BEIJING– South Korean figure skater Cha Jun-hwan had just set a new personal best score in the short program on Tuesday, but the plight of the country’s short track speed skating team wasn’t too far from his mind.
With the short trackers reeling from questionable refereeing that cost them a shot at a medal at Beijing 2022 on Monday, Cha offered his moral support to his fellow athletes.
“I watched those races last night in the village, and it broke my heart,” Cha said of the disqualification for two short trackers, Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo. “South Korean short trackers are the best in the world. I hope they will bounce back from this.”
Cha said he made sure his disappointment from watching the short track races wouldn’t distract him from his own Olympic competition. And it showed on the ice on Tuesday, as he scored 99.51 points to rank fourth heading into Thursday’s free skate.
“I felt some nerves but I tried to enjoy being on the ice,” Cha said. “I was hoping maybe I’d break 100 points. But I am satisfied that I had a clean performance.”
He opened his program with a successful quadruple salchow, the most difficult element of his short program.
“I had a bit of a mistake on it during my warm-up, but I didn’t worry about it,” Cha said. “I am happy to have pulled it off in competition.”
In the free skate, Cha will attempt quadruple jumps: salchow and toe loop.
“I’ve been getting better and better with my quad toe loop,” he said. “I will try to peak in time for the free skate.”
Cha will most likely become the first South Korean male figure skater to crack the top 10 in the Olympics, and a medal isn’t out of the question, either. But as has been his mantra all season, Cha spoke of the need to focus on the process, not the result.
“I am not going to be too greedy,” he said. “I will concentrate on having a clean performance like I did today.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency