by REERA YOO
Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae gave South Korea its first Asian Games gold in the individual all-around event on Thursday, reported Yonhap.
The 20-year-old scored a combined 71.699 points in ball, hoop, ribbon and clubs, edging out her rival China’s Deng Senyue to claim silver with 70.332 points. Anastasiya Serdyukova of Uzbekistan took bronze with 68.349 points.
“I’m glad I was able to stay strong in Asia,” Son said in an interview after her match. “It was hard to keep my form after all the traveling. But I had a clear goal and I pulled it through.”
Son began with the clubs discipline, her most difficult program, and earned a score of 18.100 points with no penalties. She then dominated in the ribbon event with her flawless performance, earning 18.083 points, and sealed her win with her ball routine, earning 17.300 points. She received enormous applause and deafening cheers each time she entered and exited the arena, according to Yonhap.
Son Yeon-jae performs her ribbon routine for the 2014 Asian Games (Photo credit: Yonhap)
With her individual gold, Son has set a new record for herself since becoming the first South Korean to win a bronze medal in rhythmic gymnastics at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. In addition to winning gold, she led the South Korean rhythmic gymnastics team to silver, the best record yet by the host nation, on Wednesday.
Son has been one of South Korea’s favorite athletes at the Asian Games, her presence attracting thousands of spectators to the stadium. Tickets to her events at the Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon were the first to sell out at the Games. Swimmer Park Tae-hwan was even seen among the audience at Son’s event.
Featured photo via Yonhap
