South Korean figure skating star Kim Yu-na will help promote the first-ever Youth Winter Games.

The International Olympic Committee appointed Wednesday the 21-year-old Kim as an ambassador for the 2012 Winter Youth Games, along with Olympic ski champions Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. and Benjamin Raich of Austria.

Kim’s role is to inspire and mentor the athletes competing at the Games while encouraging young people from all over the world to become more active in sports, according to the IOC.

The figure skating star won Olympic gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games with a world record-beating score, and also helped PyeongChang win the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Speaking through the IOC, Kim said that she was honored to become an ambassador for the inaugural Youth Winter Games.

“Having competed as an athlete since a very young age, I can relate to the participants of Innsbruck 2012 and I hope I can share my knowledge, passion and experience to motivate them to reach their potential,” she said.

The 2012 Youth Winter Games are scheduled to take place from Jan. 13-22 in Innsbruck, Austria, and expected to attract more than 1,000 top athletes between ages 15 and 18 from 65 countries.

The athletes will compete in the same seven sports, including ski half-pipe and women’s ski jumping, as those on the program for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)