Korean Figure Skating Returns to Olympic Team Event After 8 Years... First Match on the 6th

Before the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, which will be held on the morning of the 7th (Korea time), Korean figure skating will begin its Olympic schedule on the 6th with the team event.

In the figure skating team event, the rankings are determined by combining the results of four disciplines: men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance.

Im Haena (left) and Kwon Ye, who will compete in the figure skating ice dance event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, were warming up at the Milan Ice Skating Arena on the 2nd (local time). [Photo by Yonhap News]

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The Korean figure skating team is competing in the team event for the first time in eight years since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, which were held on home ice. Although the team hesitated over whether to participate because, without a pairs team, it would be realistically difficult to aim for a top finish, they ultimately decided to take part so that the skaters in the individual events could get used to the ice conditions.

In the team event, Korea will compete without a pairs team, fielding only the skaters entered in the men's and women's individual events and the ice dance rhythm dance team of Im Haena and Kwon Ye.

Im Haena was born in Canada and holds dual citizenship of Korea and Canada, while Chinese-Canadian Kwon Ye acquired Korean nationality in December 2024 through a special naturalization process by the Ministry of Justice in order to compete at the Olympics.

The figure skating team event will be held from the 6th to the 8th (local time). On the 6th, the ice dance rhythm dance team of Im Haena and Kwon Ye will compete in the ice dance rhythm dance event, and Shin Jia will skate in the short program. On the 7th, the men's singles short program and the ice dance free dance will take place, followed by the men's and women's free programs on the 8th.