Minsol Kwon: “I was a flower girl at 2018 Nationals. Many people liked it, and many skaters were crying. At that time, I found it surprising and wondered ‘why are they crying?’, but now I think I understand.”
Translation of the interview with Korean junior single skater Minsol Kwon.
original source: mfocus.kr dd. 19th June 2024 by Hyunjin Kim
Minsol Kwon is the 2022 South Korean junior champion. She placed fifth at the 2023 World Junior Championships. Here’s a translation of her recent interview posted on Mfocus.
Minsol Kwon started figure skating in the fall of 2014, when she was 6 years old. It was after seeing Kim Yuna’s performance at the Sochi Olympics. Since then, she started figure skating lessons once a week. Having lived near the Mokdong Ice Rink at the time, it started as a casual hobby. “At first, it was just fun to be on the ice. It was beautiful, so I liked it.”. She added, “I think it was fun to skate and play with my friends at the rink.”
Minsol Kwon was a familiar to figure skating fans and officials because she participated in many domestic and international competitions as a flower girl. She started her flower girl activities about three months after she started figure skating at the recommendation of coach. Her mom recalls that experience, “She hadn’t been doing it for long at that time, so she wasn’t skilled enough to go far. She was shorter than the boards. She could only be a flower girl on the one side of the ice rink.”
Minsol herself said, “I don’t quite remember everything. I only remember a few of the memorable scenes. Since it was my first time being a flower girl, so I fell down a lot. But then, someone told me ‘If Minsol falls again, she will not be allowed to be a flower girl.’ From then, I remember thinking to myself, ‘I will absolutely not fall.'”
She first met her idol, Kim Yuna, at this competitions. Minsol Kwon said, “I remember when I met Yuna for the first time. I also got her autograph. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I just hugged her as soon as I saw her. Now, I think I couldn’t do that, but at the time, it was like that.”
She also recalled 2018 Championships (selection for 2018th Olympics). “Do you remember the 2018 Championships? Many people liked it, and many skaters were crying. At that time, I found it surprising and wondered ‘why are they crying?’, but now I think I understand.”
Minsol Kwon made her debut in domestic major competitions in the 2021/2022 season. “It was strange and meaningful to me to personally participate in the competitions that I only saw as a flower girl. And luckily, I won first place, which was great. I was so happy to be able to stand on the podium and take pictures with the skaters who I always asked for autographs (as a flower girl).”
Minsol Kwon made her international debut at the 2022/2023 Junior Grand Prix and won a silver medal in her first event. She said, “I was so nervous because it was the first competition. It was too nerve-wracking but then I did everything cleanly, so it felt nice. What I regret is just a slight error in the spins.” She added, “Still, I did very well, more than I thought, so it was great.”
Having won medals in the second event, Minsol qualified to the Junior Grand Prix Final and had to perform in front of many spectators for the first time. She recalls that experience by saying, “I don’t think I’m too nervous when there are many spectators. I even think I do better when there are many spectators. Because they cheer me on a lot more. So, I prefer it more when there are more spectators. It was amazing to participate, more than nerve-wracking. I just thought ‘Let’s do what I have to do and come, I’m going to take last place.’ but I wasn’t last. It was a very good experience.” She shared her emotions about participating in the Grand Prix Final for the first time. About meeting with senior skaters, she said, “It was so amazing and wonderful because I could see the players who were seen only on YouTube,” with a wide smile.
At the Junior Worlds of that season she placed 5th. “I was more nervous than at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Because I went there with a thought of ‘doing better’. Although I found the short program a little disappointing, I did well in free. I felt like I did really well in the last competition of the season, so I was very happy.”
She concluded her debut season, saying, “Of course it was hard, but it was just so fun. I went to the (Junior Grand Prix) Final and went to the Worlds, which I hadn’t thought about. I felt like it was a season when everything I wanted happened, so I was very happy.”
In her junior debut season, she received a lot of love from figure skating officials and fans who noticed her presentation skills. Especially in her Cats program. Minsol laughed, saying, “At first, I received feedback that it was really strange…”
“As I did it more, I think I got better at it. Now, I think it’s easiest to express when there’s a character. (In ‘Cats’ case), I tried to add more waves to the movements to express more cat movements and paid attention to turning my head and looking. I practiced choreography a lot even off the ice, and I paid a lot of attention to details too. However, I did it so much that when we choreograph a new piece, movements like the waves from ‘Cats’ comes out a bit. My ballet teacher jokingly told me not to do it because the cat kept coming out.”
Minsol’s mother described her daughter as “hardworking and more diligent than others”.
“Many national athletes are born with physical abilities, such as strength or flexibility. However, Minsol lacks physical abilities compared to other kids. She was not naturally born with the abilities necessary to do figure skating, so she trains and works harder than others.” After the tough national representative training and team training are over, she then moves on to personal coach, harness, choreography, and rhythmic gymnastics training. This is to improve her flexibility and strength, the areas she identified as her weakest.
About the 2023/2024 season, Minsol said, “There were quite a few disappointing competitions. ‘I could have done better…’ I have a lot of regrets left”. She regretted especially not being able to participate in the Winter Youth Olympics and the Junior World Championships. Minsol said, “Especially for the Youth Olympics, it was also a competition that I could only go out now, and I was more disappointed because there was a slight mistake in the selection competition.” She continued, “I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t go to the Junior World Championships, but I still have a lot of junior seasons left. I thought I could do better next year.”
From February to June, when there were no competitions, Minsol Kwon was busier than anyone else. She was particularly busy trying to find a balance between her studies and sports. This is because the ‘Student-Athlete Minimum Academic Requirement’ led by the Ministry of Education has been implemented from March this year. The ‘Student-Athlete Minimum Academic Requirement’ is a system that restricts the participation of student-athletes in competitions if they do not reach a certain level of academic achievement.
As the next season’s competition participation can be prohibited based on the first semester grades, Minsol is also devoting herself to her studies. Her mother said “Minsol studies) very hard. But it’s hard because the average score is too high. The average score at Minsol’s school is over 85 points.”
As for her goals for the next season, Minsol said “Rather than focusing on grades or scores, I want to improve my skating skills. That’s my biggest goal for this season.”
New season programs are also adding momentum to her efforts. For her short program, she chose ‘James Bond’ (choreography by Misha Ge), and for her free program, she chose ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (choreography by Shin Yeaji).
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