Kim Yu-seong explained

Kim Yu-seong
Native Name:김유성
Also Known As:Yuseong Kim
Birth Date:12 June 2009
Birth Place:Seoul, South Korea
Hometown:Anyang
Coach:Choi Hyung-kyung
Former Coach:Chi Hyun-jung
Kim Jin-seo
Skating Club:C&K Team
Beganskating:2019

Kim Yu-seong (; born 12 June 2009) is a South Korean figure skater. She is a two-time ISU Junior Grand Prix silver medalist, the 2023 South Korean junior national champion, and the 2022 Denis Ten Memorial junior silver medalist.

Personal life

Kim was born on 12 June 2009, in Seoul. Her identical twin sister, Yu-jae, who is two minutes older than her, is also a competitive figure skater.

Career

Early years

Kim's mother, Ga-young, first enrolled her and her sister into figure skating when they were eight years old as a means of improving their health and growth. Due to the lack of skating rinks where they lived, the family moved to Gwacheon in 2019, where both sisters began training under Choi Hyung-kyung.

2022–23 season

Making her international debut, Kim won the silver medal at the 2022 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge on the junior level behind Inga Gurgenidze of Georgia.

She then went on to win gold at the 2023 South Korean Junior Championships by over twenty-five points.

2023–24 season

In late July, Kim competed at the 2023 South Korean ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers, finishing fourth. Her performances earned her two assignments on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. Debuting on the Junior Grand Prix, Kim won the silver medal at the 2023 JGP Thailand, 0.73 points behind gold medalist Ami Nakai. At the event, Kim successfully landed a clean triple Axel jump in her free skate. In late September, it was announced that Kim and her sister made a coaching change from Choi Hyung-kyung to Chi Hyun-jung and Kim Jin-seo. She would go on to win a second silver medal at the 2023 JGP Hungary, despite missing her triple Axel attempt.

Following the Junior Grand Prix, Kim won the silver medal at the national qualifier for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, to be held on home ice in Gangwon. She and reigning national champion Shin Ji-a were assigned to South Korea's two berths. Kim also went on to compete at the senior national ranking competition, where she finished fourth overall.

Kim's Junior Grand Prix results qualified her to the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final, where she came fifth in the short program after receiving an incorrect edge call on her triple Lutz. In the free skate, she landed the triple Axel and her other triple jumps, but for another Lutz edge call. Fourth in that segment, she rose to fourth overall, 5.98 points back of bronze medalist Rena Uezono. Kim said she was "super happy" with the result. At the 2024 South Korean Championships, Kim finished fourth. With this result, both Kim and her sister, who finished fifth at the event, were selected to represent South Korea at the 2024 World Junior Championships.

Going on to compete in the women's event at the Winter Youth Olympics, Kim finished in fourth-place. She and her sister Yu-jae were among the South Korean team for the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, finishing fifteenth and sixteenth, respectively.

2024–25 season

Kim began the season by finishing second at the 2024 South Korean ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers in late July and was given two Junior Grand Prix assignments as a result of her placement.

In August 2024, it was announced that Kim and her sister had left coaches, Chi Hyun-jung and Kim Jin-seo to return to their longtime coach, Choi Hyung-kyung.

Competing on the 2024–25 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, Kim captured the gold medal at 2024 JGP Turkey, scoring personal bests in all competition segments. She said she was "very happy" to have won her first gold medal. She followed up this result with a silver medal win at 2024 JGP China. With these results, Kim qualified for the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final, the only South Korean junior woman to do so.

In late November, Kim competed on the senior level at the South Korean Ranking Competition, where she won the bronze medal.

Programs

SeasonShort programFree skatingExhibition
2024–2025
2023–2024
2022–2023

Competitive highlights

International: Junior
Event22–2323–2424–25
align=left 4th
align=left 15th
4th TBD
bgcolor=silver 2nd
bgcolor=silver 2nd
bgcolor=silver 2nd
bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
National
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st J 4th
align=left Ranking Comp. bgcolor=gold 1st J 4th bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
J = Junior; TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Detailed results

Junior results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

2024–25 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
9–12 October 20242024 JGP ChinaJunioralign=center 3
64.20
align=center 4
128.03
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
189.92
18–21 September 20242024 JGP TurkeyJunioralign=center 2
64.72
align=center 1
133.91
align=center bgcolor=gold 1
198.63
2023–24 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
26 February – 3 March 20242024 World Junior ChampionshipsJunioralign=center 9
59.58
align=center 15
111.22
align=center 15
170.80
28–30 January 20242024 Winter Youth OlympicsJunioralign=center 4
63.64
align=center 4
115.97
align=center 4
181.53
4–7 January 20242024 South Korean ChampionshipsSenioralign=center 7
64.93
align=center 4
135.80
align=center 4
200.73
7–10 December 20232023–24 JGP FinalJunioralign=center 5
62.71
align=center 4
127.77
align=center 4
190.48
20–23 September 20232023 JGP HungaryJunioralign=center 6
60.03
align=center 3
116.95
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
176.98
23–26 August 20232023 JGP ThailandJunioralign=center 2
63.04
align=center 1
126.88
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
189.92
2022–23 season
DateEventLevelSPFSTotal
5–8 January 20232023 South Korean Junior ChampionshipsJunioralign=center 1
59.35
align=center 1
117.72
align=center bgcolor=gold 1
177.07
26–29 October 20222022 Denis Ten Memorial ChallengeJunioralign=center 2
58.26
align=center 2
95.64
align=center bgcolor=silver 2
153.90

External links