*This content was translated by AI.
Cha Jun-hwan (25, Seoul City Hall), a Korean male figure skating star who is trying to win his first Olympic medal, made a mistake in the team event.
Cha Jun-hwan scored 41.78 points in technical score (TES) and 41.75 points in art score (PCS) in the men's single short program at the 2026 Milan/Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics Figure Skating Team Event held at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy on the 8th (Korea time), ranking 8th with a total of 83.53.
It was a shame that a mistake came out of the triple axel. The regret was even greater because Cha Jun-hwan, who rarely makes mistakes in triple axels. During the leap process, the timing was slightly off and the rotation was not done properly, and eventually, the score was failed as it was invalidated by the first rotation. In particular, it was a mistake made after finishing the most difficult quadruple salco neatly, so the regret doubled.
With this, the Korean figure finished the team event in seventh place with a total score of 14. On this day, Cha Jun-hwan added three points for the team event. On top of that, ice dance by Lim Hae-na and Kwon Ye (Gyeonggi General) on the previous day (7th) scored 4 points in 7th place, and Shin Ji-ah (Sehwa Girls' High School) of women's singles scored 7 points in 4th place.
Since Korea did not compete in pair events, it was a disadvantageous condition because it competed only with scores in three events. Nevertheless, the team beat three other teams from other countries, who played in all four events. However, he failed to win the free skating and free dance tickets that only the top five teams could climb.
This was Cha's third Winter Olympics stage after the 2018 Pyeongchang and 2022 Beijing Games. Cha Jun-hwan received an additional score of 2.91 with a neat success of his first jumping task, quadruple salco. Then, the triple lutz and triple loop combination jumps were also successfully completed, performing the flying Carmel spin task at level 4. However, he bowed his head unfortunately as the triple axel led to a single axel due to a weak rotation. In the end, Cha Jun-hwan finished his performance by performing all of the change foot combination spin, step sequence, and change foot combination spin at level 4.
According to News 1, Newsis, Cha Jun-hwan, who met with reporters in the mixed zone after the game, said, "I played to the best of my ability. I'm sorry for the mistake of the third jump (triple axel). It's more regrettable because it's a mistake that you don't usually make. The timing was not right as I took off. I'd like to think of 'I got vaccinated' before the individual exhibition. The other elements are as satisfied with me as I practiced. Now, I will make up for it in the individual competition," he said, adding that he blamed himself and strengthened his determination.
Cha Jun-hwan then said of his jump mistake, "There was a little bit of tension. Still, the jump mistake is not due to nervousness. I think a certain level of tension is absolutely necessary. "It can be seen as a pleasant tension," he said. "I think it was loose because the timing was not right when I took off."
It is the first time in eight years that South Korea has participated in a figure team event at the Winter Olympics since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Eight years ago, Cha Jun-hwan was the youngest member of the national team. However, he is now taking on the role of captain as the eldest brother. Cha Jun-hwan said, "It's a pleasure and an honor to be able to continue participating in the Olympics. As I held a team event this time, I received a lot of good energy from junior players. I learn a lot from their mindset," he said with emphasis.
Now, the Korean figure skating team will have an individual match schedule. First, the ice dance rhythm dance at 3 a.m. on the 10th, the men's single short program at 2:30 a.m. on the 11th, and the women's single short program at 3:45 a.m. on the 18th will be held, respectively. Cha Jun-hwan promised next, saying, "I have two days before the individual game, and I want to recover well and play better."
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*This content was translated by AI.
