Dancing to the top

Son smiles while holding four gold medals she won from ball, clubs, ribbon and the individual all-around events. (Photo : 2014 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup Lisbon)

Son enjoys breakthrough in Lisbon World Cup

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae, 19, wrapped up her most successful international competition on Sunday with four gold medals at the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Lisbon.

After winning Korea’s first title ever in the individual all-around with 71.2 points on Saturday, she added three more golds by finishing first in the ball, clubs and ribbon events on Sunday.

“It was really touching to hear Korea’s national anthem,” Son said. “I am really glad to have added gold medals in other events to my all-around title … I increased the intensity and difficulty of my training to compete with European athletes, and it paid off.

“I will try to continue to put up good results in the upcoming World Cup and other international competitions.”

In the ball contest, Son scored 17.5 points to edge out Melitina Staniouta of Belarus with 17.4. In the clubs final, she earned 17.45 to beat Dina Averina of Russia with 17.25. In the ribbon competition, she got 17.15, while runner-up Arina Charopa of Belrus received 17.05.

Son finished third in the hoop with 17.5, coming short of winner Staniouta with 18.05 points and silver medalist Maria Titova with 17.7.

Aside from a single obvious mistake of stepping on a club, Son displayed an almost flawless performance and showed again that she is capable of handling the emotional pressure on a big stage.

Seo Hye-jung, vice president of the Korea Gymnastic Association technical committee, said a combination of Son’s artistic presentation and good music made for an “attractive show.”

“She did a very good job on expressing unique feelings of songs for each performance,” Seo said. “Her techniques also have improved through her ceaseless efforts.”

Although some strong title contenders such as Russia’s Margarita Mamun and Yana Kudryavtseva missed the contest, Son’s achievement is remarkable in a country where there are few rhythmic gymnastics athletes and hardware for their training.

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.

After finishing fifth in individual all-around at the 2012 London Games, the highest Olympic finish by a Korean rhythmic gymnast, she has drawn extensive attention from the media here.

Son is eyeing multiple titles at the upcoming Incheon Asian Games, which will be held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.

She is scheduled to compete in the next World Cup in Pesaro, Italy, starting on Friday. By Jung Min-ho, The Korea Times