"Oh, my God!' Cool-headed gamblers, "Cha Jun-hwan, apparently out of the medal range → Rather, Kim Hyun-gyeom is close."

*This content was translated by AI.

Ahead of the opening of the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, overseas betting companies are paying unusual attention to Cha Jun-hwan (25, Seoul City Hall), the "signboard of men's figure skating." While Cha Jun-hwan, who was expected to be a strong candidate for a medal, was pushed out of the medal table, Kim Hyun-kyum (20, Korea University), who is growing rapidly, gave a surprising prospect that he could become the main character of the surprise medal.

According to the men's single medal prediction product released by major sports betting companies in Europe and North America as of the 3rd, Cha Jun-hwan does not exist as an item in the championship prediction product. Rather, Kim Hyun-kyum was listed as the 17th most likely gold medalist. Britain-based Bet365 has set a gold medal dividend of 151 times for Kim Hyun-kyung.

Thirty people will participate in the men's single figure skating event. The domestic players are Cha Jun-hwan and Kim Hyun-gyeom. Cha Jun-hwan, who will compete in his third Winter Olympics since the 2018 Sochi Olympics, ranked 15th in Sochi in 2018 and 5th in Beijing in 2022. Kim Hyun-kyum is making his first appearance in the Winter Olympics. At the Four Continents Championships, which ended in January, Kim Hyun-kyum seems to be paying attention to his growth, although he lost the silver medal to Cha Jun-hwan in 17th place in the overall ranking.

However, the view of the domestic ice skating community is different. Cha Jun-hwan's recent performance in second place in the free skating at the Four Continents Championships is an atmosphere that gamblers who calculate only by numbers overlook. In particular, Cha Jun-hwan also showed off his ability to overcome his undervaluation and enter the "Top 5" at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Meanwhile, the likely candidate for the gold medal was Ilia Malinin (22) of the U.S. He gave a high score to his rise in winning the gold medal at the Grand Prix Final in December last year. Bet365 set a dividend of 1.02 on Malinin, while Unibet gave 1.03. This means that the lower the dividend, the more likely it is. If you bet 10,000 won, you will get 10,300 won back. Japan's Yuma Kagiyama (23) also came in second place with a generally consistent evaluation. She is a silver medalist at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The prevailing view is that the mixed race will unfold for the bronze medal.

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*This content was translated by AI.