"The history of Korean figure Korea even if I missed the medal." Cha Jun-hwan said, "The result is unfortunate, but I achieved it in the process... I want to rest now." [the scene of Milan]

*This content was translated by AI.

Cha Jun-hwan (Korea University), a Korean male figure skater, unfortunately missed the medal by 0.98 points, but he made another history by ranking fourth, the highest ever. Cha Jun-hwan, who poured everything into the third Olympic stage, said, "I'm satisfied even if it's too bad."

Cha Jun-hwan scored a total of 181.20 points in the men's single free skate at the '2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics' held at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy on the 13th (local time) with 95.16 points in technical score (TES), 87.04 points in art score (PCS), and 1 point in deduction.

Cha Jun-hwan, who received 92.72 points in the short program earlier, ranked fourth with a total score of 273.92.

The gold medal was won by Mikhail Shaydorov of Kazakhstan with 291.58 points. The silver and bronze medals were taken by Japan. The silver medal is Kagiyama Yuma of Japan with 280.06 points and the bronze medal is Shato Shun of Japan with 274.90. The difference between Cha Jun-hwan and Shun is only 0.98 points.

Cha Jun-hwan, who continued to break the Korean Olympic men's singles ranking by ranking 15th in Pyeongchang 2018 and 5th in Beijing 2022, sought his first ever medal at the third Olympics, but was eliminated by a hair's breadth. But Cha once again broke his highest ranking in the third Olympics.

Cha Jun-hwan, who started acting to "Balada para un Loco," started off in a good mood by succeeding in his first task, quadruple salco. However, it was painful to make a mistake when the landing shook and fell during the quadruple toe loop jump.

However, Cha Jun-hwan, who got up right away, pulled off the remaining jumping tasks such as the triple lutz-triple toe loop combination and triple axel without making a big mistake. In particular, the program was completed by stably delaying the combination jump of the second half of the extra point section and the step and spin elements that received the highest difficulty (Level 4). Cha fell short of his personal best (296.03 points in total) set at the 2023 World Championships.

Cha Jun-hwan flopped down regretfully. But soon he got up and greeted the crowd with a lighthearted look. He then looked at the camera and didn't forget to say "thank you."

Cha Jun-hwan's expression, which he met in the mixed zone (joint coverage area) after the game, was full of relief even though he was disappointed. "I was waiting for the end of the third Olympics and I was curious," he said. "I made a mistake in the free, but I'm satisfied because I poured everything into it like I promised after the short."

He confessed his honest feelings about the result of being fourth with a 0.98 point difference. Cha Jun-hwan said, "If you look at the rankings, you can't help but feel disappointed," but added, "But if you look at the process you've been preparing, you've poured out everything without any regret. The achievement of the results is a little disappointing, but the achievement of the process seems to be definitely achieved. I learned more in my life as a person than in my life as a player," he said.

Regarding the scene where he was lying on the ice after the game, he laughed, saying, "I was completely discharged." "After I fell once, my pace was shaky, and I did my best to make it work," he said. "From the moment I made a mistake, I already accepted it as part of me, and I thought it was my job not to give up until the end, so I focused on it," he explained.

The last four years have been a 'patient time' for him. I had to endure frequent injuries and pain. Cha Jun-hwan said, "There were many times when the time to wear skates itself was painful due to severe injuries. I came to the moment I wanted to give up countless times, but I held on without collapsing, he said. "I want to present a 'rest' to myself after a difficult journey." I want to tell you that you worked hard," he said.

As for the 2030 Olympics challenge, he said, "I don't want to make a conclusion yet," adding, "There may be next time, but I want to have some time to breathe now that the competition is over."

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.