Lausanne, Switzerland, January 29, 2020: The International Olympic Committee has identified the breakout stars of the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne – and Asia dominates the list.
The Winter YOG was held from January 9-22 in the Olympic capital and Asia’s big three sports super powers – Japan, Korea and China – excelled against the best of the rest from the traditional winter sports strongholds of Europe and North America.
The IOC’s Top 10 Highlights include these six from Asia, in order:
1: You Young (Korea), who won the women’s figure skating gold medal as she attempts to follow in the footsteps of her idol, the legend Kim Yu-na. Aged just 15, You has already won the Korean national championship four times – the first when she was just 11.
2: Yuma Kagiyama (Japan). Plenty was also expected from Japan's latest prodigious figure skating talent and he delivered in style with a dazzling free skate to propel himself to the top of the podium after finishing third in the short programme.
3: Eileen Gu Ailing (China). Fresh off the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week, Gu, 16, showed the world that she can bring the style to the freestlye ski slopes too. With gold in women's halfpipe, gold in Big Air and silver in slopestyle, Beijing-born Gu proved that she's a star in the making.
4: Ice hockey stars of tomorrow. The Japanese women, many of whom were just 14, stunned favourites and two-time Winter YOG champions Sweden 4-1 in the final to suggest a new world order at the Winter Olympics. The IOC selected Makoto Ito as the shining star in the Japanese team.
5: The Japanese were unstoppable in snowboard. Mitsuki Ono and Manon Kaji romped to a 1-2 finish in the women's halfpipe and Ruka Hirano and Kaishu Hirano (no relation) matched them in the men’s event. Ryoma Kimata and Aoto Kawakami won men's gold and silver in Big Air before Hinari Asanuma topped the women's podium.
8: Korea blew the opposition away in short track speed skating. Seo Whi-min sped to a golden double in the women’s 500m and 1,000m, while Jang Sung-woo (1,000m gold) and Lee Jeong-min (500m gold) dominated the men's races.
Source: www.olympic.org