Lausanne, Switzerland, January 13, 2020: Korea’s You Young produced a magical performance to win the gold medal in ladies’ singles figure skating at the Winter Youth Olympic Games on Monday.
The Korean teen was leading the field after the short programme on Saturday and was in no mood to relinquish her advantage as she produced a clean routine to score 140.49 points for a combined total of 214.
Her closest competitors, from Russia, were undone by errors in their respective routines. Kseniia Sinitsyna scored 128.26 points to maintain her second place from the short programme and take silver and her compatriot Anna Frolova’s fourth place was enough for her to secure the bronze overall.
As the last to take to the ice, You said she knew all eyes were on her.
“I was honestly kind of nervous before my skate,” she said at the Lausanne Skating Arena.
“But I tried to keep thinking that this is just a practice, not a competition, and I think that helped me.”
The 15-year-old You opened her routine with one of the most powerful weapons in her arsenal, the triple axel. There was no turning back from this high point, and she went on to produce a sparkling performance.
You had arrived in Lausanne just days after competing in the Korean national championships, where she won her fourth national title.
“I think I did pretty good here even without getting to rest. I’m happy with the result today and I’m very thankful that my fans keep watching me and cheering me on,” she said.
For someone who spent several years growing up in Singapore and was there when the city hosted the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, this seemed like a victory that had come full circle.
You now has her sights set on the big stage when Beijing hosts the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. “My plan is to land a quad in Beijing if I can, and I want to do a clean programme there,” she said.