Gangneung, Korea, January 30, 2024: In front of Korean pop star Psy, the man who made “Gangnam Style” a global hit, Japan’s Shimada Mao won the women’s figure skating gold medal at the Winter Youth Olympic Games on Tuesday.
And she did it “Gangwon 2024” style at the Gangneung Ice Arena.
In a tense and thrilling finish to the free skate, the 15-year-old Shimada was awarded the highest score of the afternoon – 125.94 points. On top of her 71.05 points from the short programme two days earlier, this gave her a winning total of 196.99.
Despite an early fall, Shimada was able to hold herself together, hold her nerve and surge past the leader and local hero Shin Jia, whose 125.35 points in the free skate had given her a total of 191.83 following her 66.48 in the short programme.
After Shimada had taken the lead, there was still one skater to go – her Japanese teammate Takagi Yo, who had started the day in second place.
Could Takagi overtake the Korean Shin in second place and make it a Japanese 1-2? Could she even overtake Shimada and take gold in the last action of the day?
In the end, Takagi’s 115.97 was only the fifth best of the free skate; coupled with her 67.23 from the short programme, Takagi, 16, took the bronze medal with a total of 183.20.
The second Korean skater, Kim Yuseong, 14, came in fourth with 181.53 comprised of 63.64 from the short programme and 117.89 for the free skate – the fourth best of the day.
Shimada, the red-hot favourite and overnight leader following her sumptuous performance in the short programme on Sunday, had done it – and set herself up for a golden future.
After the skating had finished, the big screen in the arena switched to the VIP stand, where pop star Psy was sitting alongside IOC President Thomas Bach and Korean figure skating legend Kim Yuna – the Vancouver 2010 Olympic champion and silver medallist four years later at Sochi 2014.
President Bach looked thrilled – and no wonder. This was Olympic sport at its very best – full of excellence and respect and high-quality entertainment.
The Japanese and Korean skaters had produced a remarkable finale, and the local spectators cheered the Japanese skaters almost as much as they did the efforts of Shin and Kim.
The new Winter YOG champion Shimada commented: “I am very satisfied with my performance but I think I can do better and better but, overall, I am very happy with the gold medal.”
Shimada finished first in both the short programme and free skate to underline her dominance, but knows she will have to improve in the coming seasons.
“I am very happy that I managed to get first place among all the great skaters here but, regarding the scores, I think I can do better and get higher scores.”
Regarding her rivalry with Shin Jia, who is also 15, Shimada added: “Jia speaks a little Japanese so we can talk together a bit. She has been very kind to me and off the rink it is not competitive. We are kind to enough other.”
As for the future, Shimada will try and follow in the footsteps of her hero, Mao Asada – the 2010 Olympic silver medallist behind Korea’s Kim Yuna and three-time world champion.
“I started figure skating because I was inspired by Mao. Obviously, she competed at the Olympic Games and I am aiming for the same level as Mao Asada and want to compete in the Olympic Games.”