: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/ind...athletes-ahead-of-pyeongchang-olympics.99826/

Senior national ladies champ Young YOU, 12, recently attempted a quad salchow in her free skate: http://english.donga.com/List/3/06/26/776731/1

At the "18th national promising young male and female figure skating championship" held at Taeneung Ice Rink in Seoul on Sunday, Yoo tried a quadruple (4 spins) salco as her first jump in the elementary student free skating competition.
Yoo saw her grade of execution (GOE) score fall by as much as 1.93 points because she had a two-foot landing, with the number of her spins also lacking, but it was the first time that a Korean female skater tried a quadruple jump in an official figure skating championship.

Practicing 4S; her FS begins ~2:45 with 4S attempt first (Nov. 6, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz2fXvXoEEA

 

[Marco]

15 months before PC, who are the front-runners for the ladies team there? There's Da Bin Choi, So Youn Park and Na Hyun Kim. Who else?

Korea is down to 1 spot for Worlds this season - who will go? do you think she will be able to regain the second spot?

 

[DDNatalia]

The recent news on citizenship request approvals sounds quite hopeful for several skaters hoping to be help represent the host nation team at the Olympics. That will make for some very special opportunities, and hopefully give the home team a full contingent to root for (assuming the host nation is given a bye/entry into the Team event). Can anyone confirm if this is true?

 

[seabm7]

Can anyone confirm if this is true?

The news on the citizenship applications has been there for at least a couple of months already. The news is official. Two Americans applied. We were expecting a Russian would also apply, but didn't happen. He got an injury and out of the current GP circuit.

The outcome of the applications will depend on the decision by the government. They will consider there is enough merit for the endowment.

 

[kwanfan1818]

(assuming the host nation is given a bye/entry into the Team event). Can anyone confirm if this is true?

No, because the announcement for the team event qualification hasn't been published yet.

 

[Sylvia]

Hiro Yoshida's article for IFS - Themi "Leftheris looks to fulfill Olympic Dream" [with Min-ji Ji]: https://www.ifsmagazine.com/leftheris-looks-to-fulfill-olympic-dream/
Excerpts:

Themistocles Leftheris had long given up on his ambition to compete at an Olympic Winter Games until an encounter with Min-ji Ji, a young skater from the Republic of Korea, presented him with one last chance to fulfill that dream.
...
Ji was not only new to pairs — she had only taken up the sport at age 12. She was already landing triple toe loops and Salchows when she teamed up with Leftheris in 2015. “We had a try-out knowing that she had only been skating that long,” Leftheris said of his now 17-year-old partner. “The way she picked up pairs so fast, I think we were all kind of like, ‘Alright, let’s do this.’ That’s when we officially started training, and getting prepared for Korean nationals last season.”

With the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang rapidly approaching, Leftheris will need to obtain South Korean citizenship if he is going to compete with Ji in her home country in February 2018. “We’ve kind of been learning as we go. I was told that I needed to start learning Korean, which I had chosen to do on my own, but it hasn’t been the easiest to pick up that language quickly,” Leftheris said. “I know that there are certain questions that are going to be asked, but I know the Korea Skating Union (KSU) is really backing me and the U.S. ice dancer [Alex Gamelin] as well who is trying to get citizenship to compete for Korea.

Ji/Leftheris are competing at Golden Spin of Zagreb this week to try and get the FS minimum tech. score for 2017 Worlds (they have the SP already).
---
In Marseille, Ted Barton interviewed Jun Hwan Cha (KOR) & Brian Orser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkbNVxbfwAE

Jun Hwan Cha article (he turned 15 in October): http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/12/06/34/0200000000AEN20161206001800315F.html
Excerpt:

And it was also in Japan that Cha successfully landed a quadruple salchow, making him the first Korean male skater to land a quadruple jump in competition in 12 years.
While training in Toronto with renowned coach Brian Orser, Cha said he's growing more confident in his quadruple jump by the day.
"At the Grand Prix Final, I'll stick to the same programs that I had during the Grand Prix season," Cha said. "I can land the quadruple salchow about 90 percent of the time, though it depends on how I feel on the particular day."
Cha said his injured right ankle and hip, which had bothered him all season, have improved a great deal. The teenager has also been dealing with a growth spurt, which recently forced him to change his skates, but Cha said he's had plenty of time to adjust.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Ji/Leftheris made the Worlds TES FS minimum for Worlds at Golden Spin today: congratulations to them!

There are now three teams from Korea with 4C's minimums, and Kim/Kim are 1.38 TES points in the SP from qualifying for the Worlds TES minimums.

