Cha scored 83.53 points on Saturday (Korea time) at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy, at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics. He earned 41.78 points in technical elements and 41.75 in program components, placing eighth among 10 skaters.
The team event is a nation-based competition across four disciplines — men’s and women’s singles, pairs and ice dance. Points are awarded by placement in each segment (10 to 1), and the top five teams advance to the final (free skating and free dance).
South Korea returned to the Olympic team event for the first time since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
South Korea had 11 points after Friday’s segments: ice dancers Lim Hae-na and Kwon Ye placed seventh (four points), and women’s singles skater Shin Ji-a placed fourth (seven). South Korea did not enter a pairs team and received zero points; it was the only team-event nation without an entry in one discipline.
To reach the top five, South Korea needed Cha to finish in the top two in men’s singles to add nine or 10 points. His eighth-place result ended South Korea’s chances. The team finished seventh overall.
Skating fifth, Cha performed his short program to “Rain in Your Black Eyes.” He opened with a clean quadruple Salchow, then landed a triple Lutz-triple loop combination. His flying camel spin earned Level 4.
But he made a costly mistake on his final jump, the triple Axel. He lost rotation on takeoff and completed only a single Axel. The men’s short program requires either a double Axel or triple Axel; Cha’s single Axel was scored zero.
He finished with a change-foot combination spin and a step sequence, both graded Level 4.
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan won the segment with 108.67 points. Ilia Malinin of the United States was second with 98.00.
The five teams advancing to the free programs were the United States (34 points), Japan (33), Italy (28), Canada (27) and Georgia (25).
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.