Figure skater Julian Yee records personal best in FreeSkate world championship finals

Yee at the world skating championship in Boston

PETALING JAYA: National figure skater Julian Yee Zhi Jie is one step closer to achieving his dream of competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics after recording his personal best for Free Skate at the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston on Saturday.

The 18-year-old, who is also Malaysia’s sole representative at the Championships managed to break the 200 mark after securing 202.94 points overall in the final of the FreeSkate of the competition.

Yee had told the Star just hours before the event that he was very happy to have reached the final stage of the competition.

“It feels great to be here. Being the first ever Malaysian to qualify for this Championship and the finals is absolutely an honour and a good experience.

“I think I can say that I'm ready to take on the FreeSkate later on and hope I will be able to do my best,” he said.

Yee had stressed that doing well in the competition was important as it would give him an idea of how close he is from qualifying for next year’s figure skating World Championships in Helsinki as part of his bid to secure a place at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

"The current World Championships here in Boston actually acts as a dry run for me to get a taste of how it will be in next year's World Championships in Helsinki.