Gymnast Son Yeon-jae Becomes Cover Girl for French Magazine

Published on 2012/04/03 | Source

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae has appeared as a cover model for this month's edition of an officially sanctioned French gymnastics magazine.

"Son was selected as the model for the cover of the April edition of Le Gymnaste, a monthly magazine in France published by the French Gymnastics Federation [FFG]", her management agency IB Sports said on Monday.

The magazine allotted four pages to Son's pictures and interview as it reported in detail on the recent developments of the Korean star.

An official from the magazine said, "We were very impressed by a gymnast who only finished 32nd in the World Championships in Moscow in 2010, but who won a ticket to the London Olympics at the next worlds one year later. We chose Son as our cover model as we thought she has great potential".

Son finished 11th in the individual all-around at the 2011 World Championships in Montpellier, France, last September to book her berth at this year's Summer Games. The top 15 finishers automatically qualified for the Olympics.

Meanwhile, at the 2012 Grand Prix in Thiais, France, which ended on Monday, Son advanced to the finals in three disciplines but failed to grab a medal. She ranked fourth in the ball routine with 27.525 points, eighth in hoop with 26.875 points, and ninth in ribbon with 27.200 points to finish 11th in the individual all-around.

At the previous Grand Prix in Moscow in February, Son won the bronze medal in hoop, becoming the first Korean to win a medal in an individual event final at an international competition.

The Thiais GP is administered by the FFG but is not recognized by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). However, most of the world's top gymnastics, including Russian stars Yevgeniya Kanayeva and Daria Kondakova, participated this year in the run-up to the Olympics.