Up-and-coming figure skater Kim Hae-jin said Wednesday she was eagerly anticipating her first Winter Olympics in two months’ time alongside her famous role model.

The 16-year-old booked her spot at the Sochi Winter Games by placing second behind Park So-youn at last month’s Olympic trials.

The two teenagers will be joined by the reigning Olympic champion Kim Yu-na, 23, an iconic star for Kim Hae-jin and many other young figure skaters here.

Speaking to Yonhap on the sidelines of a corporate event in Seoul, Kim Hae-jin said she is feeling a mixed bag of emotions.

“Since this will be my first Olympics and it’s such a big event, I can feel that I am growing nervous,” she said of the Feb. 7-23 event. “At the same time, it will be a huge honor to skate at the Olympics next to Kim Yu-na. Just thinking about taking the same ice as her gets me all excited.”

The two Kims are represented by the same Seoul-based agency, and share David Wilson as their choreographer.

The younger Kim hopes that she will eventually have more common with the two-time world champion.

Kim Hae-jin won three consecutive South Korean national titles starting in 2010. At the 2010 national championships, she became the first female skater since Kim Yu-na in 2003 to capture the title while still attending elementary school.

Then in Slovenia in September 2012, Kim Hae-jin became the first South Korean since Kim Yu-na to win an International Skating Union Junior Grand Prix competition. An accomplished technician from an early age, Kim Hae-jin can land five types of triple jumps, except for the triple axel, which requires three and a half rotations with a forward takeoff and is considered the most challenging jump for female skaters. (Yonhap News)