[News] Kim Yu-na won't appear Grand Prix series.

[News] Kim Yu-na won't appear Grand Prix series.
Cr. - http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/

Kim Yu-na will not compete in next season’s figure skating Grand Prix series, according to the sport’s world governing body Tuesday.

The International Skating Union (ISU) announced on its official website the list of invited skaters, which excluded Kim.

The ISU’s decision comes after the reigning Olympic champion announced her position through the Korea Skating Union (KSU) that she will not compete in any of the Grand Prix events for the 2010-11 season.

After finishing this season’s world championships in April as the runner-up, Kim said she would instead focus on the nation’s 2018 Winter Games bid, for which the winner will be decided on July 6. South Korea’s PyeongChang is competing with Munich of Germany and Annecy of France.

Kwak Min-jung, the only South Korean skater who has previously competed in the series other than Kim, was also left off the list after poor results this season. This will be the first time in six years that the nation will not see any of its local skaters at the Grand Prix.

Miki Ando of Japan, winner of this season’s world championships, was also absent from the list of invitees.

A total of 18 ISU member nations have been invited to the upcoming season. The number of entries for each event has been reduced to 10 for both the ladies’ and men’s competitions and to eight for the pairs and ice dance couples. The skaters have been seeded and invited based on the results of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011.