SEOUL – South Korean teenager Kim Hyun-gyeom triumphed in the men’s singles figure skating event at the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics, marking a historic win as the country’s first male gold medalist in figure skating at this youth event. The competition took place on Monday, with Kim delivering an outstanding performance on home ice.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the 17-year-old amassed a total of 216.73 points, comprising 69.28 points from the short program on Saturday and a remarkable 147.45 points in Monday’s free skate at the Gangneung Ice Arena, located approximately 160 kilometers east of Seoul. Despite ranking third after the short program, Kim’s exceptional free skate performance propelled him to the top position among 18 competitors.
This year’s Winter Youth Olympics, the fourth edition of the event and the first to be held outside Europe, witnessed another significant achievement for South Korea. Previously, You Young secured the women’s single gold medal at the 2020 Winter Youth Games in Lausanne, Switzerland, making Kim’s victory a continuance of South Korean success in figure skating at the youth level.
Slovakia’s Adam Hagara clinched the silver medal with an overall score of 216.23 points, closely followed by Yanhao Li of New Zealand, who scored 208.84 points for the bronze. American skater Jacob Sanchez, who led after the short program with 76.38 points, finished fourth overall with 200.28 points after securing the sixth-best score in the free skate.
Kim’s gold-medal-winning routine commenced with a clean quadruple toe loop, followed by a flawless triple axel. He maintained his high standard throughout the performance, executing a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination, a triple flip, and a flying camel spin. His program concluded with a well-executed flying change foot combination spin, earning a resounding ovation from the audience.
This gold medal marks South Korea’s fifth in the two-week competition, which is set to conclude on Thursday.