Cha Jun-hwan looking at the Olympics three years later… “I will use advanced techniques”
Cha Jun-hwan (21, Korea University), who became the first Korean male figure skater to win a world championship medal, expressed his determination to compete in the Olympics three years later.
After returning from the world championships on the 27th, Cha Jun-hwan said, “The world championships have been a great experience for me. I am satisfied with winning the medal I had been aiming for.” He continued토토사이트, “I devoted myself to training for 4 round jumps this season, and it feels good to be rewarded with a good score. I will devote myself,” he said.
Cha Jun-hwan received a personal best score of 296.03 points at the 2023 International Skating Union (ISU) Figure Skating World Championships Men’s Singles, which ended in Saitama, Japan on the 25th, and won the silver medal following Shoma Uno (Japan, 301.14 points). Cha Jun-hwan and Lee Hae-in (silver medal) in women’s singles are the first Korean athletes to win medals at the World Championships since Kim Yu-na.
Cha Jun-hwan’s eyes are on the Milan-Cordampezzo Olympics in 2026. Cha Jun-hwan, who ranked 15th at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, who participated at the age of 16, finished 5th in Beijing last year. Cha Jun-hwan said, “The word Olympics always makes my heart pound.
Cha Jun-hwan struggled with boots and hip injuries every year. He didn’t perform well this season either until the World Championships. However, he displayed his skills to the fullest in the biggest competitions. Cha Jun-hwan said, “Ahead of the competition, my skate boots collapsed and had to be replaced, but I tried to overcome it through training. It was a good effect to focus on physical strength training to succeed in the triple axel in the second half of the free skating performance, which made mistakes throughout this season. I saw,” he said.
Lee Hae-in, who won the women’s singles medal for the first time in 10 years since Kim Yu-na, also returned home. Lee Hae-in said, “I couldn’t participate in the Beijing Olympics, but I was determined to show a good performance in other competitions and tried my best. I had some doubts about myself, but I didn’t give up. Through this competition, I found confidence.” Lee Hae-in said, “I am happy just to be able to perform in front of a large audience. I am happy to be able to perform my best performance this season at the World Championships.”
Lee Hae-in also dreams of technological development. It is the completion of the triple axel (three and a half revolutions) jump that I have been challenging but have not perfected. Lee Hae-in tried the triple axel several times, but in this competition, it was not added to the program in order to operate it stably. Lee Hae-in pledged, “I want to perform a triple axel jump (rotating 3 and a half turns) next season.”
He also did not forget to thank his role model Kim Yuna. Lee Hae-in said, “I received a message congratulating me after the competition. I was very grateful.