Cha Jun-hwan to the Olympics for the third consecutive time, "Dream stage... "I'll show you everything"

*This content was translated by AI.

He was indeed the star of Korean men's figure skating. Cha Jun-hwan (24, Seoul City Hall) showed off his overwhelming skills and won the right to participate in the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics.

Cha Jun-hwan scored 88.03 points in technical score (TES) and 92.31 points in art score (PCS) in men's senior free skating at the 80th National Figure Skating Championships, the second national Winter Olympics team selection match and KB Financial Group held at Mokdong Ice Rink in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 4th, receiving a total score of 180.34 points. He won the championship with a total of 277.84 points, including the short program score (97.50 points) the previous day, achieving his 10th consecutive victory in the tournament.

Cha Jun-hwan ranked first overall with a combined score of 533.56 in the first round, becoming the main character of the Olympic ticket given to the top two. It is the third Olympic stage after the 2018 Pyeongchang (15th) and 2022 Beijing (5th). This is the second time in Korean men's singles history since Jung Sung-il, who participated in three consecutive tournaments from 1988 to 1994.

Cha's journey this season has not been smooth. He struggled with chronic boot problems and suffered ups and downs, such as making a jump mistake in the first round of selection.

In fact, Cha replaced more than 10 boots this season alone, and he had to change his skates just before this tournament. Cha Jun-hwan once again proved himself to be the strongest in Korea by skillfully overcoming the crisis.

According to Newsis, Cha Jun-hwan said in a post-match interview, "The Olympics are a dream moment for me. "I'm grateful to participate in the Milan tournament after Beijing," he said. "I've had ups and downs and had a hard time, but I got the right to participate after trying hard. I will prepare better for the rest of the time," he said.

Regarding the chronic boot problem, he said, "I had to replace it again just before the general championship, but now I'm getting used to it," adding, "Today's performance was disappointing, but I'm continuing to improve my skills." I want to go through the Four Continents Championships and make the best composition for the Olympics," he said.

Cha was calm in front of the record of participating in the Olympics for three consecutive times. He said, "I have the same mindset as when I was in Pyeongchang or Beijing. Rather than setting goals by ranking, I want to do my best based on my experience, he said. "I will show everything I can on the spot."

The remaining Olympic ticket went to "Second Cha Jun-hwan" Kim Hyun-gyeom (19, Korea University). Kim Hyun-kyum ranked fourth overall with a combined score of 467.25 in the first and second trials, but he got on the train to Milan as the next ranking member as Seo Min-kyu (Kyung Shin-go) and Choi Ha-bin (Han Advertising), who ranked second and third, were unable to participate due to the International Skating Union's age restriction rules (over 17 years old).

Cha Jun-hwan encouraged junior Kim Hyun-gyeom, who is about to face his first Olympics in his life, saying, "The Olympics are the stage of every player's dream," and "I hope you enjoy the moment that will not come again to your heart."

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*This content was translated by AI.