Seo Min-kyu
| Seo Min-kyu | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native name | 서민규 | ||||||||||
| Other names | Minkyu Seo Seo Minkyu | ||||||||||
| Born | October 14, 2008 Daegu, South Korea | ||||||||||
| Hometown | Daegu, South Korea | ||||||||||
| Height | 1.59 m (5 ft 2+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||
| Country |  South Korea | ||||||||||
| Coach | Kim A-young Kim Eun-ju Choi Hyung-kyung | ||||||||||
| Skating club | Daegu Indoor Icerink | ||||||||||
| Began skating | 2011 | ||||||||||
| Medal record | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Seo Min-kyu (Korean: 서민규; born 14 October 2008) is a South Korean figure skater. He is a two time South Korean national bronze medalist (2023–24).
On the junior level, he is the 2024 Junior World champion, the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a five-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist (including gold at the 2023 JGP Turkey and the 2024 JGP Czech Republic), and the 2022 South Korean junior champion.
Seo is the first South Korean man to both medal at and win the World Junior Championships.
Personal life
[edit]Seo was born on October 14, 2008, in Daegu, South Korea.[1]
Career
[edit]Early years
[edit]Seo began skating in 2011 at the age of four. Initially skating recreationally, he later became inspired to pursue competitive figure skater after witnessing Cha Jun-hwan's achievements. His mother, Kim Eun-ji, is one of his coaches.[2][3] Although most top-level Korean figure skaters that move to city of Seoul to train, Seo elects to train at the rink in his hometown of Daegu despite its lack of competitive environment.[2][4]
Seo's first international competition was the 2019 Asian Open Trophy in advanced novice, where he finished in sixth place. He won the national junior gold medal at the 2022 South Korean Championships.[1]
2022–23 season: Junior international debut, national bronze medal
[edit]Making his international junior debut on the Junior Grand Prix at the 2022 JGP Czech Republic in Ostrava, Seo finished first in the short program after a clean skate, where he scored 74.39 points.[5] He cleanly landed most of his jumps in the free skate, only to fall at the triple Salchow-double Axel sequence and edge calls on two Lutz jumps. He finished fourth overall.[6] In early October, he competed in his second event on the circuit, the 2022 JGP Poland II in Gdańsk. He ranked fourth in the short program and third in the free, winning the bronze medal. He was named the third of three alternates for 2022–23 Junior Grand Prix Final.[7] He would subsequently compete on the senior level at the annual South Korean Ranking Competition, where he won the bronze medal.[8]
In January, at the 2023 South Korean Championships, Seo placed fourth in the short program. He placed second in the free skate, 11.17 points behind Cha Jun-hwan, and won the bronze medal.[8] Seo was named the first alternate for the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary.
2023–24 season
[edit]In late July, Seo competed at the 2023 South Korean ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers, where he won the gold medal, thus earning two assignments on the Junior Grand Prix circuit.[9] He placed fifth at the 2023 JGP Thailand.[10] At his second, the 2023 JGP Turkey, he won both segments of the competition and took the gold medal. As well, he successfully landed a triple Axel for the first time in international competition, which he cited as a point of pride.[11] With these results, Seo was named as the second alternate for the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final.[12]
He went on to compete on the senior level at the annual South Korean Ranking Competition, winning the silver medal.[13] In January, he competed at the 2024 South Korean Championships, where he won his second consecutive bronze medal.[1] With this result, Seo was selected to represent South Korea at the 2024 World Junior Championships.[14]
Competing at the World Junior Championships in Taipei, Seo won the short program with a clean skate. He was narrowly second in the free skate after singling one of his planned triple Axels, finishing 1.54 points behind Japan's Rio Nakata, but remained first overall by 1.44 points and claimed the gold medal. This was the first Junior World medal for a South Korean man. Seo said that he viewed the result as a vindication of his belief in importance of program components in addition to the technical elements.[15]
2024–25 season
[edit]Seo began his season by winning gold at the domestic ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers and was given two Junior Grand Prix assignments as a result of his placement.[8] At the 2024 JGP Czech Republic, Seo placed third in the short program and second in the free skate but managed to accumulate enough points to win the gold medal.[16] He went on to take bronze at 2024 JGP Poland after placing eleventh in the short program but winning the free skate.[8] With these results, Seo qualified for the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final.[17][18]
In late November, Seo competed on the senior level at the annual South Korean Ranking Competition, where he won silver for a second consecutive time.[8]
