The Kim Ji-nee-Inamu (Gyeonggi-do Ice Dance Federation) team became the second Korean ice dance team in history to win a medal at an International Ice Dance Federation (ISU) event.
The pair earned 46.38 technical points (TES), 36.64 artistic points (PCS) and a total of 83.02 points in the ice dance free dance during the first round of the 2023 ISU Figure Junior Grand Prix in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday (June 26).
With a final total of 139.32 points, including 56.30 points for the rhythmic dance, Kim and Inamu earned the bronze medal behind Leah Nesset-Artem Markelov (USA), 168.47 points, and Selina Frazee-Jeanse Pochnou (FRA), 150.98 points.
Kim Ji-Nee-Inamu earned a GOE in every task, improving by nearly 10 points on her personal best free dance score (74.99) from the fifth edition of the Junior Grand Prix last October.
The pair started the day on a high note, earning a 6.10 basic score and 0.93 GOEs for their first task, a one-foot turn sequence set to lyrical music.
They followed that up with a diagonal step sequence, which was the highest-scoring task of the day with a base score of 7.83 and a GOE of 1.19.
She performed her third task, a straight line lift, to a level 4, and also earned a level 4 on her dance spin after a cleanly executed co-registered assisted jump.
At the same time, Kim and Lee showed off their synchronized twizzle, a 6.84 base score with one foot spinning on an axis on the ice, with a GOE of 0.51, and a dynamic co-registered character step sequence.
Their final task, a rotational lift with a male athlete carrying a female athlete, earned them a Level 4, capping off their performance perfectly.
This is only the second time in history that a Korean figure has reached the podium in ice dance at a major competition.
The pair of Lim Hae-na and Kim Quan-ye (General) became the first Korean team to win a Grand Prix podium when they took bronze at the first competition of the 2021-2022 season in their Junior Grand Prix debut, and followed that up with a silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final last season.
Given that female figure skaters typically reach their peak in their late teens, the junior stage is considered just as important as the senior competition. 토토사이트