Figure Skater Kim Yu-seong Wins Nepela Memorial with Comeback Victory, Landing Triple Axel

Figure skating women's singles prospect Kim Yu-seong (Surigo High School) secured a comeback victory at the 34th Nepela Memorial, an International Skating Union (ISU) Challenger Series event, propelled by a successful triple axel.

Competing in the women's singles free skating held in Bratislava, Slovakia, on the 27th (local time), Kim Yu-seong recorded a technical element score (TES) of 76.17 points and a program component score (PCS) of 65.26 points for a total of 141.43 points.

Having placed fourth in the short program with 61.27 points, Kim combined her scores to finish with a total of 202.70 points, comfortably beating Lee Hae-in (190.55 points) by a margin of 12.15 points to claim the gold medal.

The free skating score set a new personal best, raising her previous ISU-certified record of 134.93 points by 6.5 points.

Her total score also matched her previous personal best of 202.70 points set at the Cranberry Cup Challenger event last August.

Stepping onto the ice in preparation for the 2026-2027 ISU Senior Grand Prix, Kim started off on a strong note by cleanly landing her first element, the triple axel (8.0 points), adding 1.0 point in grade of execution (GOE).

Kim cleanly washed away the disappointment from the short program, where she had attempted a triple axel as her first element but suffered deductions in both base value and GOE due to an under-rotation.

Continuing her momentum, she earned 0.93 points in GOE on her triple flip-triple toe loop combination jump (9.50 points) and picked up 0.98 points in GOE on her triple loop (4.90 points), before smoothly sailing through a flying camel spin (Level 4) and a step sequence (Level 2).

Although she left some room for regret after receiving an under-rotation call on her triple lutz-euler-triple salchow-double axel sequence jump executed in the bonus section, she safely landed her subsequent triple flip and triple lutz to wrap up her six jump elements.

Kim finished her routine with a change foot combination spin (Level 4) followed by a choreo sequence and a choreo spin.

Lee Hae-in, who ranked second in the short program, struggled with the consistency of her triple axel in the free skate, receiving 127.43 points. Combined with her short program score (63.12 points), she finished as the runner-up with a total score of 190.55 points.

Pulling out a triple axel for the first time since 2022, Lee fell on her hip during the short program and received only 6.40 points—80 percent of the 8.0 base value—with a 1.28 GOE deduction for an under-rotation on the triple axel she attempted as her first element of the day.

Lee failed to fully raise her jump consistency, receiving quarter-rotation calls on her triple loop and triple lutz, falling short of her anticipated comeback victory.

Meanwhile, Yun Seo-jin (Hankwang High School) finished in ninth place with a total score of 150.20 points.

(Photo: Broadcast screen capture, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.