Yeo Seo-jeong secured her place at the 2026 Asian Games after winning the final national team trials for South Korea's artistic gymnastics squad.
Competing Saturday and Sunday at the Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong Province, Yeo posted a combined score of 106.366 points to finish first in the 2026 Artistic Gymnastics National Team and International Competition Selection Trials.
Lee Yun-seo placed second with 102.733 points, while Shin Sol-i finished third on 101.699.
The selection confirms Yeo's return to the Asian Games for the first time since 2018, marking her second appearance at the continental event.
Yeo, whose signature event is the vault, dominated the first round of competition on Friday with a score of 14.600. She added 12.867 on uneven bars, 13.633 on balance beam and 13.000 on floor exercise for a total of 54.100 points.
In Saturday's second round, Yeo scored 14.677 on vault, 12.333 on uneven bars, 12.433 on balance beam and 12.833 on floor exercise for a total of 52.266 points. Although she finished second in the session behind Shin Sol-i's 52.299, her combined score across both days was enough to retain the overall lead.
Yeo is regarded as the face of South Korean women's artistic gymnastics after becoming the first Korean woman gymnast to win an Olympic medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo in August 2021.
She also captured gold in the vault at the 2018 Asian Games.
Yeo had initially aimed to defend her Asian Games title, but skipped the 2022 Asian Games, held in 2023, in order to compete at the World Championships and pursue qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics team event.
Speaking through her agency, All That Sports, Yeo said she was excited to return to the Asian Games stage after eight years.
"I was very disappointed that I couldn't compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games because I had to participate in the World Championships, which were tied to Olympic qualification," she said. "I'm excited to compete at the Asian Games again after eight years."
Yeo added that she feels she is recovering well from a prior injury and gradually returning to form, though she acknowledged mistakes on the balance beam during Saturday's competition.
"Today, unlike yesterday, I made mistakes on the balance beam," Yeo said. "I plan to work hard in training to improve the areas where I came up short today."
She also vowed to continue preparing for the Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan.
Following her first-place finish at the trials, Yeo is also set to compete at the Asian Championships in China in June and the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in the Netherlands in October.
(This article was produced with the assistance of AI. — Ed.)
khnews@heraldcorp.com
