Top of the world

South Korea's Son Yeon Jae competes during the ribbon event at the 2014 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Lisbon, Portugal, April 6, 2014. Son Yeon Jae claimed the title of the event. (Photo : Xinhua/NEWSis)

Son wins Korea’s first gold medal at gymnastics world cup

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae, 19, was not going to pass her prime without reaching the top of the world.

At the FIG World Cup in Lisbon, Saturday, Son won Korea’s first gold medal in the individual all-around with 71.200 points.

She added 17.550 points in club and 17.950 in ribbon in the second day of the event, after wrapping up the first day with 17.900 in hoop and 17.800 in ball, to beat silver medalist Melitina Staniouta of Belarus with 68.150 in total.

“I’m glad that I won my first World Cup gold medal, which I have long dreamed since I started gymnastics,” Son said. “I am filled with emotions as I think about the past … I tried not to be nervous to minimize mistakes in performance.”

It apparently worked. Aside from an error during her club performance, she did not make any major one this time and showed that she can now handle the emotional pressure on a world stage.

Son has won six medals in individual events at FIG World Cups since last year, but it was her first medal in the all-round competition.

“It really motivates me,” she said.

Seo Hye-jung, vice president of the Korea Gymnastic Association technical committee, said Son’s artistic presentation has significantly matured, noting that international gymnastics judging system now focuses more on the artistic side than technical elements.

“In training, we tried to highlight her maturity in performance to differentiate her from many of her younger rivals,” Seo said.

“She did a good job on staying in shape and performing with concentration … It is important to manager her stamina for more medals until all the individual events are over.”

Son got off to a decent start by grabbing three bronze medals in hoop, club and ribbon at this season’s first competition at the Moscow Grand Prix in March.

Last year, Son’s individual all-around best was a fifth-place at the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Kiev, Ukraine. She earned 70.332 points there. By Jung Min-ho, The Korea Times