Yuna Kim in 1st Place After Women's Figure Skating Single Short Program

Yuna Kim, the defending Olympic champion, posted a 74.92 in the short program of ladies' figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics, good enough for first place heading into the free program. 

Kim is just three-tenths of a point ahead of Russian Adelina Sotnikova, who scored 74.62, and just eight-tenths ahead of Italian Carolina Kostner, who scored 74.12. American Gracie Gold, who scored 68.63 is in striking distance in fourth, as are Russian Yulia Lipnitskaya, in fifth with 65.23; and American Ashley Wagner in sixth with 65.21.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated says what everyone was thinking after the performance Kim delivered in the short program:

In what was a stacked field of skaters, the South Korean star was one of the headliners coming into Sochi, Russia, after winning gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In addition to that, Kim won the 2013 World Championships in London.

Coming in, there was no shortage of ladies looking to knock the 23-year-old off her perch.

Julia Lipnitskaia helped Russia take home gold in the team figure skating event, not to mention she's the reigning European champion and has the Sochi crowd firmly behind her. Mao Asada won silver in Vancouver and is still at her peak. There's also Carolina Kostner, who got silver at the 2013 World Championships and won gold at the 2012 and 2013 European Championships.

Americans Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold are also lurking in the background.

As if that's not enough, Kim is also in a fight against history.

The last time a female repeated as gold-medal champion was 1988 with East Germany's Katarina Witt. Before that, you had to go back all the way to 1932 and 1936. Sonja Henie of Norway won gold at three consecutive Olympics.

Kim is well aware of the task at hand, though.

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"The situation and the skills of the athletes are very different (now)," she said, per the Chicago Tribune's Philip Hersh. "It means a lot for me to take part in this Olympics, not that I have to win twice."

The 2014 Olympics are also a chance for Kim to go out on top, as she told Yahoo! Sports' Martin Rogers that this will be her last event.

"It will be the last competition of my professional career, so I want to make sure I have no regrets and enjoy the experience," she said. "It is my second and last Olympics. I can say I'm in good condition as I'm now injury-free at least."

After such a strong score in the short program, Kim is in a great position heading into the free skate. She doesn't have much room for error, thanks to stellar performances from her competitors, but Kim is capable of puling it off. 

Despite her lack of appearances over the last four years, it's clear that Kim hasn't lost a step from her dominant performance of 2010.