BEIJING– During the South Korean short track speed skating team’s practice in Beijing on Sunday night, the country’s singles figure skater, Cha Jun-hwan, made an unexpected appearance on the sidelines.
Both short track and figure skating during Beijing 2022 will take place at Capital Indoor Stadium in the Chinese capital. The short track competition began Saturday, and Cha will start his second Olympics with the short program Tuesday.
In the leadup to his competition, though, Cha has had just one look at the main competition rink. He has had three training sessions at the adjacent practice rink instead.
Following his latest run-through at the practice venue Monday, Cha said he had a few reasons for his visit to the short track practice.
“I haven’t had a chance to see the main rink that much, and so I wanted to get a better feel of the venue,” Cha said. “As part of my preparation, I wanted to visualize myself on the ice there.”
Cha was seen moving his arms around, as if imagining himself performing at Capital Indoor Stadium. And it just so happened that South Korea’s short trackers were training there right at that moment.
“I found out our short trackers would have practice there, and it’s always great to see them skate,” Cha said. “We are such a huge short track power. Hopefully, I was able to draw some positive energy from them.”
The short track practice, however, had a rather somber tone. It took place about 24 hours after South Korea’s mixed relay team crashed out of the quarterfinals and didn’t come close to even sniffing a medal.
When told that South Korea had disappointed in short track over the weekend, Cha said with a smile, “Our team will be just fine. Our short trackers have been great for a long time. Hopefully, they’ll do better tonight.”
South Korea will compete in the women’s 500m and the men’s 1,000m later Monday.
Source: Yonhap News Agency