New ice dance pair: Yura Min and Tim Koleto | Golden Skate

New ice dance pair: Yura Min and Tim Koleto

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130404&content_id=43859796&vkey=ice_news

Min and Koleto started training with Igor Shpilband in Novi, Mich., this week. They hope to compete at the Korean championships in November if all goes well. Korea hasn't had a senior dance team since 2006.

Min, who has dual U.S. and Korean citizenship, has been searching for a dance partner for a couple of years. Her parents are from Korea; her older sister was born there, although Min herself was born in the U.S. Prior to moving to Michigan last year to pursue dance, she trained in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., with Rafael Arutunian.

"The Korean federation said if I found a partner, I could compete for Korea," she told us in a Skype video chat.

Koleto, who has been competing in singles with Tom Zakrajsek and Becky Calvin, finished sixth as a junior at the 2012 U.S. Championships. He said he had tested up to pre-bronze in dance previously, although he has never competed as a dancer.

Also
For now, the team's goal is to compete at the 2015 Four Continents Championships in Seoul. And, of course, they hope to make it to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

"It would be cool to be well-prepared for Four Continents in Seoul," Koleto said. "We would like to be ready to show ourselves internationally there."


Anyone know what Korea's policy on citizenship is? We all know that Japan's is quite strict, but is Korea's? Also the prospect of TWO ice dance teams from Korea is quite interesting, though only one pair will be able to go unless Rebeka Kim and Kirill Minov progress quickly enough to get two spots before 2018, which is a tall order given the strength of the U.S., Russian and Canadian Ice Dance programs and the rise of teams such as Papadakis / Cizeron.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Quite a few senior teams may retire after Sochi. V&M, certainly, P&B and D&W, possibly, and perhaps a few others will split or retire. So there may be more space than we know.

This team is planning to skate juniors, by the sound of it, along with Kim & Minov?
 

vera01

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
I thought Yura was skating with Igor-did they have to split up? I haven't heard any news about them since US Jr Nationals.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Min & Ogay did not finish well at US Nationals; they broke up afterwards. They trained with Shpilband, and it looks like the new team will train with Shpilband.
 

Finnstep

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Edit:It seems like Min/Koleto has to move onto a senior level next season-Koleto is not age-eligible for junior competitions.

There are three ice dance teams in Korea who can compete at a junior level next season:
-Rebeka Kim/Kirill Minov:They're age-eligible for Sochi 2014, however, it seems like they're staying as a junior next season.
-Jin-ju Choi(formerly known as Claudia Müller)/Jae-Woong Oh:I believe they only started to train together after Korean Nationals, which was a final competition for Ji-Won Kim/Jae-Woong Oh, so they might be not ready for the JGP next season. Claudia is two years older than Jae-Woong.
-Se-Jin Lee/Tae-ho Jeong

How many spots does South Korea have for ice dance JGP next season? I'd love to see all of the dancers at JGP next season-it's always nice to get some experience at international competitions.
 

sather

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 15, 2012
I looked up about Korean citizenship and it's not easy. Special naturalization that can skip regular requirements by receiving a permission of the Minister of Justice has been allowed for a few athletes but most of them were half Koreans. Only one exception is a Canadian hockey player who has recently acquired Korean citizenship but he has been living in Korea for 6 years :think: Other than special naturalization, he needs to have lived in Korean for more than 5 years and be able to speak in Korean. Also he has to pass a test about Korean culture, history, common knowledge and etc which is very tricky.

I went to his twitter and it seems like he's learning Korean language. So cute. :)
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
I looked up about Korean citizenship and it's not easy. Special naturalization that can skip regular requirements by receiving a permission of the Minister of Justice has been allowed for a few athletes but most of them were half Koreans. Only one exception is a Canadian hockey player who has recently acquired Korean citizenship but he has been living in Korea for 6 years :think: Other than special naturalization, he needs to have lived in Korean for more than 5 years and be able to speak in Korean. Also he has to pass a test about Korean culture, history, common knowledge and etc which is very tricky.

I went to his twitter and it seems like he's learning Korean language. So cute. :)

Koleto has been into K-Pop/Korean culture for some time now and even recently won a trip to Korea recently, so I'm sure learning Korean is part of his attempt to better understand that culture. :)

Also regarding JGP -- Kim/Minov managed to reach the free dance, so Korea gets one slot for 5 out of the 7 JGP events. So five slots. That means two of the couples can get two spots and that all three will get to compete at at least one event.

Also is Claudia half-Korean, right?
 

sather

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 15, 2012
^ Yes, Claudia's mother is Korean and she gave up her Swiss citizenship to acquire Korean citizenship.
Claudia and Jae-woong showed up on a tv show a few days ago teaching celebrities how to skate. It seemed like she was taller than her partner or almost at the same height.
 
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