Milan: While preparing for Thursday night's free skate at her first Winter Olympics in Italy, figure skater Lee Hae-in tried to stop and smell the roses, instead of just having tunnel vision on the task at hand. A sensitive type who enjoys drawing and jotting down her thoughts throughout the day, Lee looked out the window of her shuttle bus taking her back to the village after a training session Thursday afternoon and fell in love with the sunset in Milan.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee took pictures and wrote about how pretty the sunset was, which helped her to feel relaxed. After scoring her season-best 210.56 points overall to finish in eighth place at Milano Ice Skating Arena, she expressed the importance of focusing on the competition while also appreciating the opportunity to be at the Olympics. Lee scored her season high of 140.49 points in the free skate. Despite being called for an incorrect edge on both of her triple lutz jumps and losing points for an under-rotation of her landing of a triple flip, she avoided major mistakes and earned full Level 4s on her spins and step sequence.
The 20-year-old skater shared her nervousness during the performance but felt proud of maintaining her composure. Lee hoped to have created fond memories for the audience with her program set to "Carmen Suite No. 1" by Georges Bizet. She expressed joy in her performance, feeling it was her time on the ice to savor and cherish.
After completing her free skate, Lee lay down on the ice, feeling relieved and satisfied with her performance. Her goal was to achieve new season-best marks in both her short program and free skate, which she accomplished during the week. Despite acknowledging that her performances were not perfect, Lee felt content with showing everything she could.
Lee mentioned she is not yet ready to focus on the next Olympics in 2030, emphasizing her current goal to skate for as long as possible and take each day as it comes. She remains open to the possibility of testing herself at another Olympics if the opportunity arises.