Son Yeonjae is just 18 and carries South Korea's Olympic aspirations on her agile young shoulders.<br/> <br />She's honing her rhythmic gymnastic skills to a standard she hopes will earn the country's first medal in the discipline.<br/> <br />And if that medal is a gleaming gold one, so much the better.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: SON YEONJAE, RHYTHMIC GYMNAST, SAYING (Korean):<br/> <br />"Once you are in the final everyone starts again from zero points. If I perform perfectly then, a good result will come."<br/> <br />Son is currently ranked 5th in the world.<br/> <br />She got her first domestic gold medal at the age of 11 but says she wasn't sure the sport or the training regime was for her.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: SON YEONJAE, RHYTHMIC GYMNAST, SAYING (Korean):<br/> <br />"I almost gave up in seventh grade. I actually stopped for a few days but that made me feel empty."<br/> <br />Despite her obvious talents things don't always go well.<br/> <br />Son was disqualified at a recent competition in Uzbekistan for borrowing another competitor's ribbon when her own snapped.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: SON YEONJAE, RHYTHMIC GYMNAST, SAYING (Korean):<br/> <br />"The music was still playing and people were watching me, some even clapping, so I just did my best as I wanted to complete my performance."<br/> <br />After the Olympics in London Son's focussing her sights on the 2013 World Championships in Ukraine and then the 2014 Asian Games on home territory.<br/> <br />Paul Chapman, Reuters
