Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae wins another silver medal

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae wins another silver medal. February. 29, 2016 07:06. by 임보미기자 bom@donga.com. South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae (see photo) is ready for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

On Saturday, Son claimed the silver in the individual all-around with her career-high score at the World Cup of the season in Espoo, Finland, following a silver medal at the Moscow Grand Prix a week before.

After unveiling her program for the Olympics in the national competition in January for the first time, she won silver medals in two international competitions, signaling a good chance for the Rio Olympics.

Son won 18.350 points in ball and 18.400 in hoop on the first day of the individual all-around on Saturday (Korea time) and garnered her record high of 18.400 points in club and ribbon on Sunday. With a total of 73.550 points, she became the second winner. It is the first time for her to surpass 73 in the individual all-around event. Her highest record was 72.800 in the Sophia World Cup in August last year.

Rather than taking risk from a difficult technique, Son decided to get the best score from what she can do best. As a result, she broke her record by winning over nine points in the D score (9.200 in hoop, 9.150 in ball, 9.200 in club and 9.200 in ribbon). If she gets more used to her program and more points in the E score, she might edge up her total score.

Aleksandra Soldatova of Russia, 17, took the title in the individual all-around with 73.750. Yana Kudryavtseva and Margarita Mamun, two of the top three rhythmic gymnasts in Russia, did not participate in the World Cup due to ankle injury.