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Seoul. Figure skating Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-na will compete in next year’s world championships in Japan, quashing speculation that she might retire to pursue a career as a professional performer for ice shows.

The 19-year-old South Korean, who wowed the world with a record-setting display in Vancouver earlier this year, told the Yonhap news agency on Monday that she will miss the upcoming Grand Prix series to concentrate on the event she won in 2009.

The first round of the 2010-2011 Grand Prix of Figure Skating is on Oct. 22 in Japan. The season-ending world championships will be on March 19, also in Japan.

“I didn’t start training yet, but I’ll focus on the world championships. After the ice show, I’ll make up a schedule with the coaching staff and select the programs,” Kim was quoted by Yonhap as saying upon her arrival at Incheon International Airport.

Kim, who has been training in Toronto with her Canadian coach Brian Orser, returned home to take part in an ice show on Friday. She said she will also miss the Winter Asian Games on Jan. 30 in Kazakhstan.

The 2011 World Championships will take place in March in Tokyo, the homeland of Kim’s closest rival and defending champion Mao Asada.

Kim, dubbed “Queen Yuna,” won the silver medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in March in Turin, Italy. She acknowledged that she felt tired after her Olympic triumph.

She has yet to indicate if she intends to defend her title at the London Olympics in 2012.

Since taking the gold medal in Vancouver with a record 228.56 points, Kim has been avoiding questions on whether she will retire, Yonhap reported.

Kim has won seven Grand Prix titles, three Grand Prix Final trophies, one world championship title and the Olympic gold medal since her senior international debut in 2006.


Reuters, AFP