Pressure? What pressure?

Aged 18 and performing last on home ice, Republic of Korea’s Kim Chaeyeonproduced the skate of her life to take gold at the 2025 ISU Four Continents in her birthplace of Seoul on Sunday (23 February).

Last year’s runner-up backed up her personal best short program with another career best in the free skate for a winning total of 222.38. She was exactly 18 points clear of Bradie Tennell, with Sarah Everhardt edging out Alysa Liu for bronze on her Four Continents debut.

Speaking via an interpreter, Kim said in her post-competition interview, “I was a little bit nervous because I needed to do well in front of my home fans, but I tried to show my best and I’m glad I was able to get the gold.”

Kim will now have two weeks’ rest before preparing for next month’s World Championships in Boston, USA having won bronze last year.

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Kim Chaeyon soars to gold after disappointment for Chiba Mone

Tennell rose from fifth place to second thanks to an excellent skate to ‘Nessun Dorma’. The 27-year-old showed she had fully recovered from breaking her ankle in late 2023 with a largely clean routine featuring seven triple jumps.

The PyeongChang 2018 team bronze medallist was rewarded with a season’s best 137.80 to total 204.38, her first 200-plus tally since returning from injury. And she remained atop the leaderboard after Liu and Everhardt’s free skates despite a season’s best from the former and a solid skate from Everhardt who was just three-tenths off her personal best.

Tennell told reporters, “I was really happy because it’s been a long time since I’ve given a performance like that. With all the struggles of the last few years, it was a very satisfying moment to finish a program and feel such joy after skating.

“There’s been a lot of frustration and tears the past few seasons so it was just a really nice full-circle moment because I remember being here five years ago in the last competition before COVID. I kind of had a good feeling about this competition and I’m glad I was right. I enjoyed myself a lot.”

Defending champion Chiba Mone, who lay second after the short program, missed out on the podium after having jumping issues in her free skate.

The 19-year-old Japanese appeared to lose confidence after falling on a triple Salchow. She went down again on a triple flip and was clearly exhausted by the end. Chiba was only seventh on the day with 123.88 and finished in sixth overall behind compatriot Higuchi Wakaba.

The stage was set for Kim who held an advantage of seven and a half points over Tennell from the short program. And the gold medallist from this month’s Asian Winter Games rose to the occasion with a near-perfect skate to music from Cirque du Soleil.

Kim opened with a double Axel before a triple loop which she landed despite an off-centre take-off. However, she was back on track with an effortless triple flip-double toeloop-double loop combination and followed by a smooth triple Salchow.

The crowd roared its approval after a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combo, and a triple Lutz-double Axel combo and triple flip to complete the jumping were also on point. The end of her routine was greeted with a standing ovation with Republic of Korea flags being waved proudly.

Her free skate score of 148.36 was close to nine points more than her previous best set at the 2023 World Championships, with Kim’s 222.38 total an improvement of almost 14 points on the mark she achieved at November’s GP Cup of China.

2025 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships – Results – Women’s final standings

Top 10:

1. Kim Chaeyeon (KOR) 222.38 (148.36)
2. Bradie Tennell (USA) 204.38 (137.80)
3. Sarah Everhardt (USA) 200.03 (132.67)
4. Alysa Liu (USA) 198.55 (131.46)
5. Higuchi Wakaba (JPN) 195.16 (130.06)
6. Chiba Mone (JPN) 195.08 (123.88)
7. Sofia Samodelkina (KAZ) 193.37 (129.39)
8. Lee Haein (KOR) 183.10 (122.33)
9. Yun Ahsun (KOR) 182.68 (117.11)
10. Sara-Maude Dupuis (CAN) 178.36 (116.01)