[Olympics] Cha Jun-hwan's Quadruple Toe Loop Gamble in Free Skating

Attempting Quadruple Twice... Expecting First Ever Olympic Top 5
Yuzuru Hanyu Announces Unprecedented Quadruple Axel Attempt

[Image source=Yonhap News]

South Korea's figure skating star Cha Jun-hwan (Korea University) will attempt two quadruple (4-rotation) jumps in the free skating program.

According to Olympic data, he is scheduled to perform a quadruple toe loop and a quadruple salchow as his first and second jump elements respectively in the men's singles free skating at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, held on the 10th at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China.

The quadruple toe loop is a toe jump that takes off and lands on the same foot while rotating four times. Its base value is 9.5 points, more than twice that of the triple (3-rotation) toe loop (4.2 points). Cha Jun-hwan's success rate is relatively low. Even at last month's ISU Four Continents Championships, where he won the gold medal, he fell during the landing and received an under-rotated (jump rotation short by 90 to 180 degrees) call. This is a high-risk move, but if successful, he could make history by finishing in the Olympic top 10 or even top 5.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The quadruple salchow is a jump that takes off from the inside edge of the back foot and rotates four times. Its base value (9.7 points) is also more than twice that of the triple salchow (4.3 points). Cha Jun-hwan boasts a high success rate, having cleanly executed it twice at the Four Continents Championships. In the short program at the Beijing Olympics on the 8th, he comfortably performed it, earning a technical element score (TES) of 54.30, program component score (PCS) of 45.21, and a total score of 99.51, ranking 4th out of 29 competitors.

The free skating order is the reverse of the short program ranking. Cha Jun-hwan will perform 21st out of 24 skaters. After showcasing two high-difficulty jumps, he will perform a triple lutz-triple loop combination jump. Then, he will catch his breath with a flying camel spin and a step sequence, followed by a triple axel-double toe loop combination jump and a triple axel in succession. Afterwards, he will attempt a triple lutz-single euler-triple salchow combination jump and a triple flip jump, concluding his performance with a choreographic sequence, change foot sit spin, and change foot combination spin.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan), who missed quadruple jumps in the short program, will attempt four quadruple jumps. He will perform the quadruple axel, which no one has successfully landed, as his first element. This highly difficult jump involves taking off from the forward outside edge and rotating four and a half times. He is determined to overcome his short program setback (95.15 points) by stepping into uncharted territory. Nathan Chen (USA), who set the world record (113.97 points) in the short program, will perform five quadruple jumps. Yuma Kagiyama (Japan), ranked 2nd (108.12 points), plans three attempts, and Shoma Uno (Japan), ranked 3rd (105.90 points), plans five attempts respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.