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Korean snowboarder, figure skater aim for medals in Friday events

Published: 12 Feb. 2026, 09:28 Updated: 13 Feb. 2026, 00:07

KIM MIN-YOUNG
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Lee Chae-un competes in the men's halfpipe qualification at the Winter Olympics at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy, on Feb. 11. [YONHAP]

Snowboarder Lee Chae-un and figure skater Cha Jun-hwan will chase medals in their respective events at the Winter Olympics in northern Italy on Friday.

Lee scored 82.00 points on Wednesday to place ninth among 25 competitors in the men’s snowboard halfpipe qualification at the Milan-Cortina Games. He put up his 82-point run on his first attempt, but fell during his second run and received no score.

Lee's score landed him among the top 12 qualifiers, and he will be moving on to the final, a first for a Korean man in the event.

The finalists will each take three runs, and the best score of the three will determine the final standings. The highest and lowest of the six judges' scores will be discarded.

As the boarders perform acrobatic moves on a 22-foot, U-shaped ramp, they will be judged on degrees of difficulty, height and execution of their moves.

“I’ve worked on the triple 1620 for a long time,” Lee said Wednesday. “In recent practice, I tried it four times and landed it all four times. It’s a trick only I can do, so if I land it, I can earn a lot of bonus points.”

Cha Jun-hwan performs his short program in the men's singles figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Feb. 10. [YONHAP]

Also on Friday, Cha will perform his free skate in the men's singles figure skating event at the Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan.

He ranked sixth in Tuesday's short program with a season-best 92.72 points. He sits 9.83 points behind third-place Adam Siao Him Fa of France.

“The mistake in the team event was probably just a conditioning issue," said Cha, speaking to reporters after the event. "Because of a boot problem, I couldn’t train properly for a long time, but I trained intensely in a short period. Today, I was able to skate the way I wanted.”

Cha finished fifth at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, the highest placement by a Korean male figure skater, and will try to better his own record this time.

Elsewhere on Friday, the women's curling tournament will continue as Korea takes on Britain at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG, YONHAP [[email protected]]