Korea's Shin Ji-a finishes 4th in short program in figure skating team event

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Korea's Shin Ji-a finishes 4th in short program in figure skating team event

Published: 07 Feb. 2026, 12:01 Updated: 07 Feb. 2026, 17:48

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Figure skater Shin Ji-a of Korea performs during women's short program on Feb. 6. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Shin Ji-a finished fourth in the women's short program of the team event in figure skating at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in northern Italy on Friday.

Shin scored 68.80 points to find herself just off the top three among 10 skaters at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan at the start of the figure skating competition. The 17-year-old earned 37.93 points in the technical element score, which judges jumps, spins and step sequences, and another 30.87 points in the program component score, which accounts for overall artistry and presentation of the program.

Shin's best score of the season is 74.47 points at the Nebelhorn Trophy in September 2025.

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist with three straight world titles from 2022 to 2024, topped the short program with 78.88 points. Alysa Lu of the United States, the 2025 world champion, ranked second with 74.90 points, followed by Lara Naki Gutmann of Italy with 71.62 points.

Ice dance kicked things off with the rhythm dance earlier Friday, and South Korea's Hannah Lim and Quan Ye finished in seventh place with 70.55 points.

The team event features 10 teams who have qualified skaters in at least three of the four disciplines — ice dance, pairs, and the women's and men's singles. Skaters and teams earn points based on their ranking positions, with the top spot good for 10 points and second place worth nine points, and so on.

Shin earned seven points for her effort while Lim and Quan delivered four points. South Korea does not have a team in the pairs and will not receive any points in that discipline, which all but rules it out of medal contention.

Only the top five teams after all the short program segments and rhythm dance will advance to the free skate and free dance portions. Through two segments, South Korea sits in seventh place, eight behind fifth-placed Canada. The United States leads the way with 25 points.

Skating to "Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor" by Frederic Chopin, Shin opened her program with a clean triple lutz, triple toe loop combination. She also landed her double axel cleanly but looked a bit wobbly in the landing of a triple flip later in the program.

The team event will continue Saturday with the men's singles short program and the free dance in ice dance, and will conclude Sunday with the free skates in the men's and women's singles and the pairs.

Yonhap