Figure skating prospects who grew up watching figure skating queen Kim Yu-na achieved the splendid feat of rising to second place in a national competition that Kim Yu-na had never experienced.
The Korean national team came second after the United States at the 2023 International Skating Union (ISU) Figure Skating World Team Trophy held at the Tokyo Gymnasium in Japan on the 15th (Korean time).
Korea showed off its potential by beating Japan, the host country, in its first tournament. Japan fell behind South Korea and finished in third place for the second time in a row following the previous tournament.
The ISU World Team Trophy is a figure skating team event in which the six countries with the best results during a season participate, and is held every two years in Japan.스포츠토토
Korea has participated in the team event at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, but this is the first time it has participated in the ISU Team Trophy event.
This event is a stage that even figure skating queen Yuna Kim could not step on. Kim Yu-na was a unique existence before figure skating became popular in Korea, so there was a lack of world-class athletes in other events such as men’s singles, pairs, and ice dance. Because of this, South Korea did not qualify for Yuna Kim during her active career.
This year, the ninth year since Yuna Kim retired, was different. Cha Jun-hwan and Lee Hae-in, who nurtured her dreams while watching Kim Yu-na, leaped to the top of the world by winning silver medals side by side at the world championships. Kim Ye-rim in the women’s team and Lee Si-hyeong in the men’s team also played a part in the national team.
In addition, as foreign players joined in pair and ice dance, the competitiveness of the team competition improved. National Ice Dancer Lim Hae-na has dual citizenship between Canada and Korea, and her partner, Quan Ye, is a Chinese-Canadian. Jo Hye-jin, who competes in the pairs event, is also a Canadian-born dual citizen, and her partner Stephen Adcock is Canadian.
It is encouraging that Cha Jun-hwan and Lee Hae-in both ranked first in the men’s and women’s singles events. Cha Jun-hwan defeated Ilya Malinin (USA), whose main weapon is the quadruple jump, after the world championship. Lee Hae-in rose to first place after defeating Kaori Sakamoto (Japan), who had lost first place at the world championships.
The Korean players who performed above expectations in this team trophy competition will be able to prepare for the upcoming 2026 Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics with confidence.