Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae was picked as the top South Korean athlete of 2012, a national survey showed Friday.

In the poll by Gallup Korea from Nov. 15 to Dec. 6 on 1,700 South Koreans at least 13 years of age, Son, a star from the London Olympics, received 37.2 of the votes to lead the pack dominated by fellow Olympians.

The voters were allowed to select up to two athletes, according to Gallup Korea. The annual survey on top athletes was first conducted in 2005, and Son topped the list for the first time this year. 

The 18-year-old finished fifth at the London Olympics, the best Olympic performance by a South Korean rhythmic gymnast. She could have reached the podium had she not dropped her clubs during her final program.

The close call further endeared Son to the South Korean public, who embraced her as the darling of the South Korean delegation in London and the country’s most popular girl next door.

Park Tae-hwan, an Olympic swimming star, took second place with

29.1 percent. He grabbed two silver medals in London, overcoming a judging controversy over a disqualification ruling in the heat of his 400-meter freestyle race.

Park Ji-sung, midfielder for Queens Park Rangers in English Premier League, ranked third with 23.7 percent. He was voted the top South Korean athlete in 2011, but he has been held back by injuries in 2012.

Figure skater Kim Yu-na was fourth at 23 percent. She returned to competition earlier this month in Germany, ending a 20-month hiatus, and promptly established the best score by a female figure skater this season en route to a resounding victory. Kim had ranked first on the Gallup survey in 2007, 2008 and 2009. (Yonhap News)

Gymnast Yang Hak-seon, the London Olympic champion in men’s vault, rounded out the top five with 16.3 percent. He is the first South Korean to win an Olympic gymnastics gold.

In sixth was another Olympian, footballer Ki Sung-yueng. The Swansea City midfielder in Premier League was an instrumental player on South Korea’s bronze medal-winning team in London. It was the country’s first Olympic football medal.

Four current and retired baseball players claimed the next four spots in the top 10. Choo Shin-soo of the Cincinnati Reds in Major League Baseball was seventh, followed by pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, who recently signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Park Chan-ho, who retired from baseball in November, ranked 9th and Lee Dae-ho, slugging first baseman for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, came in at 10th.

Since Gallup Korea began this poll, this was the first year that no baseball player was among the top five. 

(Yonhap News)