AFP - World figure skating champion Kim Yu-Na is looking ahead with a fresh frame of mind to the Winter Olympics after her flawless image was tarnished at the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo at the weekend.

"I have not been perfect in the Grand Prix series and I learned again what I would need to work on," the 19-year-old South Korean said after battling back from second spot in the short programme to win her third final title.

"This was my last competition before the Olympics and I wanted to win with a wonderful performance. I am a bit dissatisfied with the way I skated," Kim added. "But I won at the end of the day and it gives me a certain level of confidence toward the Olympics."

At the final, Kim struggled with triple jumps and lost the short programme for the first time in seven events since the 2008 world championships.

It further debunked the myth of infallibility which surrounded Kim since she won the season-opening GP in Paris by stretching her own world record score to 210.03 points.

At Skate America last month, she boosted her world mark for the short programme to 76.28 points, skating to a medley of James Bond movie themes. But then she bowed to American Rachael Flatt in free skating, when she fell on a triple flip, and still won overall.

In the short programme in Tokyo on Friday, Kim popped a triple flip following a flawed opening triple-triple combination.

In the long programme on Saturday, she doubled the second jump, a triple toeloop, in two combinations. But she went on with high-level spins and spirals to the tune of George Gershwin's "Concerto in F" and beat 2007 world champion Miki Ando of Japan by 188.68-185.94.

"It was a very tough competition and I didn't give up to the end," said Kim, South Korea's first world-class figure skater, who trains in Toronto under Canada's two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser.

"I wasn't tense just because this is the Olympic season. I want to grow further by maintaining the level of ability and gaining new confidence."

She regained the GP Final title which she lost last year to Japan's then reigning world champion Mao Asada.

Asada, also 19, failed to qualify for the elite final after struggling with her trademark 3.5-revolution triple axel.

But, with her best score at 201.87, she may become a threat to Kim's Olympic gold medal bid in Vancouver if she wins a berth. Both missed the 2006 Games as they were a few months too young to be eligible to compete.

Other leading female skaters are world silver medalist Joannie Rochette of Canada won Skate Canada with 182.90 points. Another Japanese Akiko Suzuki won the Cup of China with 176.66.

The Grand Prix Final brought together the top six finishers by points in each category from the six-event GP series over six weeks. Each skater or duo could enter two events.