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Teenage figure skater Shin Ji-a's debut at Games a balancing act of basics, beauty

Published: 20 Feb. 2026, 09:49

LEE SOO-JUNG
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Shin Ji-a competes during the women's figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19. [AP/YONHAP]

Figure skater Shin Ji-a is living a teenage dream as she makes her Olympic debut at the Milan-Cortina Games, but it wasn't always smooth sailing.

The 17-year-old landed 11th, with a combined score of 206.68. Except for a shaky landing on her triple loop jump, Shin delivered a flawless free skate program on Thursday.

"Reminding me that I am capable of landing all the jumps in the program [...] made me relieved before skating," Shin said after concluding her competition at the Olympics. "It made me skate freely. The Olympics helped me grow and gave me unforgettable memories."

Even before entering the Olympic arena, she remained confident enough to envision herself outperforming other skaters.

“Next-level skater Shin Ji-a” was a description the four-time junior championship silver medalist is chasing at the Olympics, she revealed in an interview with JTBC, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, in an interview before the Games on Jan. 30.

It only took a decade for a child frolicking on the ice to become an Olympian.

Shin Ji-a, then 14 years old, performs her free skate program during the 2021-22 season. She earned a silver medal at the world junior championship in the same season. [NEWS1]

At the age of 7, she came across ice skating as a fun activity when a new rink opened in her neighborhood in the southern port city of Busan.

She fell multiple times, but she did not mind bruises and pain. The thrill and joy of improving brought her to the rink every day.

“Because I was young, I wasn’t afraid of anything,” Shin said during a 2023 interview with online media Munhwa Focus. “I just wanted to make progress as fast as I could.”

That resilience proved critical as she was 9 years old, when she was confronted with the harsh reality of sport: Competition is inevitable. She took up training in Daegu when she was in third grade for better training opportunities and to compete with a larger pool of skaters. Two years later, she moved to Seoul with her mother after mastering five types of triple jumps.

Shin Ji-a's best achievements [LEE JUNG-MIN]

“I wanted to compete with peers who were talented skaters, most of whom were training in Seoul,” Shin said in the 2023 interview.

In 2021, she turned 13 and became eligible to compete as a junior skater in international events. In her first year, she claimed silver in her first World Junior Figure Skating Championships — a first for a Korean since Kim Yuna earned a medal in 2006.

Shin Ji-a, bottom left, takes a selfie with other figure skaters on the national team after winning a gold medal in team events at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics held in Gangwon. [NEWS1]

She did not miss a podium in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Her gold rush peaked in the 2023-24 season as she won two straight golds in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.

She also set a record as the first female Korean skater reach a podium at the junior world championships for four consecutive years.

As it does with most skaters, though, age caught up with her. Changes to her body overlapped with her senior debut, undermining the precision of her jumps and other elements she had once mastered.

She has grown around 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) over the last three years.

When asked about how she had handled the changes in November of last year, she told reporters that she had focused on "off-ice training and rotating training" for her jumps.

Shin Ji-a poses for a photograph while holding a Korean flag after claiming a silver medal at the 2024 world junior figure skating championship held in Taipei, Taiwan. [KOREA SKATING UNION]

Her medal streak gave way to a drought as she failed to secure a single podium finish at senior international games in the run-up to the Olympics. She came in sixth at the Four Continents Championship in China last month and fifth and seventh at two senior Grand Prix series held in China and France, respectively, last year.

“What’s wrong with me?” Shin asked herself multiple times.

She decided to go back to the basics. “I worked on my breathing and strengthened off-ice training to complement my jumps,” Shin said.

Another key figure behind the 17-year-old Olympian’s success: Kim Yuna, the legendary Korean Olympic champion who won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and silver at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Shin Ji-a smiles while watching a video of her practice routine at an ice rink in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 10. [YONHAP]

For Shin, Kim is a mentor and a teacher.

“Lessons with Yuna helped me better articulate my program,” Shin said in an interview with JTBC, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, last month.

With the support of the Olympic champion, Shin had her best time on the ice and delivered her best performance at the Olympics — an opportunity that she was “lucky” to have.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]