She set a personal record. '2025 Harbin Winter Asian Games gold medalist' Kim Chae-yeon (19, Surigo) also signaled a chance for victory at the Four Continents Championships.
On the 21st, Kim Chae-yeon achieved first place overall in the women's single short program at the 2025 International Skating Union (ISU) Four Continents Championships held at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul, scoring a technical score (TES) of 40.15 points, a program component score (PCS) of 33.87 points, and a total score of 74.02 points.
This is Kim Chae-yeon's highest score in an officially recognized short program by the ISU. He greatly surpassed his previous highest official score of 71.39 points recorded at the ISU Four Continents Championships in November 2023. At the same time, he also exceeded the short program score (71.88 points, unofficial) he recorded at the Harbin Winter Asian Games.
Kim Chae-yeon, who performed 20th among 21 participants, started moving to the original soundtrack (OST) of the movie 'Tron: Legacy.' He executed the first task, a double axel, cleanly and perfectly handled the triple lutz-triple toe loop combination jump.
Starting off well, Kim Chae-yeon performed the flying camel spin at the highest difficulty level of level 4. In the latter part, which receives a 10% bonus, he completed the triple flip without any wobble, securing a Grade of Execution (GOE). After finishing all the jump tasks, Kim Chae-yeon performed the change foot combination spin and step sequence, as well as the ray back spin, all at level 4, completing a flawless performance.
In second place is Jiba Mone (Japan), who won last year's Four Continents Championships by beating Kim Chae-yeon. He scored 71.20 points, 2.82 points lower than Kim Chae-yeon. Third place went to Sara Eberhardt from the U.S. with a score of 67.36 points. This is an opportunity for Kim Chae-yeon to wash away the disappointment of settling for silver in last year's competition.
If Kim Chae-yeon maintains first place in the free skating and wins the gold medal, she will become the third-ever champion among Korean female single skaters. Kim Yuna made history as the first winner in 2009, followed by Lee Hae-in (Korea University) in 2023, 14 years later.
Meanwhile, Lee Hae-in, who competed alongside Kim Chae-yeon, remained in 10th place due to a disappointing jump mistake. He scored a TES of 28.94 points and a PCS of 31.83 points, totaling 60.77 points. Yoon Ah-sun (Surigo) recorded a total of 65.57 points with a TES of 36.74 points and a PCS of 28.83 points, placing 6th.