Son punches ticket to 2012 Olympics

South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae won a place at the 2012 London Olympic Games, giving the country a rare chance to join the Olympic women’s gymnastics event for the second games in a row.

The 17-year-old rising gymnast star scored a 107.75 in the individual all-around final at the 2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Montpellier, France, finishing 11th among 24 finalists. 

The result at the all-around competition composed of the hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon put her among the 15 finalists qualified to join the rhythmic gymnastics event for next year’s Olympics.

Son scored a 26.625 in the hoop, a 27.075 in the ball, a 27.150 in clubs and a 26.9 with the ribbon.

Son’s advance to the Olympic Games, which will be her debut in the world event, marks the second time in a row that a South Korean rhythmic gymnast has qualified for the international sports event.

Shin Soo-ji made it to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, in which she finished 12th in the rhythmic gymnastics all-around competition.

In the preliminaries at the French championships, Son came out in 14th among 122 competitors, but she advanced her rank in the final with her near-perfect handling of the ball and clubs.

The rhythmic gymnastics national junior champion stunned the country in 2010 when she won a bronze medal in the individual all-around final event in rhythmic gymnastics at the Guangzhou Asian Games in China.

Russia’s Evgenia Kanaeva won the gold medal with a 116.650 score in the rhythmic gymnastics all-around event at the world championships, which runs from Sept. 19-25. 

(Yonhap News)