Lim Eun-soo to follow the footsteps of Kim Yu-na

Lim Eun-soo to follow the footsteps of Kim Yu-na. March. 17, 2017 07:13. by Yun-Cheol Jeong trigger@donga.com. Lim Eun-soo, a 14-year-old Korean figure skater, is ready to follow in the footsteps of Kim Yu-na, a former professional figure skating star.

Lim will compete in the ladies single short program of the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei, Taiwan, on Friday. Kim Yu-na won a silver medal in 2005 and a gold in 2006 in the same championship.

Lim should compete with Russian and Japanese peers to be the second Korean skater to win a medal in the competition. One of the strong contenders is Russia’s Alina Zagitova, who has a record score of 207.43 points in an ISU-certified competition. Marin Honda, a 16-year-old Japanese skater whose record score is 192.98 points, is another contender.

Lim’s highest score at an ISU-certified competition is 172.32 points when she won a bronze medal in the seventh event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix in October last year. She is showing an upward trajectory these days. With better jumps and performance, she won in the Ladies Single 1 Group of the 71st Korea Figure Skating Championship held in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, with a total score of 191.98 in January this year. It is the highest record since Kim set a record of 228.56 points.

Lim dreamed of becoming a figure skater after watching Kim Yu-na’s performance on TV in 2009. When winning the Championship, Lim said she could overcome her weakness with the help of her role model, Kim Yu-na who belongs to the same agency as her.

“I think I got the good result because Yu-na helped me a lot during the training," she said. "I often hit the fences during my performance on the international stage, but I could correct it after she gave me advice based on her experience.” When Kim presented Lim a medal in the award ceremony, she said that it was all the more meaningful as she received the medal from Yu-na who is respected by all skaters.

Lim will use "Miss Saigon” for the upcoming championship in Taiwan and Kim used it for her free skating program in the 2007-2008 season. Kim is said to have helped her understand the music perfectly. “I want to show my best performance as far as I can do with confidence,” Lim said.