New Korean queen Kim Min-sun to start new season at Four Continents Championships on Friday
New Korean queen Kim Min-sun to start new season at Four Continents Championships on Friday
Blog Article
The “new ice queen” Kim Min-sun (25, Government Complex, Seoul, Korea) will kick off the new season of international competition at the 2024-2025 International Ice Skating Union (ISU) Speedskating Four Continents Championships.
Kim will get off to a strong start at the Four Continents Championships, which will be held from February 15-17 at the YS Arena in Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
She will compete in the women's 500 meters on Saturday and the women's 1,000 meters on Sunday to see how her off-season training has paid off.
Kim spent the off-season training with her home team, Uijeongbu City Hall, and Team Gold, a professional international training team.
Team Gold is an international training team led by Dutch coaches Johan Derbit and Yerun Rietveld and includes Japanese women's middle and long-distance powerhouse Miho Takagi and Chinese women's middle-distance ace Han Mei.
The “ice monster” Kim Min-seok, who moved to Hungary from South Korea this year, is also a member of Team Gold.
Kim has reportedly been focusing on improving his start and endurance, which have been noted as weaknesses.
“We decided that intensive training abroad was necessary for him to grow further,” said Uijeongbu City Hall head coach Jegal Sung-ryul, adding, ”We can expect to see more improvements in the new season.”
The Korea Ice Sports Federation, 토토사이트 which governs the national team, also supported Kim's overseas training.
The Four Continents Championships is a major international event that features athletes from four continents - Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania.
After the Four Continents Championships, Kim will travel to Nagano, Japan, to compete in the first round of the 2024-2025 ISU Speedskating World Cup from February 22-24.
Kim has set her sights on reclaiming the women's 500 meters title this season.
She was ranked No. 1 in the women's 500 meters in her main event in the 2022-2023 World Cup Series, but slipped to No. 2 last season behind Erin Jackson (USA).
She narrowly lost the top spot after struggling with skate adjustment at the start of the season.
This time around, she will be aiming for a medal sweep from the start.
South Korean ice speed sensation Ina Hyun (18-Korea Gymnastics University) will also be looking forward to the season.
Inahyun is a top prospect who set a junior world record of 37.34 seconds in the women's 500 meters at the fifth ISU World Cup 2023-2024 in January.
She showed further improvement in the women's 500 meters at the recent domestic championships, winning the race against some of the top athletes.
Inahyun will also face good competition from senior national team member Kim Min-sun.
Kim, who has naturalized in Hungary, is expected to make a comeback in the first round of the World Cup.
“He is currently training with Team Gold in Japan,” said a source in the ice world, ”and will be participating in the World Cup series for Hungary this season.”
Kim won bronze in the men's 1,500-meter speedskating at the Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
In July 2022, he was involved in a drunk driving accident at the Jincheon Athletes Village in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Chungcheong Province, and after receiving a one-and-a-half-year suspension from the Korea Ice Sports Federation and a two-year suspension from the Korea Sports Ministry, he renounced the Taegeuk mark and sought naturalization in Hungary.
Kim has completed the naturalization process and reportedly changed his local name to Oliver.