Kim Yu-Na Secures Comeback with Dortmund Win

Kim Yu-na ended her 19-month hiatus from figure skating by easily winning the second-tier NRW Trophy in Dortmund, Germany despite a fall early in her free skate Sunday.

Kim needed to score just 28 points in the short program and 48 from the free skate to win entry into the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ontario, Canada on March 11, 2013. The event features the world’s 200 best figure skaters.

Despite a fall Kim, 22, scored 129.34 points in the free skate to add to the 72.27 points earned in Saturday’s short program for a total score of 201.61 points, easily putting her in first place. Xenia Makarova of Russia finished second with 159.01 points, followed by Sweden’s Viktoria Helgesson with 158.93.

“I’m happy that I could reach my goal today,” said Kim. “At the beginning of the program my spins were going well but I made one mistake. Afterward I felt shaky but I persevered to the end. I was actually surprised at the score I received. That was unexpected. I think I did my best, the best I could, even though I don’t feel I’ve shown all I can do. But overall I’m satisfied with the result today.”

Kim’s score was a pleasant surprise for her fans and for Kim herself who didn’t know what to expect after her long absence from competition. She hadn’t competed since the World Championships in Moscow in April 2011 where she had won silver behind Miki Ando of Japan.

A few days after her return home Kim had announced that she would not participate in the 2011-2012 Grand Prix series so she could lead S. Korea’s successful bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang.

Kim’s score at the NRW gives her a solid footing in the competition to come. On Saturday one of her main rivals, Japan’s Mao Asada, won the Grand Prix Final in Sochi, Russia with a score of 196.80. Kim holds the world records in both the short program (78.50) and the free skate (150.06) for a combined total of 228.56 at her gold-medal win at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Skating Sunday to music from “Les Miserables”, Kim landed six triple jumps, a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and four more triple jumps but fell on a far easier double toe loop.

“I was caught off-guard because I assumed it was an easy jump,” said Kim. “I will focus on just this jump next time. Since this is only a mistake in the first competition (since returning) I think if I focus on it I can improve and not make any mistakes.”

She plans to return to Korea to focus on the Korean national championship which is the prerequisite to representing her nation in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Soon after her gold medal in Vancouver Kim parted with her US coach Peter Oppegard for reasons that have yet to be revealed. She now works with two of her Koreans coaches from earlier in her career as well as her Canadian choreographer David Wilson.