Cha Jun-hwan (25, Seoul Metropolitan Government) made a major mistake but achieved his personal best Olympic result.
In the men's singles free skate at the competition held at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 14, Cha Jun-hwan scored a technical element score (TES) of 95.16, a program component score (PCS) of 87.04 and a deduction of 1.00, recording 181.20 points.
Adding his short program score of 92.72, Cha Jun-hwan finished with a total of 273.92 points and placed fourth overall. It was his best personal result in his third Olympics.
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan caused an upset and took the gold with 291.58 points. Japan's Kaiyama Yuma (280.06) and Sato ?? (274.90) took silver and bronze, respectively.
Cha Jun-hwan's chances of reaching the medal positions were effectively over after a major jump error in the free skate. The scoring shows that if Cha Jun-hwan had finished cleanly, he could have contended for the bronze, making the outcome even more regrettable.
Cha Jun-hwan fell heavily on his second jump, the quadruple toe loop. He recovered without panic and continued skating, successfully landing the following triple lutz. However, avoiding a large deduction was difficult.
Cha Jun-hwan continued calmly and completed his performance. But when the routine ended, he could not hide his disappointment. Without the jump mistake, it would have been a performance that could comfortably have won the bronze.
[OSEN]