At the Junior Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France, Seo placed fifth in the short program after falling on a triple flip attempt. He would, however, go to deliver a clean free skate, winning that segment of the competition and moving up to the silver medal position overall.[8]
Programs
[edit]| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–2025 [19] |
|
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| 2023–2024 [10] |
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| 2022–2023 [20] |
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| 2021–2022 |
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| 2019–2020 |
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Competitive highlights
[edit]| International[1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| World Junior Championships | 1st | |||
| Junior Grand Prix Final | 2nd | |||
| JGP Czech Republic | 4th | 1st | ||
| JGP Poland | 3rd | 3rd | ||
| JGP Thailand | 5th | |||
| JGP Turkey | 1st | |||
| National[1] | ||||
| South Korean Championships | 1st J | 3rd | 3rd | |
Detailed results
[edit]| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 231.30 | 2023 JGP Turkey |
| Short program | TSS | 80.58 | 2024 World Junior Championships |
| TES | 44.33 | 2024 World Junior Championships | |
| PCS | 36.61 | 2022 JGP Czech Republic | |
| Free skating | TSS | 155.63 | 2023 JGP Turkey |
| TES | 77.04 | 2023 JGP Turkey | |
| PCS | 78.59 | 2023 JGP Turkey |
Junior level
[edit]| 2024–25 season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| December 5–8, 2024 | 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final | Junior | 5 69.68 |
1 152.46 |
2 222.14 |
| September 25–28, 2024 | 2024 JGP Poland | Junior | 11 57.18 |
1 138.68 |
3 195.86 |
| September 4–9, 2024 | 2024 JGP Czech Republic | Junior | 3 77.08 |
2 147.70 |
1 224.78 |
| 2023–24 season | |||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| Feb. 26 – Mar. 3, 2024 | 2024 World Junior Championships | Junior | 1 80.58 |
2 150.17 |
1 230.75 |
| January 4–7, 2024 | 2024 South Korean Championships | Senior | 6 73.72 |
2 158.90 |
3 232.62 |
| September 6–9, 2023 | 2023 JGP Turkey | Junior | 2 75.67 |
1 155.63 |
1 231.30 |
| August 23–26, 2023 | 2023 JGP Thailand | Junior | 5 67.40 |
4 128.72 |
5 196.12 |
| 2022–23 season | |||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| January 5–9, 2023 | 2023 South Korean Championships | Senior | 4 76.90 |
2 159.00 |
3 235.90 |
| October 5–8, 2022 | 2022 JGP Poland II | Junior | 4 72.36 |
3 134.31 |
3 206.67 |
| Aug. 31 – Sept. 3, 2022 | 2022 JGP Czech Republic | Junior | 1 74.39 |
4 135.20 |
4 209.59 |
| 2021–22 season | |||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| January 7–9, 2022 | 2022 South Korean Championships | Junior | 1 61.21 |
1 126.12 |
1 187.33 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Competition Results: Minkyu SEO". International Skating Union.
- ^ a b "Minkyu Seo, the "skater who dreams". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ [230419 생방송 시시각각] '꿈꾸는 스케이터⛸' 피겨국가대표 서민규⭐️. 대구MBC Program. April 19, 2023.
- ^ 박, 지민. "[인터뷰] "점수보다는 저에게 집중했어요." 피겨 서민규-이재근, 주니어 세계선수권 프리 스케이팅 소감". MFocus. MFocus. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- ^ "피겨 서민규, ISU 주니어 그랑프리 남자 싱글 쇼트 1위" [Figure Skater Seo Min-gyu, ISU Junior Grand Prix Men's Single Short 1st Place]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). September 2, 2022.
- ^ Kwon, Su-yeon (September 3, 2022). "첫 그랑프리 무대 오른 서민규...ISU 주니어 GP 최종 4위" [Seo Min-kyu, who debuted on the Grand Prix stage... Finishes 4th place at the ISU Junior GP]. MHN Sports (in Korean).
- ^ "More Skaters secure spots for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final". International Skating Union. October 10, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "KOR–Minkyu Seo". SkatingScores.
- ^ Cho, Young-joon (July 23, 2023). "'Junior Ace of Figure Skating' Shin Jia wins the Junior Grand Prix Qualifying Tournament". SPOTV News. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "Minkyu SEO: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 24, 2023.
- ^ "Ami Nakai (JPN) and Rio Nakata (JPN) secure Junior Grand Prix Final spot in Istanbul (TUR)". International Skating Union. September 11, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
- ^ "ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2023/2024 - Junior Men". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ "2023 Ranking Competition". Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "ISU World Junior Championships 2024 - Junior Men Entries". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ Slater, Paula (March 2, 2024). "Minkyu Seo clinches men's title at Junior Worlds". Golden Skate. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ "Newcomers and Junior stars set highlights at ISU Junior Grand Prix in Ostrava". International Skating Union. September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ^ "'11위→3위' 서민규, 파이널 진출 확정". MSN. SBS News. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- ^ "ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2024/2025 - Junior Men". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
- ^ "Minkyu SEO: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024.
- ^ "Minkyu SEO: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023.
External links
[edit]- Minkyu SEO at the International Skating Union
- Minkyu Seo at SkatingScores.com
- Seo Min-kyu on Instagram
