FIGURE SKATING: The highest rating event of the Winter Olympics gets underway tomorrow, with the Ladies’ Individual Figure Skating short program taking place at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi. Australia’s Brooklee Han is delighted to be part of the spectacle.

Han will be the ninth skater to take to the ice after the event gets underway at 7.00pm local time (2.00am Thurs AEDT).

“I’m pretty happy with my draw,” Han said. “I’m not in the first group so that’s good and I think it’s a good spot for me to be in. The first group is always tough... And just because of the stigma, no one ever wants to go first.”

Han feels like she is in top form and after watching her teammates Danielle O’Brien and Greg Merriman achieve their goals in the Ice Dancing, she feels even more motivated for her own event.

“That was really exciting,” she said of their progression to the free program. “I was so nervous but I knew they could do it. It was great to see them put out a personal best performance and it was really good and I hope to keep the momentum going through to my event.

“I’m feeling pretty good and training has been going well. I hope to put out the same programs that I have been doing in practice in the competition.”

Sochi is the first Olympic Games for Han, and even though she is not expecting to challenge for a medal, she is taking the competition very seriously and is looking for a berth in the free skate and two personal best scores.

To give herself the best chance at success, Han left the Athletes’ Village after the Opening Ceremony to train for a week in Oberstdorf, Germany.

“It was really cool to be here and be at the Opening (Ceremony),” the 18-year-old said. “It’s something that I have dreamed of my whole life - walking into the Opening Ceremony. It was very cool to see that dream realised.

“I think going away and coming back has really helped me to prepare and refocus for the competition and let the excitement of the Opening die down and now get ready to compete.

“Germany was great,” she said. “I was able to be on the ice three hours a day like I would be at home, so that was really good to keep my training up in the lead up to the event.

“I was also able to be on with Carolina Kostner [of Italy]. She’s a top-ranked skater in the world at the moment and it was amazing to get to skate with her. I was also on with a lot of other top international skaters that I see at competitions. It was good to be on the ice with other people doing triples and competing this season – pushing me to be at my best and at peak form for the Olympics.”

Kostner is one of a handful of top skaters who Han says will put on a great show in Sochi.

“I think there is going to be a lot of really good skating,” she said. “Skating with Carolina this week and seeing her in practices, she is in exquisite form. Her programs look great - all of her jumps are amazing. I think she really could be in contention for one of top spots.

“The other ladies have been really good this season and have been competing really well,” Han added. “Yulia [Lipnitskaya] in the team event was amazing so I think there are going to be some really good performances here.”

At just 15 years of age, Lipnitskaya is one of a host of young skaters nipping at the heels of the Olympic veterans to challenge for a medal. With a Team event gold medal already in her hands, and the strong local crowd willing her on, Lipnitskaya will definitely put out a tough challenge and is likely to push for a podium finish.

Trying to keep her out of the top spot will be the favourites Yuna Kim of Korea and Mao Asada of Japan.

Kim is the defending Olympic Champion and defending World Champion and has set new records in both the short and free programs countless times. In an outstanding statistic, Kim has never finished a competition without a podium placing.

Asada was the silver medallist at the Vancouver Olympics behind Kim. The two-time World Champion (2008 and 2010) plans to nail eight triple jumps in her free program in Sochi - a triple axel, lutz, flip, loop, salchow, and toe loop. By having such a difficult program, Asada hopes to raise her base score and close in on Kim who is renowned for getting highly scored on execution. If she were to pull off this feat, she would enter the Guinness Book of World Records as the first woman ever to achieve it. Making records is familiar to the 23-year-old who also made the Book after landing three triple axels at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Both Kim and Asada have publicly announced that they will retire after Sochi so will be aiming for a perfect swan song.

The Ladies’ Individual Figure Skating takes place at the Iceberg Skating Palace on Day 9 (Short Program) and Day 10 (Free Program).