 

[Jeschke]

as reported by @morqet in the #teamtrainwreck thread, unfortunately so-youn park has fractured her ankle and will be out of nationals (january) and universiade (early february).

fingers crossed she gets well soon, maybe we cna hope for 4cc's on home soil mid-february, but i think this not likey

 

[shah]

as reported by @morqet in the #teamtrainwreck thread, unfortunately so-youn park has fractured her ankle and will be out of nationals (january) and universiade (early february).

fingers crossed she gets well soon, maybe we cna hope for 4cc's on home soil mid-february, but i think this not likey

 

[breathesgelatin]

Eek. Really poor timing for poor So-youn.

With So-youn out, Na-hyun Kim has the top score in the 2016-17 SB list... Guess it'll be between her and Da-bin? Only one spot for Korean ladies at 2017 Worlds...

 

[Dobre]

With So-youn out, Na-hyun Kim has the top score in the 2016-17 SB list... Guess it'll be between her and Da-bin?

Probably. Though last year Korea chose their spots specifically based on Nationals placements only. The top age-eligible athletes went. And there were a LOT of ladies at Korean Nationals. So if it is the same, then we wait & see.

 

[Dobre]

Korean Nationals are this weekend. (The 6th-8th).

Fifty junior ladies. That's a looong competition!

 

[shady82]

I really hope So-youn gets assigned to 4CCs (so she can attend if she's healthy). She really is the only skater who has a good chance at getting Korea 2 spots for PC. Kim and Choi are stretches for doing so even when they skate two good programs.

 

[Lara]

Korean Nationals are this weekend. (The 6th-8th).

Fifty junior ladies. That's a looong competition!

But it'll be exciting to see how the Yuna-inspired skaters turn out. Pyeongchang is too soon for home soil success, but hopefully it'll help keep development momentum.

Sad to hear about Park, that is unfortunate timing.

 

[Dobre]

I really hope So-youn gets assigned to 4CCs (so she can attend if she's healthy). She really is the only skater who has a good chance at getting Korea 2 spots for PC. Kim and Choi are stretches for doing so even when they skate two good programs.

I believe Korean Nationals is the decider for Worlds. According to a poster at GS, So-youn can't qualify for Worlds if she doesn't attend. The poster thought she had not done enough for an exception. So-youn was only 5th at their Nationals last year, and she was only the second place Korean lady at Worlds. She does have the higher SB and did have an 8th & 5th on the GP, which is higher than Da-bin's 9th & 7th. But just a heads-up not to count on 4CCs results to impact the decision. Min & Gamelin finished four spots ahead of Kim & Minov at 4CCs last season, but Kim & Minov went to Worlds as Korean National champions.

 

[Bellanca]

Thank you for the updates.

Very good to see continued support for South Korea and their skating program especially as we head toward the Olympic Games.

 

[DDNatalia]

Korean Nationals are this weekend. (The 6th-8th).

Fifty junior ladies. That's a looong competition!

They must not have a qualifying system that narrows the field. That's a LOONG time to be judging too. I would think skate order for an ordeal, I mean event, like that likely matters.

 

[Dobre]

They must not have a qualifying system that narrows the field. That's a LOONG time to be judging too. I would think skate order for an ordeal, I mean event, like that likely matters.

Well, Korea only has 2 dance teams this year, 3 pairs teams, 8 senior men, and 8 junior men.

Then 35 senior ladies (ages 12 and up, provided you've passed the required tests).
And 50 junior ladies.

 

[Jeschke]

So-Youn

 

[Sylvia]

She'll be too young for PyeongChang, but here's a 4-minute feature on Young YOU (part of the Olympic Channel's "Heroes of the Future" series on YT, uploaded on November 5, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zXZdJZNvw8

ETA: You will be 13 in May and old enough for the JGP/ISU Junior events in 2017-18.

 

[Sylvia]

I searched online and found this Korean news article, published on Dec. 19, about So Youn Park's unfortunate ankle injury/surgery that has forced her withdrawal from Nationals and the Winter Universiade: http://sports.naver.com/general/news/read.nhn?oid=076&aid=0003028859
(Google translation)

This So Youn Park feature (includes a video profile/interview & photos) was published not long afterwards: http://post.naver.com/viewer/postView.nhn?volumeNo=5932339&memberNo=21566301

Korean Nationals usually determines Worlds and Junior Worlds assignments. Did the annual KSU President Cup Ranking Competition (I believe it took place this season in October 2016?) already decide the 2017 Four Continents team? Winter Universiade?