North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd who threw them toys and flowers yesterday at the Four Continents championships in Taipei ahead of their highly anticipated Olympic bid.
Fans clapped and shouted at the end of their performance of Jeff Beck’s rendition of The Beatles’ A Day in the Life, with one spectator flying a South Korean flag.
Although their routine ranked them first initially in the pairs short program and gave them a personal record of 65.25 points, they were eventually edged out of the top three and ended fourth.
Photo: EPA
US duo Ashley Cain and Timothy Leduc placed first with 66.76 points, Australians Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor took second with 66.45, and Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea, also of the US, came third with 65.74.
Interest in the pair has skyrocketed since North Korea made a surprise announcement earlier this month that it was sending a team to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Dressed in silver and black outfits, Ryom caught a Pikachu toy thrown from the crowd after the performance, while Kim caught a flower. Their coach stood to applaud them at the rink gate and hugged them as they came off the ice.
The pair also skated to The Beatles track in September last year, when they secured their Olympic place at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany.
Speaking after the performance, Ryom, 18, said they were “not satisfied,” according to the International Skating Union Web site.
“All competitions are important to us, so we will keep working hard, not only for the Olympics, but also for winning in upcoming competitions,” Ryom said.
South Korean skater Kim Kyu-eun, who had to drop out from the pairs competition after her partner, Alex Kam, was injured, said the pair were “very friendly and kind, and a little bit shy.”
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
RSS