Asiad figure skating champions eager to entertain home crowd at int’l event

Cha Jun-hwan and Kim Chae-yeon, the two figure skating gold medalists at the recent Asian Winter Games in China, said Tuesday they will embrace an opportunity to entertain their home crowd at an international competition in Seoul this week.

The two will skate at the International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, set to run from Thursday to Sunday at Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul.

The Four Continents championships are open to skaters from non-European nations.

Cha was the bronze medalist at last year’s Four Continents behind two Japanese skaters, Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato. However, at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin last Thursday, Cha beat both of them for the gold medal.

Cha trailed Kagiyama 103.81-94.09 after the short program but led all skaters in the free skate with 187.60 points to grab the gold medal at 281.69 points. Kagiyama, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, only had 168.95 points in the free skate to finish at 272.76 points overall.

Kim, the silver medalist at the 2024 Four Continents, also mounted a comeback for her Asian Winter Games gold.

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, a three-time world champion, led after the short program with 75.03 points, and Kim was second with her personal-best 71.88 points. Kim also set a new personal best in the free skate with 147.56 points and finished with 219.44 points. Sakamoto earned only 136.87 points in her mistake-filled free skate for a total of 211.90 points.

Both Cha and Kim have a quick turnaround after the Asian Games but said Tuesday they will be ready.

“After a competition as big as the Asian Games, it’s hard not to feel exhausted, but I have experience handling tight schedules,” Cha said at the press conference at the Mokdong arena. “I have plans on how to prepare myself for this event. Since this is the first Four Continents in Korea in five years, I will try to do the best I can in front of our home fans and not have any regrets at the end.”

Kim said she will try to pick up where she left off in Harbin.

“I hope I can perform as well as I did at the Asian Games and touch the hearts of many fans at this event,” Kim said. “I am trying to get my body ready for this week. I competed at three consecutive events earlier this year, and I will try to lean on that experience.”

Both said there are no secrets to preparing for back-to-back competitions, other than to eat well and get good rest.

Cha is doing a juggling act away from the ice. He has applied to become South Korea’s sole candidate in the election for the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Athletes’ Commission next year. And Cha and one other hopeful, former Olympic bobsleigh medalist Won Yun-jong, will have an interview with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) on Feb. 26. The KSOC is expected to notify the IOC of its decision sometime in mid-March.

Cha has previously said he was inspired by Ryu Seung-min, former Athletes’ Commission member and current KSOC president-elect, to run for IOC membership.

“When I am not competing or training, I’ve been using my spare time to prepare for the interview and study more about the Athletes’ Commission,” Cha said. “I have some ideas on what I’d like to do if I am elected, and I want to be able to express them well in the interview.”

At the Asian Games, Cha skated just hours after Kim had delivered the gold. He said he drew “positive energy” from Kim for his own free skate.

Kim said her gold medal changed her life in ways she hadn’t expected.

“I now have so many more followers on Instagram,” Kim said with a smile. “It was an honor to win the gold medal alongside Jun-hwan.”

In the women’s singles, Kim will be up against fellow Korean skater Lee Hae-in, the 2023 Four Continents champion.

This will be Lee’s first international competition of the season. She was suspended for three years by the Korea Skating Union in June last year after being accused of sexually harassing an underage male teammate during a national team training camp in Italy the previous month.

In November, though, the Seoul Eastern District court granted Lee’s request to pause the ban, allowing her to compete at the national team trials in December and earn her spot at the Four Continents. Lee had argued that she and the teammate had been in a romantic relationship, and her act could not have constituted harassment.

“I am thankful for this opportunity to skate in an international event at home. I am looking forward to meeting with my fans again,” Lee said. “I am also happy to be talking about a competition in front of so many people (as opposed to other issues). I will trust my preparation and do the best I can until the end.”

The men’s short program will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, and the women’s short program will start at 6 p.m. Friday.

The men’s free skate is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Saturday, and the women’s free skate will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday.