[Olympics] Figure Skater Cha Jun-hwan Ranks 5th with Personal Best 282.38 Points

Cha Jun-hwan is bowing after finishing his performance to the music of the opera "Turandot" in the men's singles free skating event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics held on the 10th at the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomibeum] Figure skating men's singles leader Cha Jun-hwan (Korea University) finished 5th in his Olympic figure skating challenge.

On the 10th, at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics figure skating men's singles free skating held at the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium in China, Cha Jun-hwan received a technical score (TES) of 93.59 points, a program components score (PCS) of 90.28 points, and a deduction of 1 point, totaling 182.87 points.

With a short program score of 99.51 points combined, his final total score was 282.38 points, placing him 5th overall behind Nathan Chen (USA, 332.60 points), Yuma Kagiyama (310.05 points), Shoma Uno (293.00 points), and Yuzuru Hanyu (283.21 points, all from Japan).

This is the first time a Korean skater has ranked within the top 5 in Olympic figure skating since Kim Yuna.

Cha Jun-hwan also significantly surpassed his own highest Olympic ranking for Korean men's singles, which was 15th place at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Additionally, he exceeded the Korean men's singles official highest score (273.22 points) that he set last month at the International Skating Union (ISU) Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.

Among 24 competitors, Cha Jun-hwan took to the ice 21st and began his free skating performance to Giacomo Puccini's Turandot.

He attempted his first jump element, the quadruple toe loop jump, but fell badly.

The quadruple toe loop is the jump with the lowest success rate among Cha Jun-hwan's elements. Unfortunately, he was unable to land it successfully on the Olympic stage.

However, Cha Jun-hwan was undeterred and boosted his momentum by cleanly executing his second jump element and signature move, the quadruple Salchow.

He then performed the third element, a triple Lutz-triple loop combination jump, without major mistakes, followed by an elegant flying camel spin and step sequence, enhancing the completeness of his performance.

After regaining his composure, Cha Jun-hwan cleanly executed a triple Axel-double toe loop combination jump to finish the first half of his program.

He delivered a high-level performance in the latter half, which carries a 10% bonus.

Cha Jun-hwan cleanly landed a triple Axel and smoothly executed a triple Lutz-single Euler-triple Salchow combination jump.

He then cleanly completed his final jump element, the triple flip.

Cha Jun-hwan concluded his performance with a choreographic sequence, change foot sit spin, and change foot combination spin, finishing with a bright smile.